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Domestic and Sexual Violence
Grade 10

Ending Sexual Violence

Hello, my name is Kiera Lyles and I am in 9th grade at Cesar Chavez Parkside High School. Did you know that over 400,000 women and girls are victims of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States? I want to live in a world where women and girls are not getting sexually […]

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Gender Equality
Grade 10

Child Marriage

Hello, my name is Destiny Hardy a 10th grader from McKinley Tech, and my topic is child marriage. Do you have a child under the age of 18? Now, how would you like to attend their wedding this year? Approximately 12 million girls are married before they turn 18 every year; underaged girls – like […]

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Government
Grade 10

U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

Hello, my name is Cristian Cardona, and I am a sophomore at Banneker High School! Foreign Policy is often overlooked in politics, and we have to address the cases where we are hurting rather than helping. As an American citizen and a person with political aspirations, I want to see change, especially in our international […]

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Education
Grade 10

More Than A Statistic

Another day. Just another day in the life of me. My name is…well that’s not that important. What’s more important is my story, just one out of millions of kids like me. See, I didn’t grow up in a rich area, Syria is where I’m from. A civil war has been raging here for a […]

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Mental Health
Grade 10

Mental Health in the Black Community

According to the US Census Bureau’s 2017 data, approximately 325.7 million people live in America, and an estimated 47.4 million of those people are African American. Black people make up about 14 percent of the population and 16 percent have a diagnosable mental illness (NAMI). Yet not only is there a stigma around mental illness […]

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Bullying
Grade 10

LGBTQ Bullying

Did you know almost 34% of LGBTQ youth are bullied on school property? 28% of LGBTQ youth are bullied through social media. 13% of LGBTQ students do not show up to school for safety concerns. This topic impacts me personally because I am a part of the LGBTQ community and I want to put a […]

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Gender Equality
Grade 10

The Struggle to Keep Abortion Legal

With a change in presidency, abortion access rights are being threatened. Republicans tend to support pro-life, and, therefore, want to reinstate anti-abortion laws. With a Republican majority in both the House and the Senate to support Republican President Donald Trump, Roe V. Wade, a landmark court case that recognized, legislated, and protected pro-choice laws, is […]

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Education
Grade 10

Let Me Learn

Human rights are intended for both male and female security, but for hundreds of years many have distinguished women’s rights from human rights. A basic human right that we all have, is a right to an education, so why are there over 60 million girls unable to attend school? Still being young, I myself have […]

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Government
Grade 10

Nuclear Crisis on the Horizon

A nuclear weapon is simply known as a weapon that uses nuclear energy to create an explosion. Nuclear weapons were invented on July 16, 1945 in the operation known as the Manhattan Project. Through the creation of the nuclear bomb, the US was able to have a swift victory over Japan in World War II. […]

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Justice System
Grade 10

Mass Incarceration of Black Males

Why is it that black men get sent to jail more often for a non-violent drug offense than a white man? A white man would be able to walk away as a free man, while a Black man would have to serve some type of sentence in the prison system. This injustice causes Black men […]

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Gun Control
Grade 10

The Need for New Gun Control Restrictions

Did you know that there have been at least 1,216 mass shootings in America since the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting and firearm deaths in America totaled more than 32,000 in 2013 (Lopez)? In America, there are approximately two hundred seventy million firearms possessed by civilians but only 897,000 are carried by police (Karp, Aaron […]

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Healthcare
Grade 10

Let’s Lessen Teen Pregnancy

What if your sister, your daughter, or any teen girl you cared about suddenly got pregnant? My old friend got pregnant at a young age and that is when I realized it’s a very real thing. I had never seen teen pregnancy first-hand, especially someone I knew, and so I want to try and advocate […]

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