Government
Grade 8

Pedestrian Safety

Have you ever felt unsafe while walking or biking? In DC, drivers are constantly running red lights, blocking crosswalks, speeding, and being distracted by their phones, exposing pedestrians and cyclists to danger. Many people are getting injured and dying because the government has failed to implement measures to stop it. The government needs to invest […]

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Domestic and Sexual Violence
Grade 8

End Child Abuse

When I was younger, I was abused. No one gets to choose who they are born to, and who I was born to was a horrible person. My mother didn’t want another kid, so she called me her mistake. I was physically and mentally abused for years. No kid wants to be abused, and yes, […]

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Bullying
Grade 8

Building Inclusive Environments to Combat Audism

A deaf woman named Barbara told the following story: “During conversations at work, my colleagues who know sign language communicate with each other using their voice, even when I am there.” She says that when she asks what they were walking about, “They often say, ‘I will tell you later.’ Then, I always get very […]

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LGBTQ Rights
Grade 8

Erasing Progress with Unspoken Laws

How many of you have relatives that live in Florida? Are your relatives in school right now? Are they part of the 40% affected by Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits teachers from talking about gender and sexuality in schools? With this law, trans people and other minorities are experiencing erasure from the school […]

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Mental Health
Grade 8

Rising Depression

Did you know that almost 50 million Americans have expressed symptoms of depression and other mental illnesses in the past year? This is why schools should hire more counselors and have daily check-ins with all students, even when students don’t show signs of anxiety or other mental illnesses. When I first learned more about depression, […]

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Education
Grade 8

Teen Suicide Prevention

Imagine yourself as a student or teacher and the principal walks in and says one of your classmates or students has committed suicide. What are the feelings that hit you? Does your stomach drop? Does it feel like there isn’t enough air in the room? Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young […]

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Government
Grade 8

Homelessness

Imagine having to sleep on the roads or sidewalks, without food for days, having little or no communication, no money, no family, and few friends. Well, over 6,000 people in the District of Columbia, our nation’s capital, are currently experiencing this problem. Personally, seeing people in inhumane conditions while going through the struggle of the […]

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Racial Equality
Grade 8

Racism in the Workplace

Imagine being a young Black girl who is constantly worried about racial discrimination in the workplace. Well, that’s me every day. I ask myself, “Will I get the same opportunities as everyone else?” My name is Amyah Foster. I am in the 8th Grade attending Meridian PCS. Racism towards African Americans in the workplace is […]

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Domestic and Sexual Violence
Grade 8

Domestic Violence

Did you know that females are more prone to experiencing violence in relationships than their male counterparts? According to Dosomething.org, “85% of domestic violence victims are women.” This does not leave male adults out of the equation. In (Huecker et.al, 2020) one in nine men are victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence has a major […]

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Gender Equality
Grade 8

Gender Wage Gap

A very close family friend compared her check to her male colleague’s check. She noticed that she was paid less than her colleague even though they worked in the same field. At that moment she felt that her work was unvalued. How would you feel if this happened to you? Women are getting paid less […]

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International Cultures and Issues
Grade 8

Child Soldiers

What’s war to you? Well for most people, War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It means more than just conflict between group A and B, for the soldiers in the front line it means more, for the children without parents it means […]

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