# data[].attributes.headline
The Benefits of Volunteerism, if the Service Is Real”

# data[].attributes.subject
The Benefits of Volunteerism, if the Service Is Real”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Benefits of Volunteerism, if the Service Is Real

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Joseph E. Kahne, a professor of education at Mills College, and his colleagues just completed a survey of more than 500 teenagers in the 11th and 12th grades from a diverse set of 19 high schools in California. The researchers followed the students for up to three years after graduation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teen Vogue’s Political Coverage Isn’t Surprising”

# data[].attributes.subject
Teen Vogue’s Political Coverage Isn’t Surprising”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The publication's recent shift toward social issues, identity, and activism is giving its readers what they want.

On Saturday morning, Teen Vogue published an op-ed by Lauren Duca titled "Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America." The tone and message of the piece, which compared the ways in which the president-elect talks about his record to the ways abusive spouses psychologically manipulate their partners, struck a notable chord with readers on social media, garnering almost 30,000 retweets from Teen Vogue 's account, and getting shared by personalities from Patton Oswalt to Dan Rather. Many people tweeting the story did so with an incredulous tone, seeming surprised that a teen-oriented magazine was publishing incisive political coverage rather than makeup tutorials or One Direction interviews.

.@teenvogue may be an unlikely source for a detailed look at "Gaslighting" + Donald Trump, but there you have it... https://t.co/mgh534J8AG
- Dan Rather (@DanRather) December 11, 2016

Did not expect this exegesis of gaslighting and its relationship to current day politics from Teen Vogue https://t.co/cwNhZ6wvJH
- David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) December 10, 2016

But the tone of Duca's piece was representative of a larger shift Teen Vogue has made over the last year. In May, 29-year-old Elaine Welteroth took over as editor from Amy Astley, who helped found the magazine in 2003. Welteroth, the digital editorial director Phillip Picardi, and the creative director Marie Suter have moved the magazine more aggressively into covering politics, feminism, identity, and activism. Together, the three have shepherded a range of timely, newsy stories, including an interview exploring what it's like to be a Muslim woman facing a Trump presidency, a list of reasons why Mike Pence's record on women's rights and LGBTQ rights should trouble readers, and a video in which two Native American teenagers from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe discuss the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.

The pivot in editorial strategy has drawn praise on social media, with some writers commenting that Teen Vogue is doing a better job of covering important stories in 2016 than legacy news publications. But the move is also an intelligent one from a business perspective. Teenagers who've grown up on the internet are as likely to be informed about social issues as their parents are, and just as eager to read and share stories that reflect their concerns about the world. While some casual observers might seem surprised that a teen fashion magazine is focused on racism and sexism rather than on "hairstyles and celebrity gossip," their assumptions dismiss how attentive young readers are to politics-an interest Teen Vogue is astutely capitalizing on.

T een Vogue was founded in 2003 at the behest of Vogue's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, who tasked Astley, the magazine's beauty editor at the time, to conceive test issues of a spinoff publication for teens. The publication's early focus was fashion. "We are going to do what we do well, which is fashion, beauty, and style," Astley told The New York Times 's David Carr shortly before its launch. "A lot of other teen magazines are focused on relationships, boys, sex, and embarrassing moments. That is not our equity."

At the time, Carr noted, many rival teen publications were struggling. And since Teen Vogue debuted, a number of them- Elle Girl, CosmoGirl!, Teen People, Teen-have folded. * One of the challenges is that teen audiences tend to evolve faster than the adults catering to them can catch up. "It's always been such a volatile market because your audience morphs so rapidly," John Harrington, a publishing consultant, told in 2013. The genius of the current iteration of Teen Vogue is that it's caught on to its current readers' enthusiasm for topical issues in a timely enough fashion to actually engage them.

"I think in 2016 we found our footing and our voice as a publication in a strong way," Picardi, the publication's digital editorial director, told me via email. "Obviously, the election has provided unique circumstances and a real need for someone to dissect the news for young people. Since we are, in particular, a brand that speaks directly to millions of young women, we have a responsibility to do right by them and view the news through that very specific lens."
The September issue featured a personal essay by Hillary Clinton, a conversation between Amandla Stenberg and Gloria Steinem, and an interview with Loretta Lynch.
Teen Vogue's two strongest traffic days in 2016, Picardi says, were November 9, the day following the election, and Sunday, as Duca's piece about Trump picked up steam. (The publication's traffic is up 208 percent over the last 18 months; it reached 9.4 million uniques in November.) But he notes that the publication's coverage of politics is of a piece with its coverage of fashion, beauty, and entertainment. Its top five most-read pieces of the year speak to the myriad subjects Teen Vogue covers, as well as the diverse interests of teen girls:

1. Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America
2. How to Apply Glitter Nail Polish the Right Way
3. Netflix Arrivals October 2016: See the Full List
4. Mike Pence's Record on Reproductive and LGBTQ Rights Is Seriously Concerning
5. Dark Marks and Acne Scars: Your Complete Guide

In engaging with social issues, though, the magazine isn't breaking entirely new ground. On Sunday, Tavi Gevinson, the editor of Rookie, appeared to acknowledge other publications' debt to the magazine she founded at the age of 15. "Why should it be shocking that mainstream pubs reckoning w/ accountability culture & the rising currency of feminism are suddenly feminist?" she tweeted. (Gevinson was on the cover of the September issue of Teen Vogue, in a shoot styled by the longtime Vogue creative director Grace Coddington.) Later, she followed up with a lengthier statement:

Good will can and does coexist with wanting to make profit. I am saying that as the cultural currency/relevance of feminism goes up, confusing fiscal interest with moral interest and keeping our expectations of mainstream women's mags so low will make us more and more likely to confuse magazines doing what they need in order to stay relevant, with advancing the cause of feminism. Media literacy is more important now than ever, and we should never stop asking ourselves, after everything one reads, "how does it benefit this publication to post this?" this is an exciting moment in which places with lots of money and reach-in many industries: publishing, film, TV, art, etc.-have finally understood that women and teens do not, in fact, want to see stuff that makes them hate themselves. What a relief! But I would be remiss not to enjoy it all with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Rookie was launched in 2011 as a deliberate counterforce to much of the existing journalism for teenage girls. In creating Rookie, Gevinson-whose ability to connect with her peers and whimsical approach to clothing drew both praise and irritation within the fashion world- aimed to respect "a kind of intelligence in the readers that right now a lot of writing about teenage girls doesn't." Over the past five years, Rookie has published work by writers including Sady Doyle, Amy Rose Spiegel, and Jenny Zhang, in themed issues covering topics from "Action" to "Work" to "Consumption" to "Invention." But while traffic to rookiemag.com has declined recently, with Gevinson pursuing other acting and music opportunities, Teen Vogue's has been steadily climbing. This fall, Condé Nast announced its print magazine would be reduced to four issues a year, with the publication focusing more on digital readers.

Teen Vogue's recent September issue, typically the month in which fashion magazines focus on upcoming trends, was noteworthy for its politically oriented content. It featured a personal essay by the presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a conversation between the actor Amandla Stenberg with the feminist Gloria Steinem, and an interview with the U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch, conducted by the black-ish star Yara Shahidi. The issue also introduced " 21 Under 21," the magazine's "official guide to the girls and femmes changing the world." The list of young activists, artists, and advocates featured few household names, but a notable majority of young people of color.

If the magazine is finally gaining recognition among adults for its thoughtful, nuanced coverage of topical issues, it's less surprising to teen readers who've been for months taking in (and sharing) stories about the Standing Rock Protests or Texas's campus-carry laws. In many ways, Teen Vogue is simply doing what a fashion magazine does best: observing trends, and disseminating them. But it's also giving young women valuable information about issues they care about, not to mention taking them-and their manifold interests-seriously.

"When it comes to news and politics, we look at ourselves as an ally and a platform-particularly to young women, and young people from marginalized communities," Picardi said. "I think young people, and perhaps particularly young women are so wildly underestimated by the world at large, and I want us to be a platform that challenges that idea."
* This article originally referred to CosmoGirl! magazine as Cosmo Teen. We regret the error.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teen Vogue's Political Coverage Isn't Surprising

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The publication's recent shift toward social issues, identity, and activism is giving its readers what they want.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Last week, Michelle Obama traveled across the country promoting her "Let's Move" Campaign, which encourages schools, families, and communities to combat childhood obesity through healthy food and exercise. The First Lady is asking schools to do their part by providing nutritious meals and strong P.E. programs to their students-important goals, given that obesity can cause serious physical and mental health issues and reduce academic achievement among kids.

© MarkHatfield

But new scientific findings suggest that Mrs. Obama may need to add another component to her program: volunteering.

In a study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, 106 10th-grade students were asked to volunteer in after-school programs where they worked with elementary-aged children for 60 to 90 minutes per week for 10 weeks; another group of 10th graders, who were waitlisted for volunteering, served as a control group.

Compared to the non-volunteers, the students who volunteered showed a steep drop in risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including cholesterol levels and body mass index, at the end of 10 weeks. These benefits were even more pronounced for students whose empathy and altruistic behaviors increased the most and whose negative moods lessened over those 10 weeks.

So, while the study didn't focus on decreasing obesity specifically, it did show that volunteering may prevent one of its potential consequences: heart disease. And it has the added value of increasing kind, helpful (or "pro-social") behavior-a nice alternative to the low self-esteem and academic troubles that can result from childhood obesity.

The findings add an exciting new physical dimension to what scientists know about the many social and emotional benefits volunteering brings students, including: higher levels of positive emotions; a stronger ability to regulate their emotions; lower levels of risk behavior, such as early pregnancy and drug use; increased civic engagement and moral reasoning; and a greater likelihood of volunteering in adulthood.

So for schools that already provide volunteer opportunities for their students-keep up the great work! Research tells us that you're benefiting your students not only mentally and emotionally but physically as well.

But for those schools that haven't yet integrated volunteering into the curriculum, or for those that would like to make student volunteering more effective, here are some research-based tips.

1) Make service social. As much as possible, provide opportunities for students to engage directly with people who are receiving the service. One study discovered that student volunteers who worked directly with people versus those who didn't afterwards felt a stronger connection to other people in general, along with the belief that they could make a difference in the world. Another study showed that direct contact made students more likely to take a stand on issues they cared about, for instance by demonstrating or boycotting about those issues. In general, research has found that social connection provides a vast array of physical and mental health benefits, whereas loneliness weakens our cardiovascular and immune systems.

While the authors of the JAMA study didn't test different kinds of service, I think it's quite possible that volunteering helped the students' hearts because it fostered greater connections between them and younger students; indeed, if they felt stronger empathic connection to others, these cardiovascular benefits increased even more. I know when I was a teacher, I saw a significant change in my older students when they were given the responsibility of working with kindergartners. It was as if they had taken an empathy pill-one that made them more patient, understanding, and kind.

2) Service-learning vs. community service-take your pick! Some schools mandate community service through formal service-learning programs, while others make service voluntary through more informal community service opportunities.

According to researchers, it doesn't matter which way you go-both have the same positive impact on students, particularly when compared with students who never volunteer. So, what's important is that students are volunteering-period.

However, I would add from personal experience that requiring service might help students who would never consider volunteering try it out-and they just might fall in love with it. Case in point: One of my best friends was required to do community service in high school and found that working with autistic children changed his life. Rather than becoming a lawyer, he decided to teach high school and start his own fabulous service-learning program.

3) Consider the people and organizations receiving service. While most of the studies on service-learning and volunteering focus on the students who perform the service, some researchers decided to turn the lens around and ask those receiving service about their experience. And what they found isn't all roses.

Imagine this scenario: An enthusiastic 16-year old arrives at your workplace, ready to save the world. However, this teen has very few skills and even less knowledge about the work your organization does. Oh-and can only help three hours a week for six weeks total. Needless to say, the organizations interviewed for the study responded with a hearty, "AAACKK!!"

So when you're sending your students off to volunteer, be sure to communicate with the organizations ahead of time to find out what their needs are and consider if your students have the skills and time to fill those needs.

I take heart that so many schools already have volunteer programs in place-together, you're creating a world of do-gooders. And as we're learning, so many activities that are good for the world are also good for students' own minds, bodies, and hearts.
I'd love to hear from those of you who work with student volunteer programs about what does and doesn't work. Please leave a comment below if you'd like to share your experience with other readers.
Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
New research shows that adolescents who volunteer decrease their risk for heart disease.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Whether you're a freshman or a senior, high school is a great time to try things that you haven't done before - including volunteering.

Students may think it's not worth their time to get involved in the community because it doesn't pay like a normal job would. However, there are several benefits that volunteering can give you that no other job can.

Read on to find out about all the benefits of community service for you, your personal fulfillment, and practical purposes like college applications!

What Is Community Service?

Community service is when you work for free to help benefit the public or your community. Usually, students who choose to do community service do so as volunteers, meaning that they choose to help out because they want to do so. Community service can have a lot of positive effects on students, such as helping them to develop skills, making contacts, and allowing them to improve the quality of life of others.

You probably know some students in your school who choose to volunteer their free time through community service. There are many ways that you can do this, such as joining a non-profit organization, working with a church group, or you can choose a cause and create your own service project.

For some ideas of community service activities, see our list of volunteer ideas.

Volunteer work can range from the relatively simple, like helping coach the lacrosse team at your old junior high, to the much more complex, like starting a non-profit that helps settle new refugees in your area.

As I'm sure you can imagine, there are a lot of benefits to doing volunteer work. They include...

School Benefits

You may be familiar with community service already because it is something that your school requires. In fact, many high schools throughout the United States require their students to help out the community in some way in order to graduate. Though it's often on the honor system to report what you've done, these high schools may require up to 200 hours of community service before they're willing to grant a degree.

This type of requirement can be especially common at religious schools, and in particular at Christian schools. Many Christian schools set requirements based on the Biblical idea that it is the Christian's duty to do community outreach with whatever "gift" they have been given by God. Because of this, many of these Christian schools will have branches of Christian non-profits, such as the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity, on campus or affiliated with the school, which make it much easier for students to donate their time.

Many other schools require service learning. This term describes an approach to education that aims to connect lessons learned in the classroom with real-life lessons learned through community service. It is a practice that has become increasingly common in both high schools and universities in the United States, because educators like that the learning process benefits both the students and the communities. It allows students to learn more about their personal motivations, practice academic material outside of the context of the classroom and testing, develop critical thinking skills while solving real-world problems, and to think about problems and social issues in new ways.

This kind of experiential learning, or applying what you have learned in the classroom to the real world, has a lot of positive benefits for students apart from meeting a requirement to graduate. These include a better understanding of the value of teamwork, decision-making skills, development of leadership abilities, and the gain of practical skills.

For example, let's imagine that as part of your school-required community service or service learning, you've decided to use the writing skills you developed in AP English to volunteer at a local non-profit that raises awareness of Alzheimer's disease. As a strong writer, you may start out writing press releases for the charity. Immediately you would be developing a new skill: the ability to write for a targeted, non-academic audience. Working with a team, you would gain a better understanding of the importance of sharing information in a usable way. You might eventually expand your duties into other areas, such as managing the organization's social media accounts, which would further develop your writing skills.

Additionally, you would be gaining a new perspective on your community and on what life is like for a group of people that is often overlooked: the terminally ill. This could change how you see the world and your role in it.

In fact, many students report that this kind of personal development is the most valuable part of a service learning projects.

Personal Development Benefits

One of the big ways that students will benefit from volunteer work is through personal development.

This happens in a number of ways.

First of all, many students learn about their personal strengths and weaknesses. When you're working on campaigns and projects and getting to see real-life results, you'll get to know how your personal attributes and actions can make a difference. Many of these qualities are things that students can't get good feedback on in the classroom. For example, students may learn that they have excellent skills in coping with a crisis or other stressful situations, or may learn that they find taking charge of a team to be a struggle. This kind of exposure to different situations can then teach students how to further develop skills that they have, and how to work on areas they struggle in.

In particular, students find that they are able to develop skills in leadership, communication, working well with a team, and finding solutions for problems.

Many students also find that community service makes them more aware of and interested in issues of social justice.

For example, if you spend your days going to school, playing sports, and doing homework, you will likely not spend a lot of time thinking about the problems that homeless people encounter.

On the other hand, if you're working every day at a homeless shelter, you'll have a chance to dispel stereotypes about why people become homeless while also learning about the unique challenges that homeless people face in getting off the streets. Many homeless people face prejudice that makes returning to work and earning a self-supporting living more difficult than it is for non-homeless people.

Once people learn more about struggles and injustices that other groups of people face, they are statistically more likely to want to actively take part in making a change in the policies and social structures that keep certain groups from succeeding. This change can take many forms, such as active campaigning, voting in elections, and continuing to volunteer time to important causes.

Volunteering has also been shown to have one other, more tangible major personal benefit. Did you know that it's actually good for your health?

Want to build the best possible college application?
We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Health Benefits

Numerous studies over the past several years have shown that volunteering isn't just good for your mind and conscience; it's also good for your body. By focusing on others' problems instead of their own, students have reported reduced stress, and overall improvement in mood and health.

Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science found a link between self-reported levels of good health and happiness and formal volunteer work. Furthermore, a study by United Health Group says that 76% of people who have volunteered in the past twelve months say that volunteering has made them feel happier, and 94% of people report that it improves their mood. 78% of volunteers say that it has lowered their stress levels.

