by Jasmine Li | 1 Dec 2020 | China, Discovery, Educators' Catalog, Health and Wellness, Identity, Student Posts, United States, Westover School, Youth Voices
COVID-19 left me in limbo in the United States, full of fear and anger. Then I returned home to China to face criticism before reuniting with my family. An empty John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York (All photos by Jasmine Li) So this is where I am going...
The coronavirus pandemic has put strains on students, their families, schools, entire communities. But Jasmine Li, a Chinese student at Westover School in the United States, provides a first-person account of the special difficulties facing foreign nationals caught in limbo as COVID-19 triggered global travel restrictions. Li cannot return to her temporary home at school, and when she finally makes it home to China, she discovers some compatriots consider her a traitor and urge her to leave. Adolescence can be a difficult period of self-discovery, but Li’s painful experiences are the product of a globalized world that, in normal circumstances, offers extraordinary opportunities but which, during a pandemic, sees forgotten borders re-emerge. Ask each student to describe their most difficult moment during the pandemic. How do their experiences compare?
by Barry Moody | 1 Dec 2020 | Africa, Conflict, Decoders, Educators' Catalog
A military conflict has broken out in Ethiopia, raising fears of instability and a humanitarian crisis in the strategic Horn of Africa. Tigray refugees in eastern Sudan, 22 November 2020 (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) A military conflict in northern Ethiopia has raised...
Your students may have noticed news stories about Ethiopia of late. But most accounts skip the background and context that enable young people to understand why conflict there matters to them. Barry Moody, one of News Decoder’s most experienced correspondents, explains how fighting between federal forces and rebels is raising fears of a humanitarian crisis in one of the world’s most strategic regions. Can your students think of other repressive regimes that, when overthrown, yielded chaos and conflict? Led by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ethiopia is a cautionary tale for those seeking quick, democratic reforms in ethnically diverse countries.
by Gene Gibbons | 24 Nov 2020 | Americas, Educators' Catalog, Eyewitness, Government, Joe Biden, Personal Reflections
Joe Biden and I grew up in the same city. He was upright in school and on the playground. He’ll be a caring leader as U.S. president. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden visiting his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 23 October 2019 (Jason Farmer/The...
A lot of ink has been spilled about Joe Biden’s background, but how many authors played sandlot baseball with the U.S. President-elect? News Decoder correspondent Gene Gibbons covered six presidents while at Reuters, but he grew up with Biden, and his reminiscences of their upbringing in Pennsylvania capture key qualities of the next U.S. leader. It’s the details — the nicknames the schoolmarm gave her students, Biden’s phone call to the same teacher — that enliven the story. Without hyperbole or boasting, Gibbons tells a story that packs a punch and highlights Biden’s journey from a vacant lot — “mostly dirt and cinders” — to the White House.
by Charlotte Parker and Gabriella Rivas | 23 Nov 2020 | Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Personal Reflections, United States, Youth Voices
In 2016, students from a U.S. school near Mexico worried about Donald Trump. Today, one of the youths and their ex-teacher find hope in Joe Biden. Gabriella Rivas and Charlotte Parker in 2016 Gabriella Rivas in 2020 In 2016, after Donald Trump was elected U.S....
by Jeremy Solomons | 12 Nov 2020 | Americas, Joe Biden, Politics
What makes a global leader? What traits does a leader need to succeed? Does U.S. President-elect Joe Biden have what it takes? U.S. President-elect Joe Biden (R) and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Wilmington, Delaware, 7 November 2020 (EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO)...
by Jessica Moody | 11 Nov 2020 | Africa, Future of Democracy, Government, Human Rights
Youth in Nigeria, angry over police brutality, have formed a movement that started with street protests and which some see as a potential political force. Youth protest against Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos, Nigeria, 9 October 2020....
by Varlee S Fofana | 10 Nov 2020 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Contest winners, Discovery, Educators' Catalog, Identity, Personal Reflections, Refugees, Student Posts, Youth Voices
My family fled civil war in Liberia to a refugee camp in Guinea in West Africa. I learned the power of resilience and the value of diversity. The author, in white next to the woman on the right, at the Kouankan refugee camp in Guinea This story won first prize in News...
News Decoder’s goal is to create a global community, and Varlee Fofana has added his unique voice to the conversation with an essay about growing up in a refugee camp in Guinea. Not many News Decoder students have had to flee civil war as Fofana did, yet many play football, as the author did to connect with other refugee children. Gathering wood, plowing farmland or selling kerosene might not be common chores for most News Decoder students, but they, too, face challenges. Ask your class to read Fofana’s story and then, in up to 600 words, describe a personal experience that shaped their life and character. Encourage them to follow Fofana’s example by using simple words and an unassuming tone to draw readers into their world.
by Nelson Graves | 9 Nov 2020 | Americas, Donald Trump, Future of Democracy, Government, Human Rights, Joe Biden, Nationalism
Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election is cause for celebration. But it’s also time for America to heal its deep divisions. A Biden supporter hugs a Trump supporter after an impromptu debate between members of both political...
by Ashley Stumvoll | 6 Nov 2020 | Africa, Health and Wellness, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
Worried that COVID-19 could hurt the fight against malaria, aid groups have redoubled efforts to save lives in Africa. The worst may have been avoided. Mobile clinic in Central African Republic treating people against malaria (Ton Koene/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)...
by Tendayi Chirawu | 5 Nov 2020 | Human Rights, La Jolla Country Day School, United States, Youth Voices
California student Lucy Jaffee interviewed renowned free-speech expert Floyd Abrams to write a forward-looking article on a landmark court case. Lucy Jaffee Lucy Jaffee was researching a complicated U.S. court case involving students’ right to freedom of speech....