For the past ten weeks, writers from the Harvard Political Review have been meeting with 6th graders from the Clarence R Edwards Middle School in Charlestown, MA to talk about politics and the fundamentals of journalism.
Together, we’ve taken on some of the biggest issues facing our country — from health care reform, to education policy, to high-stakes international politics. We’ve played war games, simulated press conferences, deposed a dictator, passed legislation to fix America’s schools, started our own competing candy firms, and enacted health care reform to protect the unluckiest students among us.
More than anything, we talked about what it means to live in a democracy, and why writing and thinking about politics matters for our world. For the final class, students tried their hands at political journalism, writing their thoughts on a topic of their choosing.
Maria Clara Oliveira:
The topic I studied for this blog was Libya War. Libya tried to protest but it didn’t work. They are very very poor and powerless against their leader. If I was them of course I would want help but they need to learn how to handle that situation.
This isn’t a good idea because of many reasons. One reason is because we already worry too much about our reputation. Another reason is that the Libyan people never helped us so why should we help them.
Next reason is because we have our problems that we need to solve, too! That’s why I think it isn’t a great idea, even though it’s a nice thing to do.
I think that the United States should worry about themselves and stop worrying about others. They should stop caring about what people think about our country. They need to care about themselves and protest, because if we can do that, they can too!
Angelina Munoz:
The topic I studied for this blog was education because lots of people have different answers, like me as a student of the Edwards Middle School. The article I read is called “Should Kids Spend More Time in School.” This article is about people giving their opinions if students should spend more time in school. The people who are involved in this article is the President Obama, taxpayers, parents, and teachers. It also talks about the days and hours other students in different countries spend in school.
I think this is a good article, but at the same time it is not because it is missing someone’s opinion which is the students’ opinion. They have everyone’s opinion, but not the student. Their opinion is more important because they were the ones who are going to make a decision to do well in school or not, go to school or not, and to do other things too. Their opinion should also be in the article because they are also going to face consequences like not spending more time with their families and doing lots of other things. So I think they should ask them if they want to spend more time or less time in school, more days or less days in school because maybe they will miss their families or maybe they will just to worse and other reasons. So that’s why their opinion counts.
What I think the United States should do about this situation is to do a research about us in the US and other countries because they will ask students and their families if they agree or disagree if students should spend more time in school or not. If the majority of the students and parents agree they should change everything, but if they disagree they should just leave everything the same. This is what I think they should do for this situation.
Marcos Lopez:
In my article, Barack Obama is signing a health care reform bill so when poor people get sick, their insurance will cover it. He’s forcing insurance companies to insure poor people and people who are likely to get sick.
I think the U.S. should keep on having this bill of law. It will keep poor people alive if they’re sick. That is what I think the U.S. should do.
AJ Bradley:
The topic I studied for this blog was the battle in Libya. Qadaffi started as a nice dictator. Later on in life he turned and he didn’t give up control. Later on in life he started killing his own people
I think it’s very detailed. It talks a lot about Libya and their evil ruler Qaddafi. I also think it’s sad the ruler is bombing and killing his own people. I also think it’s good to know what’s happening in other countries.
I think the United States shouldn’t help. We have enough problems with killing Osama bin Laden. If we help them we might have something to happen to us. If we attack Qaddafi he might bomg us, like Osama.
Nashely Montilla:
The topic I studied for this blog was health care. The article I read was about Obama signing the new law. The new law is Affordable Health Care for America Act. Obama signed a bill Tuesday that makes major changes to the country’s health care system.
I agree with the president signing the bill. I agree because they made major changes to the country. They help poor people with health. When they get sick, they can just have money from insurance. This is why I agree with this article.
I think they should keep the new law. They should keep the law because the poor people can be healthy.
Photo credit: Edwards Middle School
