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Teacher's College: Teen Activism Starter Packet Text Set

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This is the last set of resources provided by Ms. King. The lexile range is 660 to 840. Double click to access the document.

The Buzz E-waste (820L) Malala: Save My Nigerian Sisters (820L) Mahlala's Mission (630L) Malala's Attackers Arrested in Pakistan (830L) Malala Yousafzai: 'The Day I Woke Up in the Hospital' (660L) Malala's Dream (800L) What's a Bully (800L) How to Make Yourself Bully-Proof (700L) Child Labor - On a Crusade for Kids (830L) Child Labor - Hard at Work (830L) Why is Community Service Important? Florida National University Students and Faculty attended the "Walk Now for Autism Speaks" walk Doing community service provides students with opportunities to become active in the community and positive contributors to society.

Community service or volunteerism enables students to acquire skills and knowledge as well as provide a service to others that need it in some way. There are multiple benefits and gains from community service. Some of these benefits are: Psychological benefits: life satisfaction, feeling good about yourself, and decreases stress and depression.Social benefits: Engages students with the community, creates special bonds with the population served, as well as increased social responsibility.Cognitive benefits: Helps students enhance their knowledge, earn new experiences, and develop new skills. Doing community service not only makes a difference to the organization being served, but also makes a difference on the students. Written by: Ms. How to Become an Activist: 12 Steps. Edit Article163,019 views 30 Editors Edited 4 days ago Three Parts:Finding Your MotivationMaking Your Voice HeardBecoming a Leader Activists are people who see the need for change and devote their time to doing something about it.

They are driven by passion and a vision for a better future. Activism comes naturally to some, while for others, it's thrust upon them when they experience situations that hurt them or those they love. Whatever your reason for wanting to become an activist, you have the ability to do so no matter your age, your means, or your background.

It's people like you, people who believe they have the power to make a difference, who end up changing the world for the better. See Step 1 to learn more about becoming an activist. Ad Steps Part 1 of 3: Finding Your Motivation 1Figure out what you're passionate about. 6Be willing to put in the work without immediate rewards. Part 2 of 3: Making Your Voice Heard 1Speak up about your opinions. 6Expect to encounter dissent. Alex Lin, Teenage Activist. He's overseen the recycling of 300,000 pounds of e-waste. He's successfully lobbied the Rhode Island state legislature to ban the dumping of electronics. He's used refurbished computers to create media centers in developing countries like Cameroon and Sri Lanka to foster computer literacy.

He’s Alex Lin and he’s just 16 years old. “I don’t see anything uncommon in it,” says Lin, a high school senior from Westerly, Rhode Island. Lin’s catalytic moment came in 2004 when he chanced upon a Wall Street Journal article. E-waste, or electronics garbage, is the fastest growing section of the U.S. trash stream. While there is no federal law banning e-waste, 20 states have passed legislation mandating statewide e-waste recycling. If only the states with e-waste laws in their 2010 legislative pipeline—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Utah, to name a few—had an Alex Lin at their disposal.

Alex Lin, third from right, has taken e-waste matters into his own hands. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. What Kids Can Do. The Clock Is Ticking: Youth and Environmental Activism by Joi Officer, 15, Laura Cockman, 17, and Rebekah Taft, 17 of Y-Press Young people have a unique relationship with the environment: They are often the first affected when something goes wrong, yet the least represented when decisions are made. They, more than any other generation, have been raised to feel a responsibility toward the environment. And that’s important because they will be the first generation in charge of correcting the problems caused by the widespread pollution of the atmosphere and rampant misappropriation of natural resources.

Youth today feel the “clock is ticking in terms of the amount of time we have to deal with the major issues like clean air, clean water and global warming,” says Sharon Smith, program director of Brower New Leaders at the Earth Island Institute, a support group for youth environmental campaigns and initiatives. Growth in activism Smith has seen firsthand the growth in environmental activism.

Environment Set

A Heroic Return. On March 19, Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old Pakistani student and women’s-education activist, returned to the classroom on for the first time since being violently attacked by a member of the Taliban on October 9, 2012. Malala was shot on her way home from school in Mingora, Pakistan. The Taliban group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility for the attack. The group said the attack should serve as a warning to others.

TTP’s members follow a strict version of Islam and believe girls should not go to school. Malala was targeted because she is vocal about girls’ rights to education in Swat Valley, Pakistan. Malala recovers from the attack at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England. After a long period of recovery, Malala is starting as a ninth-year student at Edgbaston High School. Malala’s Journey Malala has been an Internet blogger, or writer, since she was 11 years old. After the attack in 2012, support for Malala poured in from around the world. Supporting education and activism on Malala Day | Womankind Worldwide. On her 16th birthday Malala Yousafzai will be leading the first youth takeover of the UN General Assembly. Malala’s Day Since surviving an attempted assassination by the Taliban last year, Malala has continued to act as a powerful advocate for girls’ rights around the world.

In 2009 Malala began writing an anonymous blog for the BBC Urdu service about her life in Pakistan and the restrictions to girls’ education. Later her identity became known as she began making public appearances in local and international media. In October 2012 on her bus-ride home from school, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girls’ right to education. The right to education Girls Leadership Club in Zambia After her recovery Malala is continuing her studies in the UK and is once again advocating for the right to education. There are many different ways in which gender inequality prevents girls and women from fulfilling their potential at school and in higher education. Post by Sarah Jackson.