Volunteering can also help protect people from depression during challenging times, as it tends to help create a strong support system for participants. Volunteering also keeps people physically healthy by keeping them active. Certain activities, such as working to clean up a park or a beach, can be good exercise. Studies have shown that especially as people get older, volunteering in these kinds of projects can keep people healthy and can even lessen the symptoms of certain diseases.

Of course, not all the benefits of volunteering are limited to the volunteer. Another big way that people benefit is in their involvement with their community.

Community Benefits

Volunteering allows students to become directly involved in their communities. Some students don't realize how important volunteers are to the country and to many organizations. But try to imagine if no volunteers showed up to work tomorrow. Can you imagine what would change?

Volunteers are responsible for many things that we take for granted. When hurricanes hit the south coast or wildfires burn up California, volunteers are critical in helping victims get re-settled, fed, and back to their "normal" lives as quickly as possible. Without volunteers, many of our country's elderly would not be able to get food. Our parks and beaches would be much dirtier. Our children would struggle more without the help of volunteer tutors and mentors.

To get a real idea of how important volunteers are to keeping the country running, let's look at the numbers.

The Corporation for National and Community Service says that in 2013, 62.6 million Americans volunteered 7.7 billion hours of work. The estimated value of this work is almost $173 billion. That's almost as much as the GDP of Ukraine - just in volunteer hours!

The top activities performed included raising money for important causes; collecting, preparing, and giving out food to people who need it; providing labor and transportation; tutoring and mentoring youth; and lending professional expertise.

Furthermore, volunteers are almost twice as likely to donate to charities as non-volunteers. In all, just over 50% of Americans donated over $25 to charities in 2013, making at least $4 billion in donations.

The knowledge that they are making a real difference also affects student volunteers on a more personal level. When students know their work is helping someone, they show increased rates of self-esteem. Furthermore, students who volunteer are more likely to become actively involved citizens who take a strong interest in current events and local affairs, and are much more likely to vote.

Apart from helping out your community here and now, you'll also be helping out your future self.

College Benefits

Have you ever wondered if volunteering makes a big difference in college admissions?

The truth is that it's one of the most popular extracurricular activities that students list on their college applications. And while colleges don't necessarily expect students to have spent all their free time volunteering, schools (especially the more competitive ones) will usually notice a total lack of community service.

Colleges like seeing that students have done community service. Keep in mind that most universities want to admit students who are actively involved in activities that better themselves, and eventually, will better the world. Students who have been actively involved in community service in high school show colleges that they will be the type of student who will be actively involved in making the college community a better place to be. Eventually, that they will be the kind of people who care about changing the world.

On a more practical level, the personal benefits and development that you will get from volunteering can be great topic matter for a college application essay.

The people you work with on community service projects will be good people to turn to when the time comes for letters of recommendation. They'll be able to speak to your leadership abilities, passion, and character. Finally, doing this kind of work shows prospective schools that you can balance activities with your schoolwork and that you have good time management.

Did you know that your volunteer work can also be helpful in paying for college? See our list of community service scholarships to see how you can make volunteering work for you financially.

The good news doesn't end there, though. The benefits of volunteering will follow you out of school and into the workplace, as well.

Professional Benefits

Did you know that employers love volunteers?

TimeBank, a UK-based volunteering charity, and Reed, a recruitment company, partnered to create a study on how employers think about volunteer work. The results were very positive for those who have chosen to donate their time:

84% of employers agreed that volunteering is a good way for people to find work.

70% of employers said that volunteers have a better chance of getting a higher salary and a promotion.

80% of employers said that they like to see volunteer work on a resume.

23% of employers said that volunteering had helped their staff learn key skills, such as time management, communication skills, and leadership skills.

The study also showed that half of the employees surveyed thought that their volunteer experience had helped them land their job, and up to 20% of employees thought that their volunteer experience helped them gain key skills in communication, leadership, and time management that were important to their jobs.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways that your community service work will help you down the road once you start work, beginning with what you choose to do.

Volunteering is a great way to explore different interests. High school students who do community service can try different kinds of work and work environments that they otherwise would likely not be exposed to at such a young age. Most paying jobs that high school students are eligible for - such as working in fast food - are not the most interesting. But volunteering can give you a chance to try things that you will be interested in as a career, such as working in social media, organizing events, or working in a specific type of institution such as a hospital.

The experiences that you gain will also look great on your resume. Future employers will likely be much more interested in hearing about a fundraiser that you ran than they will be in hearing about your burger flipping skills. Why? A lot of the personal development benefits discussed above, such as leadership skills and the ability to collaborate with a team, are things that translate well to many jobs and workplaces.

Networking is another major benefit of volunteering. As a volunteer, you will be very likely to meet like-minded individuals who share your interests. In the future, these people can be important contacts for writing letters of recommendation and for putting you in touch with the right people for scholarships and jobs.

Now that you know that community service is an extracurricular that will help you out in your personal life, as well as in high school, college, and your professional life, what are you waiting for?

How to Get Started

If you've decided you're ready to take the plunge, here are some Do's and Don'ts to get you started in your volunteer career.

Do try to find the right opportunity for you. It's important to find something that you are going to enjoy and that you are capable of doing well. Ask yourself what kind of people you like working with (kids? people your own age?), whether you work better alone or as part of a team, how much time you have to commit and how much responsibility you can take on, and what special skills you have that you can contribute.

Don't volunteer abroad just because you think it looks better. Especially for college applications, admissions officers prefer to see a local long-term volunteer commitment than something that has only lasted a week or two during a summer break. Some volunteer abroad programs can also cause more trouble than good to local people.

Do try to find a cause that you are passionate about. If you have always had an affinity for animals, try working at a shelter or a charity working on animal rights. If you have always valued education, try tutoring or an education charity. The more you care about the cause, the more dedicated you will be to continue working for it over a long period of time.

Don't be afraid of making a change. Ask questions when something doesn't seem right. If you end up doing work that doesn't seem like a good fit, is causing excessive stress, or if the experience isn't allowing you to do the things you thought you would be working on, it's ok to leave to find something else.

Do enjoy yourself! The more you are having fun with volunteering, the more it will be a positive experience both for you and the organization you are working with.

What's Next?

Now that you know the benefits, check out the 9 best places to do community service.

If you need money for college, volunteering may be the answer. Check out our list of volunteer scholarships.

Want to use your community service for your college applications? Check out how to write a good community service essay and how to get a community service letter.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why should you do community service? What are the benefits of volunteering for teens and college applications? Learn here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Robin Utrecht / Xinhua / Zuma Press

This Friday, the Nobel committee announces the 2013 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. As far as global opinion is concerned, the award is a 16-year-old Pakistani girl's to lose.

Long before she became a global symbol of children's education, Malala Yousufzai was one girl squirming under the thumb of the Pakistani Taliban, whose draconian interpretation of Islamic law saw girls' schools closed in her hometown of Mingora in early 2009. In a frank and witty blog published on the BBC Urdu website under a pseudonym, Malala, then 11-years-old, chafed at the new regulations that limited her freedom, stopped her from learning and kept her from seeing her friends. The pseudonym, of course, was meant to protect her identity, but it was not long before her private persona-the outspoken daughter of a prominent school administrator-meshed with her public one, and she took her demand that a girls' right to education be recognized across Pakistan to a national audience, appearing several times on TV talk shows and eventually in an international documentary. "I wanted to speak up for my rights," she told the BBC on Monday, when reminiscing about her early activism. "And also I didn't want my future to be just sitting in a room and be imprisoned in my four walls and just cooking and giving birth to children. I didn't want to see my life in that way."

Malala's adolescent campaign to educate her country's girls might have stuttered along with little more than a condescending pat on the head for years-after all, Pakistan, riven by insurgencies, beset by economic crisis and threatened by the advance of a fundamentalist uprising in the tribal areas along the Afghan border, was simply struggling to maintain status quo-but for the fact that the Taliban tried to keep her quiet. On Oct. 9, 2012, long after Malala's quest had faded from national headlines, a gunman bounded into her school bus one afternoon and shot her point blank in the face. That Malala survived, with her mind, her voice and her luminous smile still intact, is nothing short of miraculous. Whether that miracle is attributable to God, as Malala says, or to the doctors in Pakistan who performed the initial surgery to relieve swelling on the brain and the surgeons in Birmingham, England who followed up with reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation therapy, is immaterial compared to what she did next. She kept fighting.

Less than four months after the shooting, Malala appeared in a video announcing that she was taking her campaign for girl's education global through a new charity: "I want every girl, every child to be educated. And for that reason, we have organized Malala Fund." On March 19, 2013, she returned to school, this time in Birmingham. On July 12, her 16th birthday, she appeared before the United Nations at a specially-convened assembly of 1000 youth leaders to exhort nations to make education a priority. "Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons," she said in a voice ringing with strength and conviction. "One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first."

( MORE: Malala's global celebrity not matched at home.)

By winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala would join a long list of recipients that have sought to achieve peace through human development, from Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank in 2006 to Médecins Sans Frontières in 1999. To Malala, peace and education are inextricable; without one, you can't have the other. "I hope that a day will come [when] the people of Pakistan will be free, they will have their rights, there will be peace and every girl and every boy will be going to school," she told the BBC. Peace, she suggested, starts with a conversation. "The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue," she told the BBC, an exhortation that she hopes her Taliban attackers will follow as well. "They must do what they want through dialogue," she said. "Killing people, torturing people and flogging people ... it's totally against Islam. They are misusing the name of Islam."

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman quickly rejoined with a threat, telling AFP "We will target her again and attack whenever we have the chance." It's a threat that Malala easily shrugs off. "I don't know why, but hearing I was being targeted did not worry me," she wrote about earlier Taliban threats against her and her family in her recently-released autobiography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. "It seemed to me that everyone knows they will die one day. So I should do whatever I want to do." In an appearance Tuesday on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, after he offered to adopt her, Malala recounted an early conversation she had with herself when she first heard of Taliban threats to her life, when she was 12. First, she said, she thought she would hit any Taliban attacker with her shoe-a comment that drew hearty chuckles. She added: "I said to myself, if you hit a Talib with your shoe, there will be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with that much cruelty and harshness. You must fight others, but through peace and through dialogue and through education." Then, she said to herself, "I will tell him how important education is and that I even want education for [his] children as well." Even Stewart choked up.

Little seems to have changed in the wake of the shooting. "I was spared for a reason - to use my life for helping people," she writes in her book. In the BBC interview, she reiterated her desire to return to Pakistan one day to become a politician. One that will make education compulsory for both boys and girls. If anything, she says, the Taliban attack only amplified her voice. "When I was shot they thought the people would be silenced, they thought that no one would talk," she told the BBC. "I think they might be repenting why they shot Malala."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Malala Marches Toward the Nobel Peace Prize | TIME.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This Friday, the Nobel committee announces the 2013 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. As far as global opinion is concerned, the award is a 16-year-old Pakistani girl's to lose.

# data[].attributes.headline
Malala Marches Toward the Nobel Peace Prize

# data[].attributes.subject
Malala Marches Toward the Nobel Peace Prize

# data[].attributes.headline
Interview with Mary Grace Henry, founder of Reverse The Course

# data[].attributes.subject
Interview with Mary Grace Henry, founder of Reverse The Course

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One of Mary Grace Henry's favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa:

Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.

- Mother Teresa

Doing small things with great love epitomizes the work of Mary Grace, recipient of our 2014 Youth Award. That combined with an ability to achieve anything she puts her mind to.

"My advice is just to begin," Mary Grace told us. "When you see a need, act. Dream big, but start small, taking little steps."

When she was 12, Mary Grace became determined to change the life of an underprivileged girl by funding her education. She taught herself how to make reversible headbands with a plan to use 100% of the profits to send girls living in extreme poverty to school.

"I realized that the very best tool that would give someone a real chance was one she could use to pursue her own dreams: an education," Mary Grace said.

Undaunted by the fact that she knew nothing about sewing or running a business, Mary Grace got to work. She asked her parents for an early birthday present - a sewing machine, practiced sewing headbands for months, and eventually made enough to sell at her school's bookstore.

Pretty soon, Mary Grace had raised enough money to reach her goal. But she couldn't stop there: so many other girls still did not have access to education.

"The greatest obstacle to education faced by both girls and boys is poverty," Mary Grace said. "Girls, though, face a second hurdle that is far more difficult to address: their culture. In many countries throughout the world, girls are viewed as having not just lesser value than boys, but often devastatingly little or no value."

Today, Mary Grace is the Founder of Reverse The Course, a social business that has sold more than 11,000 hair accessories, through her website and through retail partners in seven states, to fund the education of girls in Kenya, Uganda, Paraguay and Haiti.

Read more below about why Mary Grace started Reverse The Course, and why she doesn't plan on slowing down anytime soon:

1. What do you think is the number one obstacle preventing girls from getting an education?
The greatest obstacle to education faced by both girls and boys is poverty. Girls, though, face a second hurdle that is far more difficult to address: their culture. In many countries throughout the world, girls are viewed as having not just lesser value than boys, but often devastatingly little or no value.

This manifests itself in different ways depending on geography and, in many countries, religion. Girls are aborted because families do not want to pay a dowry; desperately poor families sell their daughters, dooming them to lives chained to a sewing machines 15 hours a day; in many regions, women and girls are used as "free labor;" in places where a woman's value is in the number of children she bears, girls as young as 11 and 12 are married. Families often believe it is better to invest in sons who will remain with them than in daughters who will join their husbands' families.

Though the patriarchal society dominant in so many countries perpetuates the discrimination against girls, the passage of laws mandating primary school education for girls has finally helped put a crack in these barriers.

2. What does it mean to you to win a World of Children?
It means that I am part of something bigger than my dream, part of an entire community that cares deeply about the fate of the most vulnerable: children.

World of Children's network will be a resource in ways I have yet to comprehend. This Award is a seal of approval that will allow us to become more financially stable, ensuring the Foundation's ability to expand and continue our mission to educate girls.

The World of Children Youth Award validates my work as being effective, empowering and life-changing in "reversing the course" of marginalized girls' lives. I am humbled and forever grateful that I've been chosen for this extraordinary honor.

3. Do you have any advice for any other young people who want to start programs for vulnerable children?
One of my favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa: "Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love."

My advice is to just begin. When you see a need, act. Dream big, but start small, taking little steps. Set an initial goal and don't scare yourself thinking about the "what ifs." Each step taken will present both new opportunities and new challenges. Face each one as it comes and then keep going. All those little steps, done with love, will lead you to places impossible to imagine.

4. With all that you have accomplished, could you share one moment that has stuck with you?
Growing up, I was always talking about what I wanted to be. I spent a year wanting to be an artist, another a teacher, several years envisioning myself as an astronaut.

When I asked Barbara Lee Shaw, the Founder of the Maasai Girls Education Fund, to find out what our students wanted to be, I expected to hear similar answers.

A month later, Barbara called me to say that when the girls were asked to write me a little note answering my question, they sat looking at the discussion leader, Lucy, silently. When she repeated the request, one girl raised her hand and asked what did "to be" mean. As Lucy explained, one girl looked shocked and said she never thought she could be anything except what the village elders told her to be. Another girl began to cry as she thought about all the possibilities before her. That was when I fully comprehended my work was really accomplishing what I hoped: giving girls the chance to define their own dreams.
On November 6, Mary Grace will be honored in New York City with the 2014 World of Children Youth Award at our annual Awards Ceremony along with 5 other extraordinary changemakers for children. Learn more >>

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Interview with Mary Grace Henry, founder of Reverse The Course, World of Children

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One of Mary Grace Henry's favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa: Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa Doing small things with great love epitomizes the work of Mary Grace, recipient of our 2014 Youth Award.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Six people under 20 who’ve already helped change the world

# data[].attributes.headline
Six people under 20 who’ve already helped change the world

# data[].attributes.subject
Six people under 20 who’ve already helped change the world

# data[].attributes.headline
Kids vs Global Warming: How teens are making a difference

# data[].attributes.subject
Kids vs Global Warming: How teens are making a difference

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teens care about more than just dating, going out on a Friday night and getting their driver's licenses. Some teens are taking action on big initiatives, like putting an end to global warming. Learn how Alec Loorz from the iMatter movement is working to help save the earth.

Alec Loorz makes your average 40-year-old, stay-at-home mom really re-think her bucket list.

By age 18, he had sued the U.S. government, trained with Al Gore, shared philosophies with the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and inspired tens of thousands of youth from 45 countries and more than 200 cities to march in their streets with a unified message - "Our future matters!"

Alec and his mother, Victoria, launched Kids vs Global Warming when Alec was only 13 years old. The iMatter Campaign, an initiative of Kids vs Global Warming, began in 2009. Its mission is to "empower youth to become the voice of the climate crisis so that our society wakes up and actually begins to live as if our future matters."

Alec says he didn't set out to spark a movement. "I just did what I felt I needed to do to raise awareness that my generation's future was at stake, and we all need to be involved in bringing about a new way of living if we are going to survive," he explains. "I guess that really resonated with people."

Youth passion needs matching funds

The iMatter Youth Council (iMYC) is an international team of young leaders who act as spokespeople for their generation through school presentations, speeches, videos, blogs and articles. But iMYC isn't just talk.

Members also organize marches and meet with government officials. The goal is to change the way people think, live and act.

