Facebook is working on launching a new version of Instagram for kids under 13.
This version of Instagram will allow kids to safely use the app. The current Instagram policy prohibits children under the age of 13 from using the service.
Listen to the audio and read the transcript about Instagram for children.
They say that the only constant thing in life is change. Being adaptable to change is a big part of what makes us grow as individuals and collectively, as a society. For years on end, we’ve been witness to a lot of things that had to be changed. Some to our advantage, while others, to our demise. Now, these changes could often be about our views on different social issues or matters. As our opinions change, they too, become polarized.
In the recent years, we’ve seen a pattern of having the thought that someone can be “canceled” or culturally prevented from staying relevant or famous, has been a topic of debate.
Our growing inclination toward “cancel culture” and “canceling someone” seems to have become a formula.
It starts when someone does or says something offensive. It is then followed by a public outrage on social media. The last stage involves the unfortunate backlash on that person’s career, sometimes ending up in destroyed careers or dismissal from jobs.
Read the article and join in on the cancel culture debate.
What is your opinion on cancel culture? Do you view it as an important tool of social justice or a new form of merciless mob intimidation? Should it be stopped or continued?
What are the good and bad things about it?
What might the effects of being canceled be on a person/group/organization?
Which people, celebrities, or public figures you know suffered from the backlash of this emerging social culture? What offensive thing did they do and how did being ‘canceled’ affect them?
Do you agree or disagree that “The view that a traditional approach — apology, atonement, and forgiveness — is no longer enough might be startling.”?
The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly highlighted the importance of school meal programs in Canada. There are more than two million students who go to school without eating anything before leaving their homes.
There have been many programs that aim to assist students both when they’re at school and even when they are not.
Watch the video and be able to answer the questions that follow.
Discussion Questions:
What can you say about the school lunches/meals in your country? How was it different before from now? How has it changed during the pandemic?
How important are school meals for students?
What has the pandemic taught us with regards to our health and well-being?
Do you agree that adequate food and good nutrition lead to academic success? Explain your answer.
There has been a series of attacks in the US, particularly targeting Asian-Americans recently. It alarmed, set anguish and fear among the people who were subject of this unimaginable violence or crime amidst the pandemic. Although racism isn’t new to most of the people with Asian decent it has been rising with the pandemic as a propaganda of the supremacist indulged more to the hate as they put emphases on China as the source of the virus that had affected the country.
Watch the video and read the transcript on this report on Anti-Asian Violence in America.
Life expectancy is the estimation of the number of years an individual can expect to live. It is the key measure to evaluate population health. Countries differ in life expectancy depending on different factors.
Find out more about life expectancy and the factors affecting its trends.
According to some studies, obesity is not just due to an individual’s lack of self-control. Other factors such as poverty, awareness, genetics, hormones, and some chronic illnesses also contribute to developing this complex disease.
For some people, fat-shaming actually helped them to begin losing weight. But for some, it’s been nothing but a shameful remark that could lead to self-destructive behaviors.
Listen to the audio and read the transcript to know more about fat shaming.
When we judge others let’s bear in mind that our notions and our understanding of right and wrong changes over time. There are some things that we once considered wrong but are totally acceptable now. Technology plays a massive role in society’s emerging moral sense.
Watch the video to know more about how the advances in technology lead to more ethical behavior and why we should build a community wherein having different points of view is accepted.
Vocabulary Questions:
What does “burn someone at the stake” mean, “And that means that those who think you’re wrong, may burn you at the stake.”? Use this expression in a sentence.
What does “narrowcast” mean, “In a weird way, today’s machine guns are narrowcast social media.”? Use this word in a sentence.
What does “180-degree shift/change” mean, “It’s almost 180-degree shift in the opinion.”? Compare it with ‘360-degree shift/change’ and use these phrases in sentences.
Discussion Questions:
How has technology changed our ethics and moral and ethical points of view over the years?
Why is it necessary to be more understanding towards others?
Why is it not right to use people’s mistakes against them?
What is something you think was wrong that lasted for so long in your society?