Malala and Girls Education Set

Our Story - Free The Children. Free The Children began with a story one boy couldn’t ignore. Free The Children’s mission is to create a world where all young people are free to achieve their fullest potential as agents of change. And we couldn’t have a better blueprint for success: the organization was founded by Craig Kielburger in 1995 when he gathered 11 school friends to begin fighting child labour. He was 12. A morning to remember. That morning, Craig flipped through the Toronto Star in search of the comics, he was struck by a story. A raw, but courageous story of a boy his age named Iqbal. Iqbal Masih was born in South Asia and sold into slavery at the age of four.

A dream is sparked. Eventually, Iqbal’s wide media coverage caught the attention of those who wished to silence him. What Craig learned from Iqbal’s story was that the bravest voice can live in the smallest body. Craig had to do something. A movement begins. Free the children from poverty. A network of young people grows into a movement. Scholastic News In-depth: Child Labor. How to Help By Karen Fanning When Iqbal Masih was just 4 years old, his parents sold him into slavery to pay off a $12 debt. For six years, the small boy spent his days crouched over a loom, weaving handmade carpets.

Finally, when Iqbal was 10, he escaped. Free at last, Iqbal began traveling around his native Pakistan speaking out against child labor. Determined not to let Iqbal's dream die, students at Broad Meadows created a Web site to educate Americans about child labor. "These kids were working up to 16 hours a day tying tiny knots in carpets, sewing soccer balls, picking cotton in the fields, and carrying heavy bricks on their heads," says 6th-grader Laura Bloomer. Laura and her classmates insist they are just getting started. "Kids are our future," says Mary Bloomer, 14. Reading for Ruchika On the West Coast, students at the Mirman School in Los Angeles, California, have joined Broad Meadows in the fight against child labor.

For every book students read, sponsors donate money.

Child Labor Set

Pet Overpopulation. American Humane Association Position Statement on Animal Population Control Pet “overpopulation” encompasses two primary factors: (1) allowing cats and dogs to reproduce with little chance to find homes for the offspring and (2) pets being relinquished by owners who can no longer keep their animals, or who no longer want them.

Every year, millions of cats and dogs are euthanized in our nation’s animal shelters because there are more pets than there are responsible homes for them. Until this issue is resolved, American Humane Association believes that all cats and dogs adopted from public or private animal care and control facilities should be spayed or neutered (i.e., sterilized). Such sterilization includes prepubertal spaying and neutering of kittens and puppies. American Humane Association supports the passage of laws and regulations mandating that all cats and dogs adopted from public or private animal care and control facilities be sterilized. Teenage girl is dogs best friend | NZNews. While most teenage girls are busy doing their nails and downloading the latest music, Faye Carey is helping re-home dozens of abandoned dogs.

The 16-year-old Waikato teen volunteers with her local branch of Animal Control, giving abandoned animals a second chance at life. She has set up a Facebook page, Animal Re-home Waikato, where she advertises puppies and dogs who need adopting. It all started when Faye underwent a week of work experience at Animal Control last November. "We picked up a puppy in the pound the first day I went to Animal Control and then on my last day he was still there and I felt really sorry for him," she says. "So I advertised him on TradeMe and he got a lot of interest and he went to a lovely home in Auckland. " The idea for the Facebook page came when Faye was trying to re-home a litter of abandoned kittens, and needed a free way to advertise. The page has nearly 300 likes and a loyal following of satisfied new parents. "I'd love to have a career in Animal Control.

Abandoned Pets Set

Anti-Bullying activist spreads message of Kindness. Have you ever been bullied? According to DoSomething.Org, 2 out of 3 teens are verbally or physically harassed each year. Emily-Anne Rigal, a 19-year-old freshman at Columbia University, helps people conquer their problems with bullying. Emily-Anne is very passionate about her work. She is the founder and director of WeStopHate, a nonprofit program dedicated to raising the self-esteem of teens.

In a recent phone interview, she said, "In elementary, I was bullied so bad that I switched to a new school because of it. When Emily-Anne started at her new school, she made friends, which boosted her self-esteem, she said. Emily-Anne created WeStopHate in 2010, which was her sophomore year of high school. "I stay motivated by the message that WeStopHate promotes," she said. Emily-Anne has spoken at many events in New York, such as the Seventeen Magazine Body Peace Breakfast and the 2012 We Are Family Foundation Gala. What advice would she give to someone being bullied? Alex, star of hit documentary, moves on from tragic reality of America's 13million bullied schoolchildren. By Hannah Rand Published: 14:05 GMT, 21 May 2012 | Updated: 14:41 GMT, 21 May 2012 Alex Libby's life has changed since he featured in the hit anti-bullying documentary, Bully.

The highschool freshman now has other students come up and hug him in the corridors, has good friends and gets on well with his teachers. The unlikely fame has potentially saved him from becoming one of two thousand American teenagers who have committed suicide because of relentless aggression from their peers. Scroll down for video New start: Freshman Alex Libby was one of the 13million victims of bullying in the U.S. Some 13million schoolchildren in the U.S. are victims of bullying, with 3million absent from class each month because they cannot cope with the torment. The award-winning documentary by Lee Hirsh follows five kids and families over the course of a school year, including two families who have lost children to suicide because of bullying. Alex knew different.

The bullies in Iowa called him 'fishface'.

Bullying Set