But big goals often need big budgets - and that's where iMatter struggles.

"We need to build infrastructure and raise funds to keep up with the momentum," says Victoria Loorz, Alec's mother and the executive director of iMatter. "It's a huge challenge. I know there are many people out there who would want to join us in our work, but it's a skill we're still learning."

Climate crisis is "moral issue"

While Al Gore inspired much of Alec's philosophy on climate change, iMatter hopes to differentiate itself from the liberal pigeonhole into which many environmental organizations find themselves plunged.

"The climate crisis is not a political issue," Victoria says. "In fact, it's not even an environmental issue. It's a moral issue. But corporate money from oil interests have made it into a political one."

Akilah Sanders-Reed, 18, is an iMatter youth council member and student at Macalester College. She has been a climate activist since she was about 14 years old.

"Climate action isn't some strange litmus test for how liberal or conservative a person is," Akilah says. "It's a test of a person's commitment to every young and future American, and every citizen of the planet."

Adult support, partnership is key

In addition to recruiting Republicans, iMatter hopes to attract individuals with large fan bases to help organically expand iMatter's reach. While growing funding and reach are paramount, iMatter's long-term goal is "to see some actual change in our political system to reduce carbon emissions as prescribed by scientists to bring down carbon levels to 350 ppm," explains Valerie Serrels, mother to three teens who have worked with iMatter. Valerie is also coordinator of the iMatter youth council for Kids vs Global Warming.

While Kids vs Global Warming is primarily driven by youth, the organization says it strives to involve parents and plans to launch a mentor program this year. "Elders are needed as much as youth are," says Victoria, Alec's mother. "Both need to be honored, supported and mobilized together."

Grant Serrels, 17, is an iMatter youth council member and Valerie's son. He describes why he believes this youth movement is poised to succeed.

"The unique thing about youth leadership as part of the climate movement is that our voices represent future generations and put focus on the need to change the way we live, act, use, abuse and profit from our environment," he says. "History has shown us that a movement of young people can bring change."

In 50 years, Larry King will be dead, "but I won't be"

Alec says his passion is especially fueled by people who tell him something cannot be done.

"I love it when people tell me that!" he says. "It makes me mad and I have to prove them wrong. Larry King stated the problem plainly... a few years ago [when he said], 'Nobody cares about what's going to happen in 50 years.'"

"Well that's easy for him to say, he'll be dead," Alec points out. "But I won't be. Our children won't be. This planet won't be. So I believe that it is up to us - the youngest generation - to stand up and ignite a movement that will change the mindset of every person on this planet.

"In fact, I believe it's what we were born to do."

More about kids making a difference
8 Earth Day traditions kids will love
What your kids should know about global warming
Volunteering opportunities for teens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teens care about more than just dating, going out on a Friday night and getting their driver's licenses. Some teens are taking action on big initiatives, like putting an end to global warming. Learn how Alec Loorz from the iMatter movement is working to help save the earth.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teens Help Teens Through Targeted Volunteer Work

# data[].attributes.subject
Teens Help Teens Through Targeted Volunteer Work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Students can choose from any number of activities to enrich their social and educational experiences while in high school. One that can provide unique benefits is volunteering.

Some high schools require students to accumulate a certain amount of service-learning hours in order to graduate, but students should welcome opportunities to volunteer even when it's not required, experts agree.

Volunteering presents a tangible way for students to make a positive impact in their community and help organizations accomplish their missions, all while bolstering students' resumes for college applications and jobs.

Volunteering is a two-way street, with both the high school student and organization benefitting, says Jennifer Bennett, director of education and training for California-based VolunteerMatch. As a student, she says, you should consider, "What could you learn? What could you explore? What problem or challenge do you see in your community to be able to make a difference around you, or somebody you might be able to help?"

Here are some of the many reasons high school students should consider doing volunteer work in their spare time.

The Benefits of Volunteering as a High Schooler

Community Perspective

One of the immediate benefits of volunteering is that it allows students to be in tune with and give back to their local community.

Due to staffing and budget constraints, some organizations rely on volunteers to achieve their mission. And for many teenagers, doing volunteer work is a chance to experience a culture or group of people that they wouldn't have otherwise encountered.

It's also a chance to become aware of problems in their community that they may not otherwise have known about. That was the case for Laura Rusk, now a student at Indiana University-Bloomington's Mauer School of Law. In high school she volunteered with Indiana Legal Services, a nonprofit that offers free legal services to low-income individuals. For the first time, she saw that members of the homeless community dealt with legal issues and often didn't have many places to turn for help.

"These are real issues for real people," Rusk says.

Rusk was also a member of her high school's student council, which prioritized community service.Those experiences, coupled with ones she sought out on her own, were invaluable during her high school years, she says.

"It gave me a lot of opportunities to meet people from different backgrounds who were having very different lived experiences in this city that I was never even aware of - different community problems and things like that," she says.

Gaining this perspective can help students become more well-rounded when they enter college and eventually the professional world, says Melanie Keeling, a college and career-transition readiness coach at Warren East High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

"It shows a certain kind of connection to your community when you do that because you want to give back," she says.

Develop Career Skills and Interests

For high school students who are undecided about a career path or college major, volunteering can help narrow down potential areas of interest.

Students can learn an assortment of skills, from hands-on manual labor to office and administrative skills, says Marie Schwartz, CEO and founder of TeenLife, a company that helps students in grades 7-12 find community service opportunities.

"Lack of exposure is the biggest barrier to success," she says. "Volunteering is one of those ways to get that exposure at no cost."

It can also be a "low-risk way" of figuring out what skills students have and want to apply in the real world, says Kathryn Campbell, associate director of editorial policy at the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce.

"You might think you want to do one thing, but when you're in a workplace, you might find that you don't like it in the same way you thought you would," Campbell says.

If students stay engaged with nonprofits or other community organizations for an extended period of time, it can serve the same purpose as a job, experts say. Students learn skills like responsibility, punctuality and being accountable. They also cultivate leadership skills and learn how to delegate tasks to others.

Those competencies are attractive on college applications and are things eventual employers look for, Keeling says.

"Many of them are willing to trade off the perfect 4.0 for a person who's got gumption, a person who's willing to get teeth in the game, a person who is a self-starter," she says.

Networking and Mentorship

In addition, experts say the relationships students build during volunteer opportunities can be useful down the road when applying to college or for jobs.

Rusk volunteered on a local politician's campaign while in high school in addition to her legal volunteering. She credits that experience with spurring her passion for public policy and says the relationships she built there have connected her with internships while in college and law school. In college she interned for a U.S. congressman and she spent this past summer with Lambda Legal, a nonprofit civil rights advocacy group that offers free legal services for LGBTQ individuals.

Schwartz says she's heard similar stories from students, as well as from businesses that later hired former volunteers.

Volunteer Opportunities for High Schoolers

While it can be tempting for students to fill their resume with a lot of different volunteer experiences, experts say it's better for students to stay focused.

"Hopscotching around," as Schwartz calls it, might signal to colleges that a student is trying to pad their resume, while "fewer, more intense experiences" allow the student to see a project through and show commitment to a cause.

Organizations like TeenLife and VolunteerMatch can help students and parents to find applicable volunteer opportunities in their geographic region. There are also now more virtual volunteering opportunities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Brilliant Detroit, an organization focused on early childhood development, accepts volunteers to serve as virtual literacy tutors and story readers.

As students are beginning their search, here are a few practical opportunities that Schwartz suggests, in various fields of interest:

Teach computer skills at a local senior center

Help at a walk-a-thon like Race for the Cure or Relay for Life

Donate food to a local food bank

Work on a political campaign or at an election day voting site

Provide social media services for a nonprofit

Tutor students in an afterschool program

Students can also look to organizations like the Boys & Girls Club, Special Olympics, Best Buddies International and Big Brothers Big Sisters, many of which have local chapters, for chances to volunteer.

No matter what students choose to do, they'll grow from the experience, Bennett says. "It gives kids that opportunity to explore the things that they're passionate about, find those things that matter to them and then make a difference."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Find Volunteer Opportunities for High Schoolers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Volunteering can help students grow into more well-rounded people while also helping others, experts say.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Featuring Jaden Smith, Maddie Ziegler, Kylie Jenner and more

# data[].attributes.headline
Capres Willow Turner Organized a London Black Lives Matter Protest

# data[].attributes.subject
Capres Willow Turner Organized a London Black Lives Matter Protest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Last summer, while checking Twitter, Capres Willow, then 18, noticed a particularly jarring video on her feed. The video was of Philando Castile, a black man shot and killed by Minnesota police during a traffic stop while driving with his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter. Capres, who lives in a suburb of London and is now 19, was outraged by the images she saw of Castile sitting there, bleeding to death in the driver's seat.

"I lost my mom when I was younger and I just remember thinking, 'there's a little girl in the backseat watching [her mother's boyfriend] being killed,'" Capres tells Teen Vogue. Not only was it jarring because she was watching a death happen over Twitter, but "then I'm watching [the] family witness the murder as well, and then nothing is going to happen about [it], like it's OK that this is happening," she adds. "That's what really got me riled up and frustrated me because it was just, like, why? What's going on with the world? I thought we had hope. I thought things were getting better."

At the time, the issue of police brutality was dominating the news cycle in America with not only the death of Philando Castile, but also of Alton Sterling, a black man who was fatally shot by Baton Rouge, Louisiana police. Shaken to the core after watching the video of Castile in particular, a fire lit within Capres, springing her to action. "I was like you know what, I'm tired of everybody just ranting. We need to show the world - and grab media attention - that we are in solidarity with the U.S. and what's going on over there," she says.

Capres took to Facebook to organize a Black Lives Matter protest in Central London that would commence at the Oxford Circus tube station on July 10, 2016. She posted a screenshot of the event page on Twitter, and people immediately began sharing it onto their own accounts. Eventually, it caught the attention of the BBC - they tweeted it out - as well as singer-songwriter, Kehlani, who posted it on her Instagram page.

When July 10th arrived, Capres was nervous having never planned a protest before at that point. On the day, she had simply set out on the London tube wishing for the best. "I [didn't] even have a megaphone," Capres admits. She had only expected a handful of people to show up - 30 at most, she recalls. To her surprise, far more showed up. "I walked out of Oxford Circus station and there's already like 60 people there and I'm like, oh my gosh, what do I do?" A novice protester, let alone organizer, Capres walked up to the police officers on the premise for guidance, to which they instructed her to address the crowd about the day's agenda. Standing on her tippy toes, she shouted into the crowd, "Hello everybody, thank you so much for coming. It's going to be an amazing day!" At that it was. As the day rolled on, a plethora of people joined in on the organized march, cheering and chanting slogans to spread the poignant message of Black Lives Matter. In the end, approximately 3,000 people attended, a feat that still stuns Capres.

In the days after the protest, Capres received a range of responses from the public, including messages from people who had put on events in their own communities after being inspired by her. While the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, she did receive some negativity from someone expressing their skepticism about her being an inexperienced teenager involved in a critical global movement, Capres recalls. Thankfully, she hasn't let those negative comments deter her, knowing all too well the importance of being civically engaged no matter your age.

Now a university student at Goldsmiths, University of London, studying sociology and anthropology, Capres is committed to expanding her knowledge and understanding of race relations and pressing humanitarian issues. Having organized a widely-attended protest as a teenager, Capres is a prime example of the immense power young people have in bringing to light the civil rights issues of our time.
Related:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Meet the Teen Who Organized a Black Lives Matter Protest Attended By THOUSANDS of People

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rising activist Capres Willow Turner talked to Teen Vogue about the surreal experience of organizing a #BlackLivesMatter protest in London when she was just 18-years-old.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teens in France Have Been Leading MAJOR Protests

# data[].attributes.subject
Teens in France Have Been Leading MAJOR Protests

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On April 23, in France, Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, and Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Front party, were chosen by voters as the top two candidates in the first round of the country's presidential election, sparking demonstrations in Paris, Rennes, and elsewhere across the country.

Students of the French equivalent of high school, called lycée, took to the streets in protest against both candidates as part of what's being called "Night of the Barricades." High schools shut down as students fought with police in the streets. It was one of the latest in a series of massive protests held over the last 15 months, largely led by high school and college students.

This resistance has risen out of a variety of struggles. Even before the recent election, French youth helped lead major protests against rallies held by the National Front in Bordeaux on April 2 and in Paris on April 16, bringing together refugees and anti-fascists to combat Le Pen's anti-immigrant, nationalistic rhetoric.

While it's difficult to speculate on the ages of the young protestors, as they often keep their faces covered, most enrolled in lycée are between 15 and 18 years old. They are violently opposed to Le Pen and her far-right National Front party. But these protests have equally targeted Macron, whom students worry will prioritize the concerns of banks and financial institutions over the desires of French students and workers, continuing the unpopular labor reforms begun by current president François Hollande.

As recently as May 1, French students took to the streets for reasons not unfamiliar to other young people in countries around the world: They're tired of wage inequality, police brutality, racism, and a political system that they believe makes big promises but leaves too many behind. In order to better understand their struggle and the yearlong protests they've led across France ahead of the final presidential vote on Sunday, we are here to help explain their positions.
The movement started in March 2016 in protest of the current government.
Since then, students have continued to be at the forefront of many major political struggles in France. They are largely unaffiliated with existing formal political organizations, but feel President Hollande's Socialist party failed in its campaign promise to help French youth, who have suffered greatly in the economic downturn after the 2008 financial crisis. The administration introduced a law, known as the "loi travail," or "labor law," which gave more power to businesses in labor negotiations, making it easier to fire employees or avoid paying them overtime. Faced with this prospect, high school students decided to take matters into their own hands and called for massive demonstrations against the proposed law.
They managed to shut down city streets - and their schools.
High schools all over Paris were shut down by their own students who blockaded school doors, choosing instead to take to the streets in opposition to the government. These massive demonstrations continued almost every day for the entire month of March last year, growing in size and determination, despite often-violent police repression. "Tout le monde déteste la police," or "Everyone hates the police," became a rallying cry for protesters against inequality, the mistreatment of refugees, racist policing, and government corruption. What started specifically in protest of the labor law expanded to include criticism of the French government as a whole.
They've been joined in solidarity by other groups across France.
At the end of March 2016, an occupation known as Nuit Debout was launched in the Place de République in Paris, where students were joined by refugees, factory workers, teachers, anarchists, and many others. At its height, the marches launched by Nuit Debout gathered several hundred thousand people from across the nation. When the labor law was passed in July, the occupation and protests continued throughout the summer and fall, including a massive student demonstration on September 15, the first day of the school year, in which informal groups of students vowed to continue their struggle. (At the same time, France's powerful unions expressed that they might give up.)
Police violence has informed French protests, too.
In February of this year, Théo, a 22-year-old black man, was raped and beaten by police in a Paris suburb. This launched yet another new wave of student protests against police racism, brutality, and the state. Students again blockaded their schools, demanding justice for Théo and all victims of police brutality. At least 16 high schools were closed as a result.
And though they're denouncing electoral candidates, some consider themselves totally "ungovernable."
While these students renounce their current president and both candidates in the current election, they continually posit that the path to a better life cannot be found in any presidential candidate or in any governmental structure at all. Rather, the "Ungovernable Generation" believes that creative, collective solutions, implemented from the ground up, will build a more just, free, and joyful world. In their rejection of Macron along with Le Pen, the students deny both the regressive nationalism of the right (the National Front's leaders have been accused of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial), and the unwelcome alternative of continuing with the status quo offered by Macron and his predecessor Hollande.
No matter what happens next, they're likely to fight.
The second round of the French presidential election, from which either Macron or Le Pen will emerge as the new president, will take place on May 7. While Macron is projected to win, the result, of course, is uncertain. What is certain is that these students - who blockade, carry banners, and chant, "Not Marine nor Macon, not homeland nor bosses" - won't be happy about the result. But they also won't stop trying to build the world they want to see.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
All The Major Anti-Government Protests in France Are Led By TEENS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For over a year, students in France have led massive anti-government protests across the country.

# data[].attributes.headline
High School Students Making A Difference In The Lives Of Others”

# data[].attributes.subject
High School Students Making A Difference In The Lives Of Others”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As we reflect on the ways Americans of all ages across the country helped each other in the aftermath of 9/11, it seemed fitting for us to ask high-school students in North Hollywood, California, where Ernestine Fu went to school, to tell us about an experience in which they helped others in their community. We received almost 100 thoughtful responses. Read together, they make clear that these teenagers are committed to community service and are gaining a deep sense of satisfaction in that service.

Here are ten ways youth are making a difference today.
1) Sana Ahmed
Sana Ahmed described a cigarette pick-up at North Hollywood Park. The event was organized by her school's American Cancer Society (ACS), which works to alert people to the dangers of smoking. The cigarette butts were saved in a large container and used as a symbol in teaching others about the hazards of smoking among other cancer causing activities.

"Just on our short walk to the park, we were able to collect about three hundred butts, which were located around the sidewalk. By a nearby freeway entrance, we were able to find a shocking amount of cigarette butts... After about two hours, we had collected about 2,300 butts in all. Everyone, including the people in the park, had big smiles on their faces because of the pride of what we had just accomplished."
2) Woojin Cheon
Woojin Cheon volunteers with The Salvation Army and its child-care center. He helps elementary and middle school students from low-income families with their schoolwork. Tutoring at the center has also inspired Woojin to help raise money for students in financial need so they can buy needed supplies and books.

