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teens

Democracy

Teacher tries to simulate a dictatorship in her classroom, but the students crushed her

"I’ve done this experiment numerous times, and each year I have similar results. This year, however, was different."

Each year that I teach the book "1984" I turn my classroom into a totalitarian regime under the guise of the "common good."

I run a simulation in which I become a dictator. I tell my students that in order to battle "Senioritis," the teachers and admin have adapted an evidence-based strategy, a strategy that has "been implemented in many schools throughout the country and has had immense success." I hang posters with motivational quotes and falsified statistics, and provide a false narrative for the problem that is "Senioritis."

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Photo by Long Truong on Unsplash
woman in white sleeveless dress kissing man in blue dress shirt


"It may be the most important thing we do in life; learn how to love and be loved."

At least, that's according to Harvard psychologist and researcher Rick Weissbourd.

He's been collecting data on the sex and love habits of young people for years through surveys, interviews, and even informal conversation — with teens and the important people in their lives.

Through it all, one thing has been abundantly clear:

"We spend enormous amount of attention helping parents prepare their kids for work and school," Weissbourd says. "We do almost nothing to prepare them for the tender, tough, subtle, generous, focused work of developing mature healthy relationships. I'm troubled by that."

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Community

Teens continue on with sweet breakfast tradition for a grandmother who lost her grandson

After Sam's tragic passing, the "breakfast club" was determined to keep his memory alive.

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There's a reason why they call it comfort food

One day, a teen boy named Sam Crowe told his grandma Peggy Winckowski that he had been bragging about her cooking to his friends, saying “my grandma makes the best breakfast.”

“Grandma Peggy,” as she’s universally known, invited the group over to try one of her legendary breakfasts, and the following week she was greeted by Sam, his cousin Owen and seven of their school friends—all of whom enjoyed an extraordinary meal, along with a round of hugs.

One morning meetup led to another, and thus their makeshift breakfast club was born. Every Wednesday morning, Grandma Peggy would prepare a lavish meal for a larger and larger group. This tradition lasted throughout the year.

Then, tragedy struck.
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We asked the Upworthy community if trick-or-treating should have an age limit

Should Halloween trick-or-treating have an age limit?

Some seem to think so, arguing that anyone past the age of thirteen has less sincere joy for the holiday, and merely uses trick-or-treating as a candy grabbing “scam”…thus potentially ruining the experience for the littles.

Certain cities have even implemented laws to enforce an age cut-off somewhere between 12-16-years-old, depending on the location. Punishment for breaking these rules vary, but in Chesapeake, Virginia it included up to six months of jail time up until 2019.

And yet, when we asked the Upworthy community this question, there was a very different answer.
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