GMOs
Food and Nutrition
Grade 8

GMO’s War on Our Plates

It all started with a strawberry pop-tart. I was sitting at home and my older sister, Larissa, came up to me. She simply asked, “Why are you eating that stuff?” “What?” I responded. “You know that stuff is full of chemicals and GMO’s, right?” “Chemicals and what?” I had no clue what a “GMO” was. […]

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Environment
Grade 7

Green Vehicles

As I walked my dogs down the street, a low humming noise emerged from around the corner. As I glanced behind me I saw a modern Toyota Prius turn down the street and drive away. The silent car was gone.  As a hybrid, that Prius was running on battery electricity and that’s why it was […]

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Mental Health
Grade 10

The Price of Happiness

According to a popular credit card company, there are some things money can’t buy. Love, common sense, and talent to name a few. Many people want a bit of extra cash to throw around, so they could quit their job and relax – I know I would. But psychologists and economists who have studied the […]

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Education
Grade 10

Crime Prevention in Youth

The topic of crime prevention is so important to me because I have been both the victim and the aggressor in prior situations in my past. As I started interacting with friends in my neighborhood peer pressure became a leading role in my everyday life until I made bad choices that landed me in Youth […]

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video controller
Video Games
Grade 6

Video Games: The Good, the Bad, and the Violent

There have been a number of terrible shooting incidents recently with young people being the perpetrator. Much of the discussion after these shootings has centered on whether playing violent video games makes kids more violent and more likely to hurt people. While there are many people who blame video games for violence, most kids who […]

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Environment
Grade 10

Corporate Pollution

Have you ever passed a body of water and seen disgusting trash floating on top of it?  Was the water a repulsive brown sludge because of excessive amounts of sewage in it? If you haven’t experienced this, I have. I am on the crew team for my school. We experience the atrocious sewage and trash […]

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Chinese lanterns
International Cultures and Issues
Grade 10

Chinese-American Identity

I am Chinese, apparently. I am also American, according to my family. But I am not Chinese-American, not yet at least. My parents immigrated to the United States many years ago, and I am the first generation of my family to be born on American soil. Being the first “American” is a special position, but […]

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social networking icons
Pop Culture
Grade 6

Social Networking Generation

845 million. That’s how many active Facebook users there are currently around the world. It has more users than the population of the United States and Britain combined! I have to admit; my family and I are part of that “nation” of Facebook. Almost every country uses it, and that means that the Facebook “nation” […]

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Family
Grade 12

Being A Teen Parent

Three in 10 girls in the U.S. will become pregnant at least once before age 20. Daughters of teen mothers are three times more likely to become teen mothers themselves. Shows like “Teen Mom,” “16 and Pregnant,” and movies like “Juno,” illustrate the overall experience. Teenage pregnancy is a global issue and among America’s youth […]

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child labor
Government
Grade 7

Price Tag of Child Labor

Child labor is one of the world’s main problems today. Many children are being taken away from their families and sold into labor, which is a form of slavery. Most of the children who are forced into this lifestyle work for many long and difficult hours. I have seen what I believed to be child […]

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magazines
Gender Equality
Grade 8

Women in the Media

When I was younger, my mother never allowed me near the television because she didn’t want me to see provocative commercials. I remember being fascinated by the racy commercials I saw on the television when I was older and my mother couldn’t completely shield me from the media. The scantily clad women that I saw […]

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children in Cuba
International Cultures and Issues
Grade 7

Life in Cuba

Most people think that Cuba is a struggling, communist country, full of bad people and no money. Technology is old and the cars are ugly. United States citizens can’t even get in without special permission from the government. To me, however, Cuba is a beautiful, special country that gives me a lot of freedom and […]

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