BEING WHO WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BECOME

Students could use this article as a basis for discussion but it also serves as an excellent example of what we all need to be doing: really questioning the “news” and who delivers it. A classic example is give here and then more on cited as the writer goes through his research. What research could students do as a follow up? Are we teaching our kids to be researchers, participants or recipients of the news?  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/taboo-alert-the-real—an_b_249830.html   A journalist and writer named Studs Terkel is featured in the Americans Who Tell the Truth series. I like using his work with students because the essence of his “reporting” was living in the real lives and stories of people. He speaks with eloquence about why he believed his interviews were so successful. Essentially , he believed it was his own humility and humanity that allowed him to connect and know others. I love using this biography and study to help children understand that the “news” is a story. And the truth of the story lives in the biography of each one of us. It is our INTEREST in one another that makes it work. Studs Terkel was a sterling living example of that principle.