"Teaching, for me, has been a way for me to give back to a community... When I was able to help an elementary student understand a mathematical concept, the student developed a deeper interested in the subject, which was greatly rewarding... I was happy simply because I was able to help someone."
3) Isabella Fortier
Isabella Fortier volunteered for Wendy Greuel 's campaign to be the mayor of Los Angeles in 2013. Although Isabella was not yet old enough to vote, she spent her time making calls and encouraging those in her community to vote for Greuel. Greuel would have been Los Angeles' first female mayor, but she lost to Eric Garcetti.

"For nine months, I dedicated every spare hour of my time to phone banking, canvassing, and campaigning for mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. While this took hours of office work as well as hours of walking in the hot sun, the experience was one of the most rewarding of my life."
4) Sean Garcia
Sean Garcia belongs to an organization called IXIM, a center for the integration of indigenous Mayas. IXIM was started to create a community of Maya refugees. Mayan customs were repressed in Guatemala during the Spanish Conquest. Many Guatemalans fled to Los Angeles, including Sean's family. Each year, IXIM holds a toy drive for children with the help of the local fire department.

"Whenever I come back from these events, I gain two things, a joy from having seen all the kids happy with their toys and a greater respect for the things that I have... Volunteering is a mutually beneficial and kind thing to do. If you have the time to do something for others, and you really like what you are doing then it is worth the time and effort you put into making these events happen."
5) Rahul Goyal
Rahul Goyal volunteers at a nonprofit organization called Caring Hand for Children. The organization provides education to those living in underprivileged areas in India. One project is an annual cultural show that is held to raise money for this work. Rahul's part of the show is a dance whose theme pertains to a particular period of Indian history. Last year, the event raised $150,000 to help over 1,600 children.

"As a volunteer who played a role in making this possible, I was actually both joyful and extremely surprised at these numbers. Never had I been part of anything so small that could raise that type of money just within a day and a couple hours of preparation."
6) Katie Lam
Katie Lam volunteers at Teenline, a teen-to-teen crisis hotline. The hotline is affiliated with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center 's Department of Psychiatry. Nearly 9,000 youth call the hotline every year. Volunteers like Katie are trained to listen, not judge, those who call and assess options with them.

"Every time the phone rings, it is a different experience. It's not always a different caller, but always, an individual whose struggles stem from the same root as the caller before. Sometimes the call has to do with child abuse. Sometimes it's self-harm. We use a reference system to keep track of our calls, checking off boxes with subjects most relevant to the call, like "Bullying," "School," and "Relationships" after we've hung up the phone. On rare nights, I don't need to check more than one box to sum up a call. Most nights, I have to check several. There is almost always overlap."
7) Romina Noorbakhsh
Romina Noorbakhsh helps Teens for Jeans. Volunteers collect used jeans from schools throughout America, and Teens for Jeans donates them to one of 1,000 homeless shelters across the U.S. and Canada. Last year, Romina and her fellow volunteers at North Hollywood High School collected over 500 pairs of jeans within a little over a month.

"When I went in, I carried this big box of jeans to the store... I was struggling to carry it all the way, so my friend helped me. As we were walking, underneath the box broke and all the jeans fell out. Everyone in the mall was staring and to us... We put the jeans back, we took a few steps furthers, then flop, it all came out again. This time, we were laughing so hard, and we put the jeans back and took it to the store... We finally gave all the boxes and left. I had an amazing feeling... I felt happy that I did something like that, and I was so excited for those kids to get the jeans we collected."
8) Alexandra Nordyke
Alexandra Nordyke volunteers for Visual Arts and Music for Society (VAMS), an organization that brings music and art to community centers. Alexandra initially viewed art as "an individual task." But volunteering with VAMS changed this perception, and she now realizes the satisfactions of sharing her passion for painting with those less privileged than her. At one youth center, VAMS set up stations for different kinds of arts activities.

"The most popular station was the face painting station. The face painting station started to just paint butterflies and flowers, but later in the night, they expanded to paint superhero faces. The most popular face paint was Spiderman. It was a lot of fun to see kids running around in Spiderman face paint, playing superhero games. I have given back to society through art."
9) Vedang Patankar
Vedang has volunteered as a teacher's assistant, helping first, second, and third graders struggling with English at Akanksha Institute's DN Nagar Municipal School in India. The students come from families below the poverty line and often have little prior education. These students "knew little English" and "spoke in a variety of languages at home," said Vedang. He "struggled to understand them and teach them English without getting frustrated." Over time, however, Vedang developed a strong relationship with them.

"The children and staff referred to me as 'bhaiyya,' brother in Hindi, and such friendliness made the volunteering far more meaningful than simply 'collecting hours.' A month after my initial visit, the students received their first unit test scores, and the marked improvement convinced me that my efforts had paid off... Through public service in Akanksha, my vision of community service was transformed from being a requirement to a personal obligation."
10) Harriet Steele
Harriet Steele participates in her high school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), which helps lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students connect with straight students, and support one another. This includes increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS and assisting organizations such as AIDS Project Los Angeles. When Harriet started high school two years ago, she said she was only vaguely aware of AIDS Project Los Angeles and their AIDS Walk. Harriet has since participated in AIDS Walk annually. In addition to participating in walks and raising money for them, she has also donated canned and packaged food for locals living with HIV/AIDS.

"I realized that, even as one individual, I had the power to make differences in the lives of people suffering with this debilitating disease. I knew that this would not be my last time attending the AIDS Walk, nor would it be my last involvement with AIDS Project Los Angeles."
Note: Space constraints limit us to ten examples, but we could have chosen many others that are no less impressive. We initially misspelled Wendy Greuel's name as "Gruel." We regret the error.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
High School Students Making A Difference In The Lives Of Others

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As we reflect on the ways Americans of all ages across the country helped each other in the aftermath of 9/11, it seemed fitting for us to ask high-school students in North Hollywood, California, where Ernestine Fu went to school, to tell us about an experience in which they helped others in their community.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nobel Prize winner Malala and novelist discuss building peace with words

# data[].attributes.subject
Nobel Prize winner Malala and novelist discuss building peace with words

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.headline
New Mexico teen, once homeless, helps others through his growing business

# data[].attributes.subject
New Mexico teen, once homeless, helps others through his growing business

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When she arrived in the Eastern Washington farming community of Wapato last spring for a six-day school service trip, Overlake High School junior Caroline Spencer expected to learn about migrant farm workers' issues and work alongside them in apple orchards. What she didn't expect was that her experiences with the community's children, and seeing the challenges they face trying to succeed in school, would touch her so deeply. She would return to live in a Latino farming community the following summer for six weeks, tutoring young children to read in Spanish and English. "Volunteering opened up a whole new world for me," she says, "one that I plan on exploring in college and beyond."

Many public and private high schools in the greater Seattle area are asking teens to take part in community service as a graduation requirement. Some schools see volunteering as a way to show students that they can positively impact their community, or to build students' empathy and increase their awareness of the needs of others. Some counselors encourage volunteering as a way to gain valuable work experience. Parents and students may even hope it will strengthen a college application. Whatever the impetus, teens who embrace the experience find they get a lot more out of it than just fulfilling credits toward graduation.

Finding opportunities

There are probably as many ways to volunteer as there are student interests. School counselors can help their students find volunteer opportunities, often using the Web to point teens in the right direction. Seattle's Garfield High School website lists volunteer opportunities alongside its scholarship and internship opportunities.

Garfield's head counselor, Ken Courtney, advises students to pick an area of personal interest, such as the outdoors, for which they might enjoy volunteering, or to choose a possible future career interest, such as medicine or working with children. Serving in that area is a way to explore it and gain experience and skills that might help secure a job in the future, he says.

Websites such as those of United Way of King County, Mercer Island's Volunteer Outreach in Communities Everywhere (VOICE) and Teens in Public Service (teensinpublicservice.org) also list opportunities. And, of course, families can directly contact any organization they are interested in serving.

Austen Dowell, a junior at Ingraham High School in Seattle, started volunteering with the TOPsoccer program, which serves disabled children ages 6-17, to fulfill the 160 volunteer hours he needs to graduate from his school's international baccalaureate program. On most Sundays for the past year, he has been running drills and scrimmages for children with autism, in wheelchairs or with other disabilities. At first he felt trepidation: How should he interact with these kids? Would he feel awkward? How could he help?

"I learned that speaking calmly and not jumping around yelling like a typical coach worked best," he says. Dowell adds that he loves to see what his players can achieve and hopes to keep coaching in the future. "They really light up when they learn something new," he says. While it started as an obligation, Dowell says, coaching is now the best part of his Sundays.

Opening windows to the future

Volunteering is especially beneficial to low-income teens. According to a 2007 federal study, disadvantaged teens who volunteer feel empowered, and are more likely to become politically engaged and to believe they will graduate from college and make a difference in their communities.

Volunteering can also expand a teenager's perspective. "I learned that you don't have to go to another country to find people in need," Spencer says. She hopes her time in the farming community, coupled with her education, will allow her to engage in immigration and human rights issues more deeply in the future. She aspires to influence policy on behalf of people who might not have a strong voice in the debate.

Students who put more effort into volunteering may also benefit when it comes to college. Most students who apply to college these days list volunteer experience on their application, according to Paul Seegert, associate director in the admissions office at the University of Washington. The students who stand out, he says, are ones who have taken on leadership roles, shown a long-term commitment to service, or brought innovation or creative solutions to their work. Beyond showing up, students who have "helped make the service more effective" get more notice, Seegert says. While academics still trump activities in the college admissions process, he says, volunteering is taken into consideration.

Whether it is a one-time trail-maintenance outing in the rain, a weekly tutoring commitment or an organizational role in rallying classmates to pitch in, volunteering can help teens gain a sense of responsibility, feel more connected to their communities and prepare for the future. And the unexpected rewards of discovering a new interest, or feeling as though they've made a difference, can last a lifetime.

Julie Weed is a Seattle-based freelance writer for The New York Times and others.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When she arrived in the Eastern Washington farming community of Wapato last spring for a six-day school service trip, Overlake High School junior Caroline Spencer expected to learn about migrant farm workers' issues and work alongside them in apple orchards.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Many teens consider community service a bore, a chore to complete in order to graduate or include on a college application. I see it as much more - it's a way to help yourself and others. Each year I rack up 400 hours of community service. I don't do it to earn rewards or recognition, but because I enjoy it and helping others. If things were up to me, there would be a day of service each semester. The student body would be divided into groups and led by teachers, parents and students. Just imagine the work that could be completed in seven hours with 1,500 sets of hands - parks could be cleaned, houses repaired, food pantries organized, children tutored, animals cared for, and so much more.

I believe that one of the keys to community service is to find something you like, because then it's not a job you have to do, it's an event you get to help with.

There are a few simple steps to finding an opportunity:

1. Think of something you like to do, whether it's working on computers, fixing cars or gardening.

2. Evaluate your skill level and needs: is it something you can do fairly well? Is there an age restriction? How often can you serve?

3. Find some group or organization who needs you. If you enjoy reading, look for a literacy group or a school that needs tutors or people to read to children or visually impaired people. If you enjoy being with friends, look into activities that require groups where you can hang out while you work, like sorting canned goods for a soup kitchen.

4. If you have trouble finding something you love, contact a local volunteer agency which serves as a middle-man between those who want to help and those who need help.

One of the biggest issues my friends and I run into are age restrictions. A good number of agencies need people who are 18 and older. While this is understandable due to liability, and even the level of responsibility, I believe they should give teens a chance. I have taken many previously "adult" positions in my work with summer camps and other organizations; most of the time adults had just assumed that no teen would want the job.

I really got into volunteering in fifth grade when my school counselor saw how much I did and invited a few other students and me to go with her to represent our school at a community service convention. This was a big deal because the community service group that chose us had never selected an elementary school before.

There were lots of important people there, many meetings and events to attend, a booth to run, media, and many community service projects to complete - all in one day. No one would give the six of us the time of day; the TV cameramen told us to get out of their way and the college kids gave us strange looks before walking right by our booth. No one seemed to notice that you don't have to be tall or able to drive a car to help.

I always think of that day when finding people to help me, whether to help run a Bible school, a Girl Scout day camp, a meeting, or high-school event. I think everyone can help in some way. My little brothers know how involved I am helping others, and they are even following in my tracks, kind of. My youngest brother, who's six, helps me sort paperwork, and my 11-year-old brother helps me prepare activities and events for kids closer to his age. They both are actively working toward their silver presidential service awards for 50 hours a year.

I like to think that seeing me work for so many groups has set an example. This is why I think it is crucial for teens, and even elementary students, to volunteer. Like so many things, the younger you start the more it becomes part of your life.

I believe everyone has the potential to do great things. Important lessons come from volunteering - leadership, team work and cooperation are all skills I have learned.

So today, think about helping someone. Start simply - try smiling at people who look like they're having a hard day. If you see someone drop their books, or trip going up the stairs, be there to give a hand. You don't need to replant the rainforest all by yourself, but it's amazing what even little things can do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many teens consider community service a bore, a chore to complete in order to graduate or include on a college application. I see it as much more - it's a way to help yourself and others. Each year I rack up 400 hours o

# data[].attributes.headline
Haters Gonna Hate. Teen Girl Activists Shake It Off And Try Again

# data[].attributes.subject
Haters Gonna Hate. Teen Girl Activists Shake It Off And Try Again

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ruhy Patel, 17, lives in Doylestown, Pa. When she was 15 she was planning to run for student council office. "All the other people running were boys," she says, "and people were like, 'Well, you're not going to win.' You feel intimidated because you're the only girl in the room. It makes you question if you'd be OK in the field of politics."

Did she drop out? No.

Did she win? "I did!"

"I feel like it kind of makes you want to try harder when people say no," says Patel.

That could be the motto for the activists of Girl Up. There are nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 66 countries who volunteer for the U.N. Foundation group. They speak out and raise money so every girl can go to school - there are an estimated 62 million who don't - and can receive official government identification papers, can get proper health care and gain the skills to pursue her dreams.

This week, we met with 13 "teen advisers" from Girl Up. They were a few of the 225 members in Washington, D.C., for the annual leadership summit.

Unlike the 62 million out-of-school girls, these Girl Up girls are all in school. They're thinking about college; they lead comfortable lives. Sometimes their friends can't understand their activism. "They don't think we're able to make a difference," says Janet Ho, 18, who lives in Los Angeles. But that's not true, she says.

Kennede Reese, 18, from Denver, mentions a SchoolCycle fundraiser. The proceeds were used to send bikes to girls in Malawi: "Because even though they have the school supplies, there's no way to get to school to get the education they need. We think of the small things."

The girls we spoke with all live in the U.S., but some have roots in the countries they're trying to help. So they know firsthand what life can be like outside the American bubble.

"My family is from the most rural part of China," says Amy Gong Liu, 18, of Alameda, Calif. "My dad was chosen to go to school instead of my aunt. My aunt was very brilliant, very outspoken about women's issues." But she never learned to read and write.

"When [my dad] told her he was going to have a daughter - me - she said, 'Make sure you educate her, keep her in the loop at the dinner table, make sure she has a voice.' "

Liu pauses: "It's hard not to think, 'What if I was born in China and my aunt was born in America, and she had the opportunity [for] success and I didn't?' "

Does the unfairness of it all make the teen leaders feel guilty?

The unanimous reply: Yes, yes, yes!

Yet they've learned that even though girls in low-income countries face many obstacles, they have a sense of hope and gratitude.

Ishana Nigam, 17, from Charlotte, N.C., visits India every year or so. That's where her parents are from. The girls she meets have "a lack of education, poor health care," she says. "But they're not jealous of me. They always tell me, 'I'm thankful for what I have, thankful just to be breathing.' And that takes a toll on me because I have so many more things than they have."

Meanwhile, all the girls bond over pop culture.

"I tutor refugees in Chicago," says Celia Buckman, 16. "They're 10 to 12, from all over, Malaysia, Kenya, India, Iraq. And they like to listen to ' Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift. They come from all over the world, they practice different religions, speak different languages, but they can all sit down and watch Taylor Swift videos, and that's great!"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Haters Gonna Hate. Teen Girl Activists Shake It Off And Try Again

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These Girl Up leaders know that it's hard being a girl anywhere in the world - whether you're fighting to go to school or convincing boys that yes, girls can run for student council, too!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Volunteering not only provides us with the opportunity to get involved in a cause that we are passionate about, but also provides the chance to look beyond our own circumstances and appreciate what others are experiencing.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why Don’t Men Volunteer as Much as Women

# data[].attributes.subject
Why Don’t Men Volunteer as Much as Women

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Though Olivia Bryant, the CEO of YCore, had observed the gender gap at other nonprofits, she was still surprised at the discrepancy. She knew women often dominated volunteer spaces, but 95%? The YCore team set to work to recruit men, and they have since increased the proportion of applications from men to about 25%.

So are women just the more altruistic sex? Or is this a reflection of other social realities, like fewer women choosing to be in the labour force, or working part-time? Our data analysis reveals that no matter how you cut it, women do seem to have a higher proclivity for volunteering. We explore why this might be.

25.3% of Americans choose to volunteer at least once a year, and nearly half of the individuals that volunteer do so an average of more than one hour per week. These numbers come from a September 2014 of Americans ages 15 and older conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics . Volunteering is defined as any unpaid work performed for an organization. It can include anything tutoring English at the local library, coaching your child's basketball team, or helping your church with a fundraiser.

