Inspired by the many robust conversations we’ve seen taking place in the comments section of our writing prompts lately, we’re posing a challenge for students this coming week:
Reply to a comment of someone you don’t know. Even better, start a conversation and keep it going.
Try to go beyond just saying “agree,” “true,” “same” or “good comment.” Instead, be specific about what you liked about what someone wrote, share an alternate point of view, explain why you disagree with something, make a connection to someone else’s experience, or ask an engaging question to continue the conversation.
(And always do so civilly and respectfully — we won’t accept any comments that violate our moderation standards, like name-calling, personal attacks, vulgarity or profanity.)
We may round up some of the best conversations we read in a future Current Events Conversation.
Need inspiration for what to write? Here are a few great examples of the many responses we got from students at Silverton, Nanaimo District Secondary School and J.R. Masterman this week:
In this exchange on our prompt “Are Some Youth Sports Too Intense?” Karina Malunay from Glenbard West, Glen Ellyn, Ill. wrote:
The reality is, teens are only staying in their sport because of their want to achieve getting a scholarship in college or playing in college at all. Parents and coaches need to show children to play for the love of the game, rather than winning.
Kylee from Silverton3 responded by expanding on Karina’s point:
@Karina Malunay I totally agree with this, it’s so true that kids who play sports spend so much time worrying that they’re not the best or they’re bad. Coaches and parents should learn to show that sports are for fun rather having it just be about winning, yes winning is great thing to have and feel, but having fun is what makes sport an achievable thing.
And in this discussion on our prompt “Have You Ever Encountered Racist or Extremist Content Online?” Ashley NT from California wrote:
I think social media allows children to experience politics at an early age. Social platforms such as Instagram often have accounts dedicated to political parties or feminist groups that express certain standpoints. With that comes racist stereotypes.
Theodor from NDSS pushed back and added on to Ashley’s comment:
@Ashley NT I agree with your comment that children can be exposed to politics and racism and many other subjects, at an early age thanks to social media. But I think that our society needs to educate our children and teenagers on what’s right and wrong on social media. We need to teach them at a certain point on why racism is committed and on why people have racist thoughts about other races.
Finally, in our Picture Prompt “Music Therapy” we saw students sharing their experiences with music. Seinnel Cruz from J.R Masterman wrote:
My taste in music has changed a lot in the past few months. I used to only listen to pop and all the top 100 songs … Now, the majority of my music taste is influenced by the app, TikTok. TikTok is a video making app where you can make a video and put a sound over top of it.
Cyrus Fisher from J. R. Masterman replied:
@Seinnel Cruz I experienced the same transition. I used to only like pop, but TikTok has helped me to discover songs I like outside of the genre. My playlist of TikTok songs is one of my favorites.
Now, you go give it a try!
And, finally, before we get to today’s selections, we want to welcome the many new classes who joined us from all over the country: Fordham Preparatory School, N.Y.; Glenbard West High School, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; Napa, Calif.; Norwood High School, Norwood, Mass.; Quest Forward Academy Santa Rosa; Shaker High School; Silverton, Ore.; and VJMHS, Holland, Penn.