Tag: Social Issues

Fake News

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Every day we come face to face with fake news. It has been there for centuries, but with the advent of social media, it has become more prevalent these days. It could affect someone personally or impact the society on a global scale. There are obviously several disadvantages to fake news and these include the following:

Change in Public Opinion

This is blatant within the political sphere where fake news is used to manipulate the public’s opinion for profit, public support, or to change the public’s mind about a rival political party.

Defamation

Despite everyone enjoying the right to self-expression, there are those who misuse this right to defame well-known global personalities. Fake news is a great way of spreading false information beyond the internet. Two common examples are when one hears about a celebrity’s affair or when a celebrity experiences their own death through a death hoax.

 False Insight  

Regardless of whether they are true or misleading, people tend to blindly believe the words of an influential person. Most people choose not to dig deeper and find it out for themselves. Therefore, negatively changing their perception about someone or something in the news.

Amazingly, there is a silver lining. We may notice some positive things about fake news as well.

 Recreation Consider satire or works of parody that are meant to be for fun. Just think of all the celebrity gossips or the fact that some people think that reptiloids are among us! Everyone, whether offline or on the internet, loves a good laugh.

Improvement in Memory According to the journal Psychological Science, the ability to recall a time when you heard or read fake news helps your brain to remember true information. A research team conducted two experiments on 96 participants. Throughout the experiments, their memory was tested to check whether recollections were true or based on misinformation. They read both factual and made-up statements from news sites and then read statements that corrected the fake news. It turned out that misinformation reminders helped the participants see the cracks in their memories and promoted better memory recollection. Also, individuals that face fake news head-on have a raised awareness of disparities between what is fact and what is fiction and have better memory updating. Clearly, regardless of the kind of fake news, there is some usefulness to it.

Now you know that there’s a break in the clouds and there might be an upside to dealing with disinformation. But be careful and don’t let fake news determine what you think or who you are.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What other pros and cons can you add to this list?
  2. Do you think the pros of fake news justify distributing it? Why or why not)?
  3. Is it worth trying to fight such fake news in an attempt to stop blatant disinformation?
  4. How would you explain to your grandmother that she shouldn’t believe everything she reads and that hoaxes are published everyday?
  5. Where do you get your news from and why do you choose these sources?
  6. Have you ever encountered an internet hoax that you actually believed but later on found out wasn’t true?

Food for African Children is More Expensive

B1 – Intermediate

The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has an big effect on food prices. The higher prices of food makes it difficult for some international organizations that are helping give food to African children.  

Read the article about international organizations helping feed people in Africa’s problem with more expensive food.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/food-for-african-children-is-more-expensive-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on this news?
  2. What are the reasons it is harder for international organizations to help provide food African children?
  3. Organizations must help Ukrainian refugees but this means that they have less money for food for African children. What are your thoughts on this?
  4. What can we do to help both the Ukrainian refugees and African children at the same time?
  5. What do you do to help people in need?

Parents Face Fines in New School Rules

B1 – Intermediate

The government, parents, and teachers must work together to make sure students perform well at their schools.

With the new laws in Britain, parents could be penalized if their children do not behave properly at their schools. This is just one of the new laws that the British government wants to implement. 

Read the article about Britain’s new laws that aim to improve discipline in schools.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/0906/090630-school_rules.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Should parents pay fines or go to prison for their children’s actions at their schools? Explain your stand.
  2. What is your opinion on implementing strict laws to improve discipline in schools?
  3. What do you think about parents attending parenting courses?
  4. How should a misbehaving student be disciplined? How are they disciplined at schools in your country?
  5. What are parents’ involvement in making schools better in your country?

Should We Ban Hate Speech

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Each person has their own opinion and often finds it necessary to share it with other people. However, this opinion is not always positive and tolerant, and often it can easily become hate speech. What does it mean? Should we always just be silent about certain matters?

Watch and get acquainted with censoring hate speech.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your opinion, should hate speech be censored? Support your stand.
  2. How can a person’s inner state be related to their disposition to hate speech?
  3. Why is it important to monitor the mental health of society while studying the phenomenon of hate speech?
  4. Is it possible to create organizations that work with victims affected by hate speech?
  5. How do social networks and the Internet, in general, affect the spread of hate speech?