Not all Americans are equally likely to volunteer. The probability that a given person will volunteer is impacted by their age, income, education level and, not least of all, by gender. In 2014, 28.4% of women volunteered at least once, while only 22.2% of men did so.

The following chart displays the percentage of Americans that volunteer at any given age. We can see from this chart that the likelihood of volunteering changes a great deal over our lives, but that women are always more inclined than men.

The likelihood of volunteering rises again in the late 30s and reaches its zenith in the early 40s. Over 30% of Americans between the ages of 40 and 45 volunteer. This is related to the increased likelihood of volunteering when having children. While having a baby actually makes you less likely to volunteer - only 17% of people whose first child is 2-years-old or less volunteer - when their child reaches school age, people become dramatically more likely to volunteer. Over 35% of parents with children between 6-13 volunteer, often for a school activity.

Though women volunteer more than men at all ages, the effect of having children does seem to be greater for women. We can see in the chart above that the gender difference is largest between 35 and 45, when 10% more women volunteer than men.

Parents frequently volunteer for their kids' school.

Yet even when we only compare men and women who work full-time, we still find a large gender gap in terms of who volunteers. 30.1% of women who work full-time also find the time to volunteer in comparison to just 23.8% of men.

Given the importance of income on the likelihood to volunteer, we wondered whether the gender gap might disappear at different levels of family earnings. These next three charts display the percentage of adult men and women working full-time who volunteer by family income and age.

We wondered if looking at what women and men actually do when they volunteer might give us some insight into the gender imbalance. The table below shows the proportion of men and women, of those who volunteer, who volunteer for different types of groups. Only the primary volunteer organization of the individual is included, so each individual is only counted once. For example, the main volunteer organization for 35.1% of women is a religious one, while this is only true of 33.2% of men.

Overall, looking at the groups that women volunteer for does not give us much of a clue to the discrepancy, but it does point to the gendered nature of certain types of volunteering.

So what accounts for the volunteer gap between the sexes?

Jesse Eubanks of the non-profit Love Thy Neighborhood blames the "suspended adolescence" of young American men today. He sees a large number of young men unwilling to embrace responsibility. "Man-boys" who are not ready to take on the risks and relationships of being in a community. The guys in probably were not doing much volunteer work.

Energize Inc. , a consultancy for nonprofits, published an entire dedicated to helping volunteer organizations recruit men. They suggest that one problem is that much of the recruiting material from organizations is oriented towards women. Men may feel like the organization is a female space when they only see female faces in brochures and other materials. Another challenge is that many organizations already have a preponderance of women, and any new men will feel that they don't belong. Being the first guy can be be uncomfortable.

When asked it was important to have men volunteer, Bryant responded that it was the same reason she wanted people of different races and economic backgrounds participating in her organization. "We want our group of volunteers as diverse as possible," Bryant explained. "Men can bring a different perspective."

By any way you slice it, when it comes to demonstrating altruism through volunteering, women are simply dominating men. Regardless of whether they work or not, how old they are, or how rich they are, women just volunteer more.

For our next post, we tell the story of Esurance's old mascot, who was discontinued after being made into cartoon porn. To get notified when we post it →

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Don't Men Volunteer as Much as Women? - Priceonomics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We analyze the female dominance of volunteerism in America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Alex Lin (Courtesy of Alex Lin) Living on Earth interviews Alex Lin, who won the Brower Youth Award for his pioneering work on electronic waste. Lin recycled and refurbishes computers for kids in the U.S. and around the world.
Transcript

CURWOOD: One kid who needs no New Year's resolutions on the environment is 14-year-old Alex Lin. When he was 11 he came across a newspaper article about the massive piles of E-waste-that's waste from electronics and computers that's generated around the world.

When the electronic devices we use every day get taken apart or dumped, toxic substances, like lead, leech into the environment. Alex decided to attack E-waste, starting at home. He founded WIN - Westerly Innovations Network (named after his town of Westerly, Rhode Island).

And this year he received the prestigious Brower Youth Award for young environmental leaders. Alex Lin, welcome to Living on Earth.

LIN: Thanks a lot.

CURWOOD: So one day you're reading the newspaper. You see this article about E-waste and you decide to do something about it. What was it that grabbed you? What made you decide to make this your mission?

LIN: I think what helped me choose to do this was that it's such a little known problem, really. When we started our project in our town, like, when we found out how many people knew about it, it was just less than 15 percent. It was like, ten percent or so of residents even knew what E-waste was, so I mean, just the fact that it's so little known and that by raising awareness we could just do so much to help it. That kind of grabbed our attention when we started the project.

CURWOOD: So how many computers are you guys recycling?

LIN: Recycling-wise we're not really sure about the amount. We just kind of hear back from CR2 Recycling because they weigh the trucks and they let us know how much we've been recycling every month or so. Because whenever a container fills up, the people at the transportation station they call them and they'll send down a truck to bring it to the facility in Massachusetts.

CURWOOD: So it's what-5,000 pounds a month or something like that?

LIN: Something like that. I mean it varies between month and month. I mean, some months it's like 25 hundred, some months it's a lot more. It all depends.

CURWOOD: Now you're working internationally. You've taken the whole thing that you started in Westerly, Rhode Island and you've taken it to people around the world. How's that working?

LIN: Yeah, it's working really well right now. Right now one of our contacts and friends in Cameroon-Rosemary-and she's been helping us to establish WIN teams in Africa and she's been looking around in Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon. Right now we have two definite set-up WIN teams in Kenya and Cameroon and the rest are on the way. And she's also helped us a lot by looking for schools that need computers so that computers in the U.S. used by companies in large numbers can be reused and sent to people across the world who really need these computers to help better their lives. And we have a Mexican WIN team who's raising awareness. And right now I think Rosemary's been talking with a team in the UK about starting a group there and we're just kind of dealing with it as it comes because it's been coming pretty fast for the past couple of months. But we're going to have to do the work and we're ready to do it, I guess.

CURWOOD: Hey, Alex. Can you tell me a story of where you know one of your computers helped change somebody's life?

LIN: Yeah, I definitely have a pretty good one that we did. You know, after the tsunami in 2004 there was a lot of shortages of computers, learning equipment, schools, teachers. We actually had a local pediatrician from our area-she went to Malaysia and Sri Lanka I think at the time to help out and she met an English teacher there and he contacted us saying there's a need for computers over there and we ended up sending five computers and a laptop. And it was really cool because he sent us some pictures afterward of the children singing to like Barney software and other educational stuff that we put on there and afterwards they named the school the WIN learning center after our team and that was just like really cool that we could have such an impact on the other side of the world.

CURWOOD: By the way, how do you find the time to do all this work on top of what-homework, sports, piano, and well, let's face it, being a kid?

LIN: Yeah. I don't know. It kind of just depends. Like it's more of a-I remember one of my friends I met at Brower in Boston-Carlos. He said it's more of a lifestyle and I totally agree with him. Environmental justice community work is like a lifestyle. You kind of incorporate time to do it into every day and if not every day, definitely on a regular basis because I mean, sure there are times where I would have projects, reports, tests the next day. Or, even sports games and stuff that I need to get with, but usually I'm able to find time during the week to do the work.

CURWOOD: Alex Lin's organization is called WIN, Westerly Innovations Network. Alex received the prestigious Brower Youth Award for young environmental leaders. Congratulations Alex, and thank you so much for taking this time.

LIN: Thanks a lot, Steve.

Please enable JavaScript to view comments.

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

NewsletterLiving on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

Creating positive outcomes for future generations.

Innovating to make the world a better, more sustainable place to live. Listen to the race to 9 billion

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Living on Earth / World Media Foundation / Public Radio International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Living on Earth interviews Alex Lin, who won the Brower Youth Award for his pioneering work on electronic waste. Lin recycled and refurbishes computers for kids in the U.S. and around the world.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Teenage Activist Malala Yousafzai Is Turning Her Fame Into A Movement

# data[].attributes.subject
How Teenage Activist Malala Yousafzai Is Turning Her Fame Into A Movement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.headline
“Kids Are Making A Difference In The World: The Real Story Of Gabriel

# data[].attributes.subject
“Kids Are Making A Difference In The World: The Real Story Of Gabriel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kids Are Making A Difference In The World: The Real Story Of Gabriel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is a heartwarming story of hope, one that can inspire kids to take action, and adults to listen to the younger generations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Young Volunteers: The Benefits of Community Service

# data[].attributes.subject
Young Volunteers: The Benefits of Community Service

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Young Volunteers: The Benefits of Community Service - University of ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Young Volunteers: The Benefits of Community Service - University of Read more about benefits, volunteering, encourage, projects, communities and volunteers.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teen addiction: Volunteering decreases substance abuse in teens

# data[].attributes.subject
Teen addiction: Volunteering decreases substance abuse in teens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Volunteering reduces teens’ risk of addiction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Having trouble with your rebellious teen? Get them involved in community volunteer work. A new study suggests volunteering makes youth less likely to turn to drugs and alcohol.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Do you think this is the right color ribbon?" asked a petite brunette, her hair pulled back in a haphazard ponytail, her college sweatshirt engulfing her tiny frame. "And do you think these are the right length of sections I'm cutting? I don't want it to be all funky when we pin them on."

"Mmm ... I'm not sure," said the guy next to her, sucking on a lollipop, his football-player physique totally evident in his tight band T-shirt.

"Looks good to me," his roommate said without even glancing over at the ribbon or the girl.

Meet the college anti-war movement.

I just got back from a two-week campus speaking tour during which I had the privilege of hanging out in a women's center at a Catholic college, eating bad Mexican food with Mennonite feminists, and chatting with aspiring writers and activists at a college in which half the students are the first in their families to experience higher education. I heard the stories of transgender youth in Kansas City, jocks with food addictions in Jacksonville, and student organizers who are too overwhelmed to address all the world's problems in Connecticut.

When my plane finally landed with a resounding bump at LaGuardia, I felt totally inspired by the earnest enthusiasm that beamed out of almost every student I encountered -- and also terrified that the university system is sucking the life out of them. At the risk of biting the hand that feeds me (I am usually paid to speak, in part, by student organizations and women's centers), I have to attest that the institutionalization of activism on college campuses seems to be a key culprit in the absence of visible youth movements in this country.

The scene above illustrates just the kind of vibe you can find at an anti-war or nonviolence club on college campuses any day of the week. It is sweetly collaborative, mainly focused on raising awareness among students, very keyed in to particular dates (Love Your Body Day, Earth Day, Black History Month), and most of all, safe. This is not terribly surprising considering that these clubs are sanctioned and funded (sometimes with upward of thousands of dollars a year) by the school administration through a formal application process. They are structured to legitimize but also to domesticate student passions and actions from the start.

And students do have passions, contrary to what some hippies-turned-well-paid-pundits argue. A survey conducted just this year by the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) found that 98 percent of students at their annual meeting saw the war in Iraq as one of the issues most important to them. Erin Wilson, the director of communication for NACA, reports that student involvement in campus activities is increasing all the time and adds that among their 1,040 member schools, a yearly total of $150 million is spent on campus programming.

As great as it might seem that colleges and universities are supporting student causes, I actually believe that it has tamed the critical energy necessary to be young, outraged, and active. When you're being funded by a team of white-haired academics in suits, taking real risks -- acts of civil disobedience like sit-ins, hunger strikes, boycotts -- don't seem like such a smart idea. Students rightly wonder whether they will "ruin it" for the next class if they cross the line and lose the school leadership's support. Plus, it's so much easier to just eat the free pizza and cut the three-inch ribbons than to mastermind a rebellious and potentially dangerous student uprising.

The academy, in general, encourages specialization, intellectualization, civility -- not exactly the key ingredients for effective social action. Students are surrounded by professors reminiscing about the glory days of youth activism, when groups like Students for a Democratic Society, the Weather Underground, and the Black Panther Party really ignited social change. But the professors don't seem to make the connection that none of these were school-sanctioned organizations.

Today's youth activism is largely enacted within the gated fortresses of higher learning. Students are overwhelmingly and often motivated by applying to law school or resumé-building. (How do you think they got into these undergraduate institutions in the first place?) They funnel their outrage into weekly club meetings and awareness campaigns that look good on paper -- activities that convey to future employers and institutions that they are socially involved and aware but not at odds with the system. Students seem to join sanctioned, existing clubs, rather than launch their own radical actions, without much resistance or critical questioning. Perhaps they've been socialized to accept the status quo, but even more, I believe they simply don't have the time or energy to start innovative revolutions from scratch because they are so busy taking standardized tests and building their resumés with internships and assistantships.

I watched a group of them sort through a brightly colored stack of anti-war quotations to make sure that every single one, literally, bore the stamp of approval from the college activities office so they could hang them around campus without getting in trouble. It made me cringe. This is where their energies were being diverted during the deadliest month yet in the Iraq War.

It made me reflect on my own undergraduate days -- just about five years ago now. I wasn't a rah-rah student government officer, but I certainly did my share of club activities: school newspaper, writing fellows program, resident assistant, volunteering at a Harlem preschool, even the hip-hop club (talk about taming outrage). I remember feeling so busy, so responsible, so important. Now I realize that there was a real cost to that frenzy of school-sanctioned productivity. I rarely thought beyond the borders of folding tables that lined the student activities fairs. I rarely put my body or my future on the line. While I was tutoring fellow students in grammar and composition and making door tags for my residence halls, I missed the escalation of a bogus justification for a messy war in my name.

In one of the largest studies ever conducted of Generation Y, psychology professor Jean M. Twenge found that college students "increasingly believe that their lives are controlled by outside forces" -- called "externality" in the psychology field. Twenge writes, "The average college student in 2002 had more external control beliefs than 80 percent of college students in the early 1960s."

Is it any wonder? We were raised to organize our adolescent lives in pursuit of external approval: church awards, athletic scholarships, and college admissions. More than any generation in history, we've been signed up, roped in, and overscheduled. When we get to college, many of us rush to join clubs in an attempt to recreate this safe feeling of sanctioned activity, of organized energies, of potential approval by authorities. Our innate passions and spontaneous actions have essentially been bred out of us.

The LearningWork Connection, a consulting firm on youth issues, reports that from September 2004 to September 2005, 79 percent of first-year males and 87 percent of first-year females described themselves as "volunteers." They add, however, that "Gen Y is less engaged with civic and political activities than they are with other causes."

Which prompts me to ask, what are "causes," really? The word stinks of bureaucracy and timidity, of the most educated, wanted generation in history sprawled across standard university furniture -- not planning the next revolution, but eating free cookies and voting on whether buttons or ribbons will be less destructive to students' clothing.

I saw the surefire glimmer of pure passion in these students' eyes. I know they are capable of great and ingenious uprisings, a type of protest that is totally 21st century, a trademark Generation Y invention. Viruses in campus administrators' computers with pop-up windows demanding no more expansion into poor, local neighborhoods? Mock draft cards sent home to their parents? A dance party -- 1 million youth strong -- on the Washington lawn? It all seems possible.

They need to stay out of the student center long enough to figure out what their version of outraged activism really is. Small as it may sound, big change would happen if college students today could protect their purest intentions from the pacifying force of free pizza and resumé kudos. Our generation needs to step into our raw power -- the priceless power of being young and mad. We need to stay hungry long enough to get angry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The institutionalization of activism on college campuses is a key culprit in the absence of visible youth movements in this country.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nine stories made by and about young people making a difference

# data[].attributes.subject
Nine stories made by and about young people making a difference

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nine stories made by and about young people making a difference

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teen producers find and tell stories of young people making a difference in their communities for this special PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs feature.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rachel Atcheson is the Humane League's Philadelphia director. I wanted to interview her to shine a light on her incredible work as an animal rights activist and, hopefully, encourage and inspire teens to take action on behalf of animals.

Why did you decide to become an animal rights advocate?

I decided to help animals because they are the most underrepresented group of beings in today's society. Some might think that animals get sufficient attention, but cats and dogs receive the bulk of it. When we hear of a hoarder with 100 cats and none of them sufficiently nourished, we empathize with those cats. But farm animals are suffering every day in factory farms and we rarely hear their stories. I decided to help farm animals because they need a louder voice.

How did you think you would be able to make a difference?

I didn't start out thinking I could make much of a difference. I began volunteering with a local animal protection group (the group I work for now, the Humane League), but I had no idea the ripple effect my activism would have in the world. With the help of many mentors, I've been able to hone my activism skills and influence many people to be more involved in activism.

Has your life changed since you started helping animals?

My life has changed dramatically. I have become more compassionate and more empathetic toward the plight of both human and non-human animals. I have taken on the role of an activist - and I think this is the most important change in my life, because now I understand that no matter how much a person wants to change the world, it's the hard work, the elbow grease, that really creates meaningful change.

What is the main problem animals face right now?

These issues of confinement and mutilation are common for farm animals everywhere. All factory farms treat animals as if they were commodities, property, and this is, I believe, the biggest problem facing farmed animals right now.

I'd love to tell you the story of one animal in particular. Buttercup is an egg-laying hen who has lived her entire life in a cage smaller than a piece of paper. She has never met her mother. Because of her close confinement with other chickens, Buttercup's beak was seared off with a hot blade soon after she was born so she wouldn't peck any other chickens in her cage. Ever since she was young, Buttercup has lived in this battery cage. She has never been outside, never felt the sun on her feathers or the grass beneath her feet. And she'll remain there for her whole life. Her feet might become mangled in the wire mesh she stands on. If she develops an infection, she will not receive veterinary attention.

On a typical egg-laying farm, there could be 500,000 chickens, so Buttercup is just one of many chickens who will never see the outside of that warehouse.

What does it take to become an effective activist?

Be positive, set a good example, read literature on effective activism and, most of all, practice. If you want to learn more about animal activism, consider getting involved with groups such as the Humane League, Mercy for Animals, or Compassion Over Killing. All of these groups are very effective in their work.

How can we make a difference in the lives of animals?

The number-one way you can make a difference in the lives of animals is to cut back on the amount of animals you eat; consider trying Meatless Monday. And if you already do not consume much meat, consider going vegetarian. Are you already a vegetarian? Cut back on the amount of eggs and dairy you consume. And finally, try veganism.

While it may seem daunting to do anything in this list, if you take it one step at a time, one meal at a time, you'll find it easy, exciting, and fulfilling. We have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of animals three times a day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - and with your help, we will see changes for farm animals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rachel Atcheson is the Humane League’s Philadelphia director. I wanted to interview her to shine a light on her incredible work as an animal rights activist and, hopefully, encourage and inspire teens to take action on behalf of animals.&nbs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Download Article

Download Article

An activist is anyone who sees the need for change and devotes their time to doing something about it. And, as successful teen activists prove, structural, social, or economic barriers don’t have to stop you from pursuing your passion and creating positive change.[1] If you are interested in making a difference for a cause you care about, you can do so by educating yourself about the issue, finding ways to get involved in-person and online, and possibly even pursuing a career in a field related to your cause.

1. 1

Set ambitious but realistic goals. Throughout history, individual activists have helped topple empires, liberate the oppressed, and open minds to new ideas. And today, even teens can improve their local neighborhoods or build social equality movements through their own efforts.[2] If you want to achieve something, it’s important to be specific about what you want to see happen and how you can really get there.

A good tip for making goals is to "think global act local". Basically, you should know how you will benefit the whole world, but you should do the action in your own community. For example, if you want to reduce carbon dioxide, make a change to stop emitting too much carbon dioxide yourself.

For instance, while halting human-caused climate change is a noble goal, it’s too broad to be directly actionable. You can, however, advocate for tougher emissions standards for vehicles and industries in your area.

2. 2

Join (or start) an organization that supports your cause. If you share a passion for the same cause as many other activists, you can probably find one or many existing organizations to join. These could be anything from a student club to a national organization (like the American Civil Liberties Union or the National Organizers Alliance).

Most activist organizations offer different levels of involvement. So you can do whatever you feel most comfortable with, whether that means attending meetings and demonstrations, making phone calls to your local representatives, or just donating a little money when you can.

Or, you can set up your own activist organization, whether it be a recycling club at school or an anti-racism group online. It’s okay to start small.

Advertisement

3. 3

Volunteer your time. One of the best ways to make a difference is to donate your time to support your passion. Reach out to organizations in your community that does work for your cause, and ask how you can help.

For example, if you are interested in supporting animals in need, try volunteering at your local animal shelter or wildlife rescue. There are many ways you could help, from caring for the animals to helping with fundraising events or writing content for the web.[3]

4. 4

Donate money or supplies. Most activists or charitable organizations need resources to do their work. If you can’t afford to donate money to an organization that supports your cause, you may be able to donate other things they need, like clothing or canned food.

Be aware that some charities are more reputable than others. If you plan to donate money or goods to support a cause, do some research before you donate. Check out your charity’s rating with organizations like Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, or the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.[4]

5. 5

Reach out to family and friends. Tell your family and friends about your cause, and invite them to get involved. If they are interested, share literature about your cause or just talk to them about what you have learned. If you do volunteer work, invite an interested friend or family member to volunteer with you.

If you’re not sure how to begin, start by coming up with a list of five friends or family members you feel you can talk to about your cause. Think about how you would feel most comfortable approaching them (e.g., over email, over the phone, or in-person), and reach out to them in the way that feels right to you.[5]

6. 6

Lead by example. One of the simplest and most important forms of activism is practicing what you believe in, or "conscious activism." Practicing conscious activism means incorporating activism into your everyday life by living and acting in ways that directly support your cause (e.g., reducing your carbon footprint, using sustainably produced products, and so on).[6]

For example, if you are interested in minimizing animal cruelty, you can start by not using products made from animals (like fur or leather) and avoiding businesses that exploit animals (like circuses or SeaWorld).

7. 7

Identify and specify your passions. When you look at the world around you, what gets you excited? Fills you with hope, makes you angry? Causes you to be fearful of the future? Your passions can focus on supporting what’s good (e.g., healthier menus in schools) or confronting what you see as wrong (e.g., online body-shaming of teens).[7]

Write down or type out a list of things you’re passionate about, and try to be as specific as possible. For each, identify the problem, the solution, and what you can do to help.

Advertisement

1. 1

Promote your cause on social media. You can use social media to keep your friends and followers informed about the causes you support. Post informative articles, write about what you are doing to stay involved, and invite your friends to attend events or donate to fundraisers for your cause. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram -- each of the above is a good place to start.[8]

2. 2

Explain and provide evidence for your perspective. No matter your cause, from nuclear proliferation to gender identity and bathroom choices, you’ll meet plenty of people online with differing views than yours. Some will never be persuaded no matter what evidence you provide, but others may be willing to listen to reason, thoughtful explanations.[9]

Appealing to others’ emotions ("This product is harmful to our children’s health!") works best when supported by evidence ("Check out the following scientific studies…").

There is "fake news" all over the internet, so do a little digging to evaluate the evidence before sharing it.

3. 3

Circulate online petitions. Thanks to the internet, starting a petition no longer has to mean going door to door with a pen and clipboard. There are numerous websites and social media platforms that house petitions, including change.org and petitions.whitehouse.gov. To drum up support for a petition:

Establish a clear, specific, and realistic goal — "Protect the wooded area adjacent to Veterans' Park from development."

Personalize the cause by telling your story — "I, like many kids in this area, developed an appreciation for nature by walking through those woods."

Mix online and offline efforts. Encourage friends and colleagues to share your petition both online and in person.

4. 4

Provide financial support if you can. It’s easy to donate money online to existing organizations that focus on your cause, although you should always do some research on how such groups spend their money. You can also turn to the internet for crowdfunding options, either by utilizing websites like indiegogo.com or firstgiving.com or by using social media to encourage direct donations.[10]

If you’re raising money for your local animal shelter, for instance, make sure there is a clear plan in place for using the funds. Many people won’t just give money blindly without knowing what it will be used for.

Advertisement

1. 1

Read up on your cause. Before getting involved in a cause, it’s important to be informed about the issues involved. Check out books related to your cause from your school or public library.[11]

Charities or other activist organizations devoted to your cause may be able to recommend some books to you. Check out their websites for reading lists.

Ask teachers or professors you know who may be familiar with your cause to recommend some books.

2. 2

Look at websites related to your cause. Search to find the websites of activist or charitable organizations that support your cause. Read their summaries of the issues, read up on what they are doing to help, and look at any information they have about how you can get involved.

Use the internet to read up on the topic in general, but always be aware of the sources for the information and any biases that might be apparent.

3. 3

Keep an eye on the news. Watch the news or browse newspapers, magazines, or online news publications for information about new developments related to your cause.[12] If you are a member of a charitable or activist organization for your cause, then they may offer a regular newsletter or roundup of recent stories related to the cause.

Keep in mind that not all sources are credible or reliable. Carefully evaluate any sources you read, especially on the internet, and be aware of the author’s possible biases.[13]

4. 4

Take classes on issues related to your cause. If you are in high school or college, you may be able to sign up for classes that will help you understand your cause better. For example, if you are concerned about environmental issues, an environmental science class would be a good place to start.

Taking a class can not only help you become more informed about your cause, but it can also help you connect to others who are interested in the same issues.

Talk to your teacher or professor outside of class to get more ideas about how to get involved or educate yourself further.

If you’re not in school, or if your school doesn’t offer courses that are helpful to you, you might be able to find a free or affordable online course related to your cause. For example, Smith College offers a free online course on Women’s Activism through the edX website.[14]

5. 5

Listen to the people most affected. If you are interested in a cause that affects other people, then one of the best ways to understand how to help them is to listen to what they have to say. If you can’t reach out to them in person, then try connecting to affected people and communities via social media, or read their stories in books or online.[15]

For example, if you are interested in helping with issues related to LGBT+ rights, speak to members of your local LGBT+ community about what kinds of issues matter the most to them, and what you can do to help. If your campus has a Gay-Straight Alliance club, that might be a good place to start.

6. 6

Talk to other activists. If you know other activists in your community who are involved in the cause you are interested in, talking to them is a great way to find out what work is already being done in your area and what you can do to help out.[16]

Try connecting with other activists in your area via social media or attend meetings for organizations in your area.

If you are in school, talk to other students or teachers who are interested in your cause. Find out if there are any student organizations on campus related to your cause.

Advertisement

1. 1

Major in a field related to activism. If you are in college or getting ready to start college, consider majoring in a field that will help you support your cause. For example, you could major in a field like organizational leadership, or you could focus on something more specific to the cause you are interested in, e.g., environmental science or women’s studies.[17]

Also think about other career paths that would allow you to support your cause. For example, if you are interested in public health, you might seek a career in the medical field.

2. 2

Seek internships. If you're new to the workforce, internships can be a great way to begin a career as an activist. During college or just after college, look for internships related to your interests. See if your favorite grassroots organizations and non-profits offer internships. Talk to your college advisor about where to find internships related to activism. Completing one or more relevant internships can put you on the right track to becoming a career activist.[18]

Some degree programs may require you to complete an internship to graduate. Make sure you check your graduation requirements and complete an internship if it's necessary for your degree.

3. 3

Look for activist jobs. If you are ready to start working, look for jobs that are relevant to your interests. See if charities and grassroots organizations you believe in having any open positions that are suited to your skills. For example, if you have strong writing and editing skills, see if you can work as a copywriter for a grassroots organization. If you have skills with planning and coordinating events, look for work as a volunteer coordinator.[19]

Basically, whatever job skills you have are probably useful to some activist organization out there that supports your cause — they may need accountants, drivers, cooks, carpenters, doctors, etc.

Advertisement

Add New Question

Question

Is registering people to vote a form of activism?

Bridget Connolly
Political Activist

Bridget Connolly has volunteered on political campaigns at the local and federal level for over 10 years, most notably for the 2008 Obama campaign in Nevada and Josh Harder's Congressional race in 2018. She has gone door-to-door to help register voters and get out the vote in both California and Nevada.

Political Activist

Expert Answer

Yes! Registering people to vote helps remove barriers for people who have been marginalized by educational systems, culture, and misinformation about the importance of their vote. I’ve had so many experiences where every vote counts. If 500 people are registering people to vote in a specific county, and we each get 1 person, and somebody wins by 400 votes, that’s a really big deal. I think it’s a civic duty for people who understand how politics work and understand that voting is at the bedrock of all of that. The people who don’t vote are essentially disenfranchised; they aren’t playing a part in what’s happening with their tax dollars and who is representing them at the local, state, and federal level. All levels. It takes a lot of work to stay informed, but that’s how our system is set up. You’re voting people into power, so it’s a civic duty.

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Be creative! Activism doesn't have to involve large events. Even if you're working out of your garage you can still make a difference. Bloggers can be activists through their writing, teachers can be activists by encouraging students to challenge their beliefs, artists can leave guerrilla activist art around town, computer-savvy folks can arrange an e-zine, and so on.

When working with others, consider the needs of the group. Be willing to compromise on the details, if not on your core values.

Dig deep into what you are researching, don't just skim the top.

Advertisement

Be aware of the consequences if you plan to engage in acts of civil disobedience. Carry a lawyer's business card if you believe that you may be arrested. In the USA, the ACLU makes pocket cards for this purpose.

Be respectful of other's opinions, and learn when to recognize when you are turning into a Soapbox, Sally. Once you recognize this, stop being an activist.

Advertisement

References

About This Article

Article Summary X

If you feel passionately about an issue and want to become an activist, start by contacting local or online organizations with a similar mission. Ask them if you can volunteer your time or donate your money to contribute to the cause. Alternatively, you can also promote your cause on social media, share news articles, and circulate online petitions to raise awareness. Be sure to stay well-informed by keeping current with any news related to your cause! For tips on finding organizations that support your cause, read on!

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 840,231 times.

Reader Success Stories

"It gave me a lot of good information."

Did this article help you?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An activist is anyone who sees the need for change and devotes their time to doing something about it. And, as successful teen activists prove, structural, social, or economic barriers don’t have to stop you from pursuing your passion and...

# data[].attributes.headline
First Atomic Bomb Dropped on Japan; Missile Is Equal to 20,000 Tons of TNT; Truman Warns Foe of a ‘Rain of Ruin 

# data[].attributes.subject
First Atomic Bomb Dropped on Japan; Missile Is Equal to 20,000 Tons of TNT; Truman Warns Foe of a ‘Rain of Ruin 

# data[].attributes.headline
Conflict with North Korea: “Nuclear Weapons” from Grolier’s The New Book ofKnowledge

# data[].attributes.subject
Conflict with North Korea: “Nuclear Weapons” from Grolier’s The New Book ofKnowledge

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
AtomicBombMuseum.org - The Pursuit of Peace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The postwar Japanese experience has been a counterpoint struggle between the persistent advocacy of a peaceful world, as evident in huge public rallies and in the many levels of personal involvement in peace studies and promotion, on the one hand, and the reckless increase in…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Major population groupings

1. Persons present in Hiroshima or Nagasaki at bombing time. Of the regular resident population, many children and older persons had been previously evacuated, while certain outsiders were working in the cities on their specific bombing days. Overall, the estimated "physically present" population of Hiroshima on August 6 was 340,000-350,000. Nagasaki's estimated "physically present" population on August 9 was 90,000-120,000.

2. Early entrants into both cities following the bombings, mainly soldiers, firefighters, medical workers, and other helping personnel.

3. Persons who suffered radiation injuries in the areas surrounding the two bombed cities.

Almost all persons in the above groupings, young or old, also fell into one of the following groups: (1) broken families; (2) A-bomb orphans; (3) orphaned elderly.

Hiroshima

Of the city's 298 medical doctors, 270 (90%) became A-bomb victims. Casualty rates among pharmacists, nurses, and other medical professionals ranged between 80% and 93%. Eighteen emergency hospitals and 32 first-aid clinics were destroyed, and most of the workers needed to restore these health facilities were killed or injured. Nearby army medical facilities were also mostly destroyed.

In sum, approximately 90% of all medical personnel were dead or disabled, and remaining medical facilities were thrown into great disrepair and confusion.
All citizens faced desperate conditions; the young and old, all the more so.

Nagasaki

In the 2-km zone of total destruction around ground zero in Nagasaki's Urakami valley, the city's chief medical facilities were destroyed. These included Nagasaki Medical University and its related hospital, the Urakami branch of Mitsubishi Hospital, Urakami First Hospital, and some other smaller health care institutions.

Of the 70 or so doctors in private practice in the city, twenty were dead and twenty more seriously wounded; only 30 were available to help the mass of A-bomb victims.

As a major port city, Nagasaki was surrounded by various naval installations. Medical personnel from several naval hospitals (Isahaya, Sasebo, Omura, and other places) came with support personnel to give assistance, making the overall situation somewhat better than in Hiroshima.

Even so, food, clothing, medicine, and other relief supplies in Nagasaki were, as in Hiroshima, extremely scarce. Moreover, heavy rains hit both cities in September, making the struggle to survive desperately difficult and miserable.

Local ability to mobilize health care personnel and restore medical facilities was severely hampered by the overall loss of non-military economic wealth (65 billion yen nationwide). Of this total, Hiroshima (884 million yen) and Nagasaki (380 million yen) together suffered over 2% of the national total.

Political restraints on recovery

On top of the enormous physical, medical, and social damages imposed on Japan by the two atomic bombings, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Occupation (SCAP) imposed another onerous handicap: censorship. Formally termed the Press Code, officially issued by the Occupation GHQ on September 19, 1945, it prohibited the publication of all reports and studies of A-bomb damages, including medical and scientific studies of all injuries and losses suffered by A-bomb victims in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, whether in newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, books, or other public means. Thus the A-bombed citizens struggled with ignorance of the many medical and social aspects of the decimated lives.

There were minor exceptions. The Hiroshima-based magazine, Chugoku Bunka, devoted its initial issue (March 10, 1946) to A-bomb damages. A Manhattan Project team published its report, The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on June 29, 1946. And the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey Team completed its report, The Effects of the Air Attack on the Cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the following day. These official documents, however, were printed in English and, in any case, did not touch deeply on the sufferings of the two A-bombed cities.

Most importantly, serious research on the extent and gravity of A-bomb damages and injuries could not be publicly printed and distributed by any Japanese persons or organizations, thus handicapping the surviving medical personnel trying to heal and assuage the thousands of A-bomb victims. The most revealing item, perhaps, is that the Japanese characters for "atomic bomb" ( genshi bakudan, or the short form, genbaku) could not even be used in public print. This applied to all forms: newspapers, magazines, books, public bulletins, and of course, movies.