Buzz Lightyear Film Banned

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The LGBT community is now somehow accepted by most of the countries all over the world to the point that we now have same-sex marriages and laws against LGBT discrimination in some places.

However, there are still countries that do not allow any kind of same-sex relationships nor any form of display of such relations.

The spin-off movie Buzz Lightyear has been banned in 14 countries because of a lesbian kissing scene between a female character Alisha Hawthorne, voiced by actress Uzo Aduba, and her female partner.

Let’s read the article below to learn more about the Buzz Lightyear film being banned in some countries over lesbian kiss.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61786355

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are you thoughts about these countries banning the movie?
  2. Should Disney just delete this scene? Why or why not?
  3. How will this ban affect the Disney movie?
  4. Do you think that showing LGBT scenes could affect the viewers, especially the younger ones? Share your opinion on this.
  5. How is the LGBT community viewed and treated in your country?
  6. Do you think that the LGBT community could be accepted by everyone in the future? Why or why not?

Tax Millionaires More

B1 – Intermediate

With global crises like the Coronavirus pandemic and the Ukraine war, it has been difficult for many countries and their citizens.  The prices of food and energy have increased a lot recently. 

It is necessary for global leaders to think of solutions to our many economic problems. Some millionaires think they should be taxed more by their governments.

Read the article about rich people asking their governments to tax them more.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2205/220526-millionaires-tax-1.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on these rich people asking their governments to increase their taxes?
  2. Do you think rich people are paying very little taxes? Should they pay higher taxes? Explain your opinion.
  3. How else can economies recover from economic crisis?
  4. How is the economy of your country now and what is your government’s plan to improve the economy of your country?
  5. How are you and everyone in your country affected by the the cost of living crisis?

Taliban Orders Women to Cover Their Faces

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Most of the time, we can tell how people feel simply by looking at their faces. Our faces show a lot of expressions. With the COVID-19 pandemic, this non-verbal communication has been hindered by the mandatory use of face masks.

In Afghanistan, however, it is not the use of face mask that conceals their women’s faces but the mandatory use of hijab that is part of Taliban’s new order for women to conceal their faces in public.

Let’s read the article and know more about this new decree.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/8/taliban-make-burqa-mandatory-for-afghan-women

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on this decree?
  2. What is the punishment for the violation of this decree?
  3. What other decrees issued by the Taliban inhibit women’s rights?
  4. How did the international community fail Afghan women according to some women’s rights activists?

Spanish Village Changes Name

B1 – Intermediate

The problem between Russia and Ukraine is getting worse and worse. It is necessary to find ways to make everyone know about the problem. We have to do our part to help the victims of this war.

As a way of helping, a Spanish village had decided to change its name from “Fuentes de Andalucia” to “Ukraine”. They also changed the names of some streets in their village.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about the Spanish village that changed its name.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/spanish-village-changes-name-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree with this change in the name of the village? Why or why not?
  2. How would you feel if your village or city changed its name?
  3. What are the good and bad things about changing the name of a place?
  4. What are ways to make people know about the problems in Ukraine?
  5. How can we help Ukraine?

Why Is It so Hard to Escape Poverty?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Poverty is one of the worst parts of society and is a major contributor to economic inequality. When people are in poverty, most governments give relief funds to help.

However, when they start being able to work, they find out that they are losing money, which encourages those in poverty to stop working, and so the next generations, and the cycle continues. This is known as the welfare trap.

To find out more, let’s watch this video about the paradox of poverty.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What strategies can the government use to prevent the welfare trap from happening?
  2. In your opinion, is the welfare trap important to try and fix?
  3. Have you heard or seen anyone stuck in this trap? Talk about them.
  4. What do you think about the universal basic income or free money with no strings attached?
  5. What are some government programs that address the issue of poverty in your country?

India’s Caste System

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Imagine being born in a group that predetermines the entire aspect of your future. From the school you are going, the job you are going to have and even the selected group where you can choose who you’re going to marry. This is India’s caste system.

Watch the video and find out the basic concept of this system.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is India’s caste system and how does it work?
  2. Who are the untouchables and why are they treated poorly?
  3. How does the caste system affect India’s social order?
  4. Do you find this social stratification fair? Share your opinion on this.
  5. Do you think the caste system can be completely eradicated? Explain your point.