Cameramen of the Japanese movie firm Nippon Eiga-sha were arrested by American MPs in Nagasaki on October 17, 1945, and two days later the photographing of A-bomb scenes was prohibited. A formal prohibition was issued by GHQ on December 12. It would be almost seven years later until, after the Occupation ended, the weekly magazine Asahi Gurafu ( Asahi Graph) filled an entire issue with heretofore unpublicized photographs of A-bomb damages and victims-the first A-bomb-related photos to be published in the postwar era.

One of the most moving instances of resistance to the Press Code was a small volume of tanka (a Japanese verse form of 31 syllables), penned by a hibakusha poet named Shinoe Shoda in Hiroshima. Titled Sange, it decried the cruelty of the bomb. As publication of all A-bomb-related materials was strictly banned, she took her manuscript to Tadao Nakamura, a clerk in the printing shop of a Hiroshima prison, who mimeographed 150 copies in December 1947. Shoda distributed copies to other hibakusha, all at her own expense and, of course, without SCAP permission. A hand-written copy of Sange was later donated to the Hiroshima Peace Cultural Foundation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Persons present in Hiroshima or Nagasaki at bombing time. Of the regular resident population, many children and older persons had been previously evacuated, while certain outsiders were working in the cities on their specific bombing days. Overall, the estimated "physically present" population of Hiroshima on August 6 was 340,000-350,000.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Major energy forms

The major explosive energy forms that dominate research and reports on the atomic bombings are three:

Fireball: air absorbs heat, swells to a fireball with a 50-ft. radius and a temperature of 300,000 degrees C.

Shock Wave + Air Blast: 50% of total energy

Radioactivity: two kinds. initial radiation (explained above), andinduced radiation (also called "residual radiation").

Of these three energy forms, the most radically different, and most deadly over time, was the high level of radioactivity.

A deadly new threat: radioactivity

1. "Black rain"

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions yielded some 200 different kinds of radioactive isotopes, that is, nuclear fission particles of uranium and plutonium that escaped fission. Following the explosions, these and other materials irradiated by neutrons from the bomb, were carried high into the atmosphere.

The mixing of enormous amounts of airborne irradiated materials combined with heat and thermal currents from the firestorms led to rainfall in both cities within 30-40 minutes of the bombings. As the fallout particles were mixed with carbon residue from citywide fires, the result was the awesome-and injurious-"black rain."

This "black rain" reached ground level as sticky, dark, dangerously radioactive water. It not only stained skin, clothing, and buildings, but also was ingested by breathing and by consumption of contaminated food or water, causing radiation poisoning.

2. Initial radiation from the bombs

About 3% of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs' energy was spent in generating ionizing radiation -high-energy particles and rays with enough energy to "ionize" neutral atoms, i.e., strip electrons away from them. Some of this ionized radiation was absorbed by the air, but neutrons (electrically neutral sub-atomic particles) and gamma and X-rays (extremely high energy forms of light) did reach the ground, and these rays damaged exposed living tissues. Close to ground zero of both explosions, dosages were high enough to be immediately lethal for persons not already killed by flash, blast, or fire.

3. Induced radioactivity

Initial bursts of radiation from the two bombs also created induced or residual radioactivity. Soil and other materials were irradiated in the blast areas. Absorption of "slow neutrons" by all kinds of substances caused the creation of new isotopes that then emitted ionizing radiation.

Japanese physicists examining the areas near ground zero in Hiroshima found unusually high levels of radioactivity in the soil, in the bones of a horse, and even in the sulphur content of electrical insulators on telephone poles. Eventually, a variety of unusual radioactive elements were found in soil, roofing tiles, asphalt, and concrete near ground zero in the two cities. There were many instances of radiation effects on animals and plants.

4. Radioactivity and living tissue

Living tissue may be exposed to ionizing radiation directly (emitted by explosion) or by exposure to, or ingestion of, fallout matter that emits residual radiation. The danger is the same either way.

Key: Ionizing radiation transforms a neutral atom into a charged atom that may bond to another atom, altering (i) the structure of the original molecule, (ii) the way it reacts chemically, and (iii) the function it performs when part of a living organism. The altered molecules may act as poisons, hindering the normal functions of the cells of which they are a part.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The major explosive energy forms that dominate research and reports on the atomic bombings are three: Fireball: air absorbs heat, swells to a fireball with a 50-ft. radius and a temperature of 300,000 degrees C. Shock Wave + Air Blast: 50% of total energy Radioactivity: two kinds.

# data[].attributes.headline
The First Atomic Bombs: “Little Boy” and “Fat Man”

# data[].attributes.subject
The First Atomic Bombs: “Little Boy” and “Fat Man”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMBS: "Little Boy"and "Fat Man"

There were actually two new bombs, one using uranium, the other plutonium, with different triggering devices for each. The main research and production sites were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The entire project operated under top secrecy, mobilizing top scientists and engineers, and at unprecedented high costs.

The Hiroshima bomb

Nicknamed "Little Boy"(for President Franklin Roosevelt), the bomb's size was 3 meters in length by 0.7 meter in diameter, using uranium 235 as its critical material. Inside a shortened smooth-bore 76.2 mm (3 in.) naval gun, a subcritical projectile of U-235 was fired at a subcritical target of U-235. At the moment of impact, a supercritical mass was formed, triggering a nuclear chain reaction, or atomic explosion. The gun barrel and heavy casing gave it a weight of over four metric tons (8,900 lbs). The subcritical material was an alloy called Oralloy, a code named derived from the secret laboratory at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where it was fabricated.

For use in the gun device, the fissile materials had to be made into geometric shapes capable of withstanding the violence of being shot down the gun's tube, then stoipped abruptly at the target, and held together long enough to detonate.

The Nagasaki bomb

Nicknamed "Fat Man" (for England's Prime Minister Winston Churchill), this bomb had a core of plutonium 239, was 3.5 meters in length by 1.5 meters in diameter, and it weighed 4.5 tons. Its plutonium core was surrounded by 64 explosive charges arranged in an inner and outer shell. The explosive charges were fabricated in geometrical shapes in a configuration similar to a soccer ball-an extremely difficult and demanding procedure. When the two shells were detonated, the shockwave slammed into a tamper surrounding the plutonium nucleus, causing a rapid increase in density that compressed the slightly sub-critical plutonium core, rapidly increasing its density, making it supercritical, thus exploding in a nuclear chain reaction.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There were actually two new bombs, one using uranium, the other plutonium, with different triggering devices for each. The main research and production sites were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The entire project operated under top secrecy, mobilizing top scientists and engineers, and at unprecedented high costs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The U.S. had been at war with Japan since the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the day Japan also bombed Manila and took control of the Philippines. By mid-1942, Japanese forces had gained control of all East Asia, most of Southeast Asia, and half the Pacific area-altogether, approximately 1/6 of the earth's surface.

Thus, no offensive bombing of Japan proper could be launched until Japanese island bases in the Pacific could be taken and airfields built to accommodate the large B-29s. Except for a daring raid from China on western Japan in April 1942, Japan's skies remained free of U.S. bombers until June 1944. And Japan's major cities-Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, etc.-were still out of range from the Pacific-based bombers.

Meanwhile, from 1942 the U.S. pursued a radically new wartime course: development of a bomb using radioactive materials with explosive force and long-term effects far beyond anything yet known or experienced. The overall effort was named the Manhattan Project.

This project for developing the world's first atomic weapons began on a $2 million budget, with a twin project to build 2,000 of the B-29 superfortress bombers at an eventual cost of $3 billion-at the time, the largest-ever U.S. military budgets.

By early 1945, however, a major U.S. naval victory at Midway Island opened the way to U.S. control of the Marianna Islands of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, only 1,300 miles from Tokyo-that is, close enough for the B-29s to reach Japan proper and return. Soon the largest-ever military airfields were constructed on these islands.

The B-29 was first used for day-time, high-altitude precision bombing of Germany's munitions industries. But for Japan, Gen. Curtis Le May changed from daytime, high-altitude precision raids with high-explosive bombs to low-altitude, nighttime, carpet-bombing with thousands of incendiary (fire) bombs.

Opening round: Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe

Throughout the night of March 9-10, 1945, flying in streams 400-miles long, a fleet of 334 B-29s fire-bombed central Tokyo for nearly three hours. Within 30 minutes of the first bomb, fires were burning out of control, embroiling the city's center in a firestorm with temperatures reaching 1,000° C (1,899° F), hot enough to cause water to boil in canals and fire-safety cisterns. Over 100,000 people-men, women, and children-perished and a million were injured, 41,000 seriously. Another million were made homeless in the scorched capital wasteland.

The Tokyo raid was followed by similar bombings of Nagoya (March 11), Osaka (March 13), and Kobe (March 16). Thus, in eight days, with 1,600 sorties, LeMay's air force burned out 32 square miles of the centers of Japan four largest cities, killing at least 150,000 people, though probably tens of thousands more. In April, LeMay wrote privately to his commanding general, "I consider that for the first time, strategic air bombardment (shows) that destruction of Japan's ability to wage war lies within the capability of this command." LeMay had found, says historian Richard Rhodes, a method "whereby the Air Force might end the Pacific War without (an) invasion."

These four raids initiated a five-month bombing of Japan's main islands. Waves of B-29s destroyed over half the total area of 66 urban centers, reducing 178 square miles to ashes. This March-July fire-bombing campaign is estimated to have taken more civilian lives than the half-million killed during five years of Allied bombing of Germany.

Meantime, by spring of 1945, U.S. submarines had destroyed Japan's merchant marine, and isolated the country by mining its harbors and coastal waters. Thus, by early summer, virtually all shipping, manufacturing, transportation, and food distribution had ground to a halt.

In such dire circumstances, one faction of Japan's central war council pushed for surrender, while a "fight to the finish" faction resisted. Meantime, the U.S. was readying a knockout punch with a new weapon of unprecedented power. Just one such bomb would surpass all the incendiary bombing of Tokyo.

TIMETABLE: Fire-bombing of Japan, March 9-10 and July 1 to August 14, 1945

B-29s (no.)

Cities bombed (I = incendiaries; HE = high explosives; M = mines)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The U.S. had been at war with Japan since the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the day Japan also bombed Manila and took control of the Philippines. By mid-1942, Japanese forces had gained control of all East Asia, most of Southeast Asia, and half the Pacific area-altogether, approximately 1/6 of the earth's surface.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The unspeakable second's explosive sequence

0.0 second: Temperature at burst point reaches several million degrees F within one-millionth of a second following detonation. All bomb material becomes ionized gas & gamma rays.

0.1 second: Bomb explodes and fireball forms. In addition to heat and blast force, radiation was 3% of total energy, of which gamma rays & neutrons damaged living organisms, soil and ground structures.

0.15 second: Shock wave expands rapidly, heating air to luminous condition. Fireball visible for following 10 seconds.

0.2 second: Thermal energy, especially infrared wave-lengths, causes most of thermal burns to humans.

1.0 second: Fireball reaches maximum diameter of 200-300 meters.

Blast (50% of energy) is now complete. Overpressure at hypocenter (or "ground zero," directly below the burst point) in Hiroshima reaches an estimated 4.5-6.7 tons per square meter, and moves through the air and across the ground at the approximate speed of sound. Maximum pressure at Nagasaki's hypocenter may have been as high as 10 tons per square meter.

Recent research has found that in the initial "non-instant" (0.0 sec.) a powerful neutron burst struck a mile-wide area directly below burst point before the bomb casing exploded. This pre-explosion burst was caused by the initial impact of the uranium bullet with the core of uranium 235. This finding resolved a long-perplexing question of a young man near ground zero who died (Sept. 3) with symptoms of severe internal bleeding but no surface burns.

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash, like a photographer's magnesium flash. Then came a blast with a deafening bang, and I felt as though I had been kicked in the guts....The world was all black.- F.J.Johnson. Australian prisoner of war, Nagasaki.

Physical Devastation

The Hiroshima bomb was exploded over the city center, which was crowded with large public buildings and countless wood-frame residences and shops. Beneath the huge column of smoke that arose from the explosion, tens of thousands were already dead or dying. As fires raced out of control, destruction of wooden structures and reinforced concrete buildings alike was virtually complete within 2 km (1.2 mi.) of ground zero.

In Nagasaki, the more powerful bomb destroyed an estimated 12,000 buildings by blast and burning. Virtually nothing was left standing of the valley's homes, schools and factories. Worshippers in shrines, temples, and churches perished as they prayed.

In both cities, fires generated by the explosions' intense heat, and fed by broken gas and electrical lines, raged out of control. Fire stations and equipment had been destroyed, fire fighters were dead or injured, and water pipes were ruptured.

Many corpses were found at places where there was some water-rivers, old wells, fire-safety cisterns, ponds, and the like. People who did not die instantly had, it appears, exerted themselves to the limit just to find some water.- Marina Transport Rescue Team member, Hiroshima.

Hiroshima's gigantic firestorm leveled 13 square kilometers (5 sq. mi.), destroying some 92% of the city's structures. Nagasaki's firestorm, hemmed in by the valley, consumed some 22.7% of the entire city's structures. The bodies of many people who were close to ground zero in the two cities were shattered by blast or burned beyond recognition in the firestorms.

Houses and trees were leveled as far as the eye could see, and fires began breaking out in the ruins. At the roadside I saw the corpse of a man who had been leading a horse cart, still on his feet, with his hair standing on end like wire.... The river was filled with the dead and half-dead; burned children were screaming, 'Mommy! Mommy!' and mothers searched for their children, calling their names in faltering voices.- Ms. Hide Kurokawa, Nagasaki

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
0.0 second: Temperature at burst point reaches several million degrees F within one-millionth of a second following detonation. All bomb material becomes ionized gas & gamma rays. 0.1 second: Bomb explodes and fireball forms. In addition to heat and blast force, radiation was 3% of total energy, of which gamma rays & neutrons damaged living organisms, soil and ground structures.

# data[].attributes.headline
Testimony of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors)

# data[].attributes.subject
Testimony of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Testimony of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Top > Foreign Policy > Japan's Security / Peace & Stability of the International Community > Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology > Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation > Testimony of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors)

# data[].attributes.headline
Opinion: Obama’s visit to Hiroshima highlights the positive

# data[].attributes.subject
Opinion: Obama’s visit to Hiroshima highlights the positive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Opinion: Obama's visit to Hiroshima highlights the positive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Obama keeps the peace with historic visit

# data[].attributes.headline
Doomsday Clock’ a metaphorical measuring stick for the world’s end

# data[].attributes.subject
Doomsday Clock’ a metaphorical measuring stick for the world’s end

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | "Doomsday Clock" a metaphorical measuring stick for the world's end

# data[].attributes.headline
The Crew of the Enola Gay on Dropping the Atomic Bomb

# data[].attributes.subject
The Crew of the Enola Gay on Dropping the Atomic Bomb

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On August 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Twelve men were on that flight. Some chose to keep a low profile and others spoke out about their place in history. Almost all had something to say after the war.

The 509th Composite Group was formed by the U.S. Army Air Force to deliver and deploy the first atomic bombs during World War II. The group was segregated from the rest of the military and trained in secret. Even those in the group only knew as much as they needed to know in order to perform their duties. The group deployed to Tinian in 1945 with 15 B-29 bombers, flight crews, ground crews, and other personnel, a total of about 1770 men. The mission to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (special mission 13) involved seven planes, but the one we remember was the Enola Gay.

Air Force captain Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk did not know the destructive force of the nuclear bomb before Hiroshima. He was 24 years old at that time, a veteran of 58 missions in North Africa. Paul Tibbets told him this mission would shorten or end the war, but Van Kirk had heard that line before. Hiroshima made him a believer. Van Kirk felt the bombing of Hiroshima was worth the price in that it ended the war before the invasion of Japan, which promised to be devastating to both sides.

I honestly believe the use of the atomic bomb saved lives in the long run. There were a lot of lives saved. Most of the lives saved were Japanese.

In 2005, Van Kirk came as close as he ever got to regret.

I pray no man will have to witness that sight again. Such a terrible waste, such a loss of life. We unleashed the first atomic bomb, and I hope there will never be another. I pray that we have learned a lesson for all time. But I'm not sure that we have.

After the war, Van Kirk got a masters degree in chemical engineering and worked for DuPont until his retirement. Van Kirk passed away in 2014.

Thomas Ferebee pushed the button that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. He slept in the plane both before and after he did his part. After the war, Ferebee stayed with the Air Force, serving in the Strategic Air Command and in Vietnam. He retired as a full Colonel.

Colonel Ferebee, who retired from the Air Force in 1970, always argued that the Hiroshima bomb was necessary. "I'm convinced that the bombing saved many lives by ending the war," he told Newsweek magazine in 1970.

That doesn't mean he had no opinion on the further use of such weapons.

"Now we should look back and remember what just one bomb did, or two bombs," he told The Charlotte Observer in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. "Then I think we should realize that this can't happen again."

Colonel Ferebee died in Florida in 2000, at the age of 81.

Army Air Force radar specialist Jacob Beser was the only man who served on both the Enola Gay in the Hiroshima bombing mission and the Bock's Car three days later when its crew bombed Nagasaki. He couldn't look at the detonation of the bombs because he was charged with monitoring for outside signals that could have detonated the bomb early and monitoring for signals of the proper detonation. This is addition for keeping an eye on radar for any enemy planes.

In this 1985 interview for the Washington Post, Beser was asked if he would do it again.

Given the same circumstances in the same kind of context, the answer is yes. However, you have to admit that the circumstances don't exist now. They probably never will again. I have no regrets, no remorse about it. As far as our country was concerned, we were three years downstream in a war, going on four. The world had been at war, really, from the '30s in China, continuously, and millions and millions of people had been killed. Add to that the deliberate killing that went on in Europe, [and] it's kind of ludicrous to say well, geez, look at all those people that were instantly murdered. In November of 1945 there was an invasion of Japan planned. Three million men were gonna be thrown against Japan. There were about three million Japanese digging in for the defense of their homeland, and there was a casualty potential of over a million people. That's what was avoided. If you take the highest figures of casualties of both cities, say, 300,000 combined casualties in Hiroshima [and] Nagasaki, versus a million, I'm sorry to say, it's a good tradeoff. It's a very cold way to look at it, but it's the only way to look at it. Now looking into tomorrow, that's something else again. I don't have any pat answers for that.

After the war, Beser was an engineer at Sandia Laboratories where nuclear research continued and at Westinghouse where he worked on classified projects for the military. He retired in 1985. In 1988, Beser wrote a book called Hiroshima and Nagasaki Revisited. He died of cancer in 1992 at age 71.

There isn't a lot of biographical information available on radar operator Joe Stiborik, except for some of his reminiscences of the mission.

Joe Stiborik remembered the crew sitting in stunned silence on the return flight. The only words he recollected hearing were Lewis's "My God, what have we done." He explained, "I was dumbfounded. Remember, nobody had ever seen what an A-bomb could do before. Here was a whole damn town nearly as big as Dallas, one minute all in good shape and the next minute disappeared and covered with fires and smoke...There was almost no talk I can remember on our trip back to the base. It was just too much to express in words, I guess. We were all in a kind of state of shock. I think the foremost thing in all our minds was that this thing was going to bring an end to the war and we tried to look at it that way."

Stiborik died of a heart attack in 1984 at age 69.

Morris Jeppson was only 23 years old when he was assigned to accompany the atomic bomb on the Enola Gay. It was his duty to arm the bomb and make sure it would work. Jeppson had the power to abort the mission if it didn't. It was his first and last mission of the war. Jeppson had worked in developing the mechanics of the bomb, and after the war he continued on the nuclear path. He studied physics at Berkeley and worked in the radiation laboratory there. Then he worked on developing hydrogen thermonuclear weapons at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Jeppson went on to invent and market hi-tech machinery for medical and industrial uses.

In 1995, Jeppson looked back at the Hiroshima mission.

Until the 509th reunion that year Jeppson hadn't given the mission much thought. "Those bomb plugs were just kicking around in a drawer" for years, he says. Still, he maintains that dropping the bomb on Hiroshima was a necessary means to help end the war. He points to wartime concerns that Germany was developing nuclear bomb technology. "If that had happened, the world would be an entirely different place (today)," he says.

Jeppson passed away in 2010.

Richard Nelson was the youngest of the Enola Gay crew. He was 20 years old in August of 1945. He relayed the news of the atomic bomb to his superiors in code, who forwarded it to President Truman: "Results excellent." After the war, Nelson got a degree in business administration and made a career as a salesman. Fifty years later, he had no regrets about his part in the mission.

"War is a terrible thing," he told The Riverside Press-Enterprise on the 50th anniversary of the bombing. "It takes and it destroys. Anyone feels sorry for people who are killed. We are all human beings. But I don't feel sorry I participated in it. If I had known the results of the mission beforehand, I would have flown it anyway."

Nelson died from emphysema in 2003 at age 77.

Enola Gay tail gunner Bob Caron wrote a book about the mission called Fire of a Thousand Suns. Despite his description of the bomb's effects, he never regretted being part of the mission.

In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News published two weeks before he died, Mr. Caron said he had no regrets about his role in the World War II bombing. "No remorse, no bad dreams," he said. "We accomplished our mission."

Caron died of pneumonia in 1995. He was 75 years old.

Wyatt Duzenbury kept tabs on the Enola Gay's engines and other systems while others tended the bomb and the mission itself. He considered it an honor to be chosen for the secret bombing mission that was to shorten the war. After 1945, he stayed with the Air Force. In his retirement, he looked back at the mission.

...he told the Lansing State Journal in 1985, "We were told to go, cranked up, dropped it, and came home." He told the newspaper that he didn't feel guilty about his mission, but did "not feel good about the 100,000 people who died." In an earlier interview, he said, "Personally, I feel that if we hadn't dropped that bomb, and the other crew hadn't dropped its bomb on Nagasaki, it would have cost thousand of US soldiers' lives establishing a beach head for the invasion of Japan."

Duzenbury died in 1992 at age 71.

Robert Shumard assisted flight engineer Wyatt Duzenbury in keeping the Enola Gay running. In a 1960 interview, Shumard said he didn't feel honored to do what they did, but he felt honored to be selected for the mission. And given the circumstances, he would do it again.

"Nobody actually wants to cause the destruction we caused," he said. "But it was through a necessity rather than a wanton type of destruction. It was something that had to be done. As much as a man has gangrene in his leg, and they have to cut it off. It's something that has to be done. It was a cancer in the world situation that had to be removed, that's all."

Naval gunnery officer William "Deke" Parsons was pulled from sea duty to work on the Manhattan Project in 1943. He helped turn the nuclear bomb into a weapon of war, from development to assembly to delivery. He armed the first atomic bomb while the Enola Gay was airborne. After the war, Parsons continued in nuclear weapons development, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. He oversaw the Operation Crossroads nuclear testing project and also served on the Atomic Energy Commission. Parsons witnessed seven of the first eight nuclear explosions. There are no quotes available from Parsons as he was still serving in the Navy when he died of a sudden heart attack in 1953. He was 52 years old.

Air Force flier Robert Lewis was a pilot first and foremost. He was upset that commander Paul Tibbets had named his plane the Enola Gay. But he was also dedicated to the mission, and earned Tibbets' respect despite the animosity between the two. Lewis wrote a diary of the mission in a notebook during the flight to Hiroshima, against orders. He later sold it for $37,000. It was resold in 2002 for almost ten times that much. He is often quoted:

"As the bomb fell over Hiroshima and exploded, we saw an entire city disappear. I wrote in my log the words: 'My God, what have we done?'"

Some sources say that quote was a revision after the fact. Later in life, Lewis defended the mission.

Over the past half century, some of the crew have returned to the city to take part in the annual commemoration celebrations. Lewis never did. For him "it was just a job of work. I helped make the world a safer place. Nobody has dared launch an atomic bomb since then. That is how I want to be remembered. The man who helped to do that."

Lewis died of a heart attack at age 65 in 1983.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets was chosen to head the bomb delivery mission in September of 1944, and he selected the rest of the crew. At that time, the Manhattan Project was preparing to drop a bomb on Europe as well as Asia. After the mission, Tibbets remained in the Air Force until 1966, achieving the rank of Brigadier General. He worked as an aviation executive until his retirement in 1970.

In a 2002 interview with Studs Terkel, Tibbets said he never had second thoughts about the mission:

Number one, I got into the air corps to defend the United States to the best of my ability. That's what I believe in and that's what I work for. Number two, I'd had so much experience with airplanes... I'd had jobs where there was no particular direction about how you do it and then of course I put this thing together with my own thoughts on how it should be because when I got the directive I was to be self-supporting at all times. On the way to the target I was thinking: I can't think of any mistakes I've made. Maybe I did make a mistake: maybe I was too damned assured. At 29 years of age I was so shot in the ass with confidence I didn't think there was anything I couldn't do. Of course, that applied to airplanes and people. So, no, I had no problem with it. I knew we did the right thing because when I knew we'd be doing that I thought, yes, we're going to kill a lot of people, but by God we're going to save a lot of lives. We won't have to invade [Japan].

Tibbets died in 2007 at age 92. He had requested cremation and no physical memorial, because it would become a pilgrimage site for nuclear protesters.
This post originally appeared in 2010.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Crew of the Enola Gay on Dropping the Atomic Bomb

# data[].attributes.headline
Stranger than Strangelove’: How U.S. Planned for Nuclear War in the 1950s”

# data[].attributes.subject
Stranger than Strangelove’: How U.S. Planned for Nuclear War in the 1950s”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | "Stranger than Strangelove": How U.S. Planned for Nuclear War in the 1950s

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Secret papers have been released that reveal the horrors of the nuclear war that might have been.

# data[].attributes.headline
Building and Detonating the Atom Bomb in Nevada

# data[].attributes.subject
Building and Detonating the Atom Bomb in Nevada

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Building and Detonating the Atom Bomb in Nevada

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Nevada desert test site was curiously experimental for the military and curiously fascinating for tourists.

# data[].attributes.headline
Great Cities: How Hiroshima rose from the ashes of nuclear destruction

# data[].attributes.subject
Great Cities: How Hiroshima rose from the ashes of nuclear destruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.headline
Animation shows the deadly evolution of nuclear weapons

# data[].attributes.subject
Animation shows the deadly evolution of nuclear weapons

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Animation shows the deadly evolution of nuclear weapons

# data[].attributes.headline
What You Need to Know About North Korea and its Nuclear Program

# data[].attributes.subject
What You Need to Know About North Korea and its Nuclear Program

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What You Need to Know About North Korea & Its Nuclear Program | HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get a primer on the enigmatic nation and why it’s fueling international fears with its aggressive nuclear program.

# data[].attributes.headline
Revealed: The Most Powerful Nuclear Bomb Ever

# data[].attributes.subject
Revealed: The Most Powerful Nuclear Bomb Ever

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Maj. Andrei Durnovtsev, a Soviet air force pilot and commander of a Tu-95 Bear bomber, holds a dubious honor in the history of the Cold War.

Durnovtsev flew the aircraft that dropped the most powerful nuclear bomb ever. It had an explosive force of 50 megatons, or more than 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima weapon.

Over the years, historians identified many names for the test bomb.

Andrei Sakharov, one of the physicists who helped design it, simply called it "the Big Bomb." Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev called it "Kuzka's mother," a reference to an old Russian saying that means you are about to teach someone a harsh, unforgettable lesson.

The Central Intelligence Agency blandly dubbed the test "Joe 111." But a more popular name born out of Russian pride and a sheer awe sums it all up -the Tsar Bomba, or "the King of Bombs."

"As far as I can tell the term did not surface until after the end of the Cold War," Alex Wellerstein, a historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology and blogger, told War Is Boring. "Before that it was just called the 50 megaton or 100 megaton bomb."

"I think we make a lot more of the Tsar Bomba today than anytime other than the immediate period in which it was tested."

"Americans like to point to it as an example of how crazy the Cold War was, and how crazy the Russians are and were," Wellerstein added. "Russians seem to take pride in it."

***

On Oct. 30, 1961, Durnovtsev and his crew took off from an airfield on the Kola Peninsula and headed to the Soviet nuclear test area above the Arctic Circle at Mityushikha Bay, located in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.

The test project's scientists painted the Bear bomber and its Tu-16 Badger chase plane white to limit heat damage from the bomb's thermal pulse. That's at least what the scientists hoped the paint would do.

The bomb also had a parachute to slow its drop, giving both planes time to fly about 30 miles from ground zero before the nuke detonated. This gave Durnovtsev and his comrades a chance to escape.

When the planes reached their destination at the predetermined altitude of 34,000 feet, he ordered the bomb dropped. The chute opened, and the bomb started its three-minute descent to its detonation altitude two-and-a-half miles above the earth.

Durnovtsev pushed the throttles to the max.

Then the bomb exploded.

The five-mile wide fireball reached as high in the sky as the Bear bomber. The shock wave caused the Bear to drop more than half a mile in altitude before Durnovtsev regained control of his aircraft.

The blast broke windows more than 500 miles away. Witnesses saw the flash through heavy cloud cover more than 600 miles from the blast site.

Its mushroom cloud boiled up into the atmosphere until it was 45 miles above ground zero - essentially, on the lower boundaries of space. The top of the mushroom cloud spread out until it was 60 miles wide. The nuke's thermal pulse burned the paint off of both planes.

And that was small compared to the Soviets' original plan.

The designers originally intended the bomb to have a 100-megaton yield. They used a three-stage Teller-Ulam lithium dry-fuel configuration - similar to the thermonuclear device first demonstrated by the United States during the Castle Bravo shot.

Concerns about fallout prompted Russian scientists to use lead tampers that dialed down the yield to half of the bomb's capabilities. Interestingly enough, Tsar Bomba was one of the "cleanest" nuclear weapons ever detonated, because the bomb's design eliminated 97 percent of the possible fallout.

Even its size was monstrous. It was 26 feet long, about seven feet in diameter and weighed more than 60,000 pounds - so large it couldn't even fit inside of the bomb bay of the modified Bear bomber used to drop it.

The Tsar Bomba was so big, it's doubtful whether it could ever have been a practical weapon delivered by a Soviet bomber.

Because of the distance from the Soviet Union to America, removal of the fuselage fuel tanks to accommodate the bomb - combined with its sheer weight - meant that a Bear bomber wouldn't have sufficient fuel for the mission even with aerial refueling.

However, the CIA investigated whether the Soviets planned to place similar warheads on super-powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles that would target American cities.

The reason was accuracy. Or rather, the lack thereof. Because of the NATO alliance's nuclear advantages, the U.S. could place bombers and intermediate range ballistic missiles fairly close to Soviet targets in Eastern Europe.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the U.S. placed intermediate-range ballistic missiles such as the Thor in the United Kingdom and Turkey, and Honest John and Matador missiles in West Germany.

The shorter flight distance for those missiles meant they had a better chance of delivering their nuclear warheads effectively on target.

Russian nuclear weapons had further to travel, so there was more chance of missing the mark. But for a 100-megaton warhead ... close enough will do.

Consider the damage a 100-megaton version of the Tsar Bomba could inflict on Los Angeles - say, if detonated directly above the U.S. Bank Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

On a clear day, an airburst at 14,000 feet above ground level would produce a nuclear fireball two miles wide that would be hotter than the surface of the sun, reducing concrete and steel skyscrapers to ashes.

Within five miles of ground zero, everyone not killed by the blast and heat would receive a lethal dose of 500 rems of high-energy radiation. Up to 20 miles away from the detonation, the blast wave would gut every building - even concrete and steel reinforced buildings.

Up to 50 miles away, anyone exposed to the flash of the weapon would receive third-degree burns. In short, a Tsar Bomba warhead would completely devastate the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area.

In 1963, Khrushchev said the Soviet Union possessed a 100-megaton bomb that it deployed to East Germany. But the premier's claim has divided historians on whether it was true, or was just boasting.

As for Sakharov, his experience building and testing Tsar Bomba changed his life, prompting him to abandon weapons research.

He became an outspoken critic of Soviet efforts to create an anti-ballistic missile defense system, an advocate for civil rights in the Soviet Union and much-persecuted political dissident who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.

And Durnovtsev? Immediately after successfully dropping Tsar Bomba, the Soviet air force promoted him to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In addition, he received the Hero of the Soviet Union award, the highest honor bestowed for service to the Soviet state.
This piece first appeared in War Is Boring here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Revealed: The Most Powerful Nuclear Bomb Ever

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It had an explosive force of 50 megatons, or more than 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima weapon.

# data[].attributes.headline
Primary Sources: Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963

# data[].attributes.subject
Primary Sources: Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Primary Sources: Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963

# data[].attributes.headline
Ingeniously Charting the Horrifying Power of Today’s Nuclear Bombs”

# data[].attributes.subject
Ingeniously Charting the Horrifying Power of Today’s Nuclear Bombs”

# data[].attributes.headline
Primary Sources: Einstein Urges FDR to Build Nuclear Weapons in WWII

# data[].attributes.subject
Primary Sources: Einstein Urges FDR to Build Nuclear Weapons in WWII

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Primary Sources: Einstein Urges FDR to Build Nuclear Weapons in WWII

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Einstein asks FDR to create nuclear weapons

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Scholastic Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore Scholastic Teaching Tools for teaching resources, printables, book lists, and more. Enhance your classroom experience with expert advice!

# data[].attributes.headline
Kerry’s visit to Hiroshima bomb site could pave the way for Obama’s trip” by BloombergNews

# data[].attributes.subject
Kerry’s visit to Hiroshima bomb site could pave the way for Obama’s trip” by BloombergNews

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While Germany had surrendered, the continued. One of the most significant events of World War Two happened in 1945. This was the dropping of on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by American forces.

The decision to drop the atom bomb was taken by President Harry S. Truman, who had replaced Franklin Roosevelt following his death in April 1945. On 6 August 1945, Truman ordered an atom bomb to be dropped on the city of Hiroshima. It was dropped by a bomber plane named the Enola Gay. It is thought that at least 140,000 people were killed, of a total population of around 350,000.

When the atom bomb was dropped:

The temperature at the centre of the explosion reached 3000ºC - 4000ºC - three times hotter than volcanic lava.

Everything within a mile of the centre of the blast was flattened.

Fires spread and around 67 per cent of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed.

Three days after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a second one was dropped on the city of Nagasaki by a bomber plane called Bockscar. A further 74,000 people, at least, were killed. The Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, announced that Japan would surrender on 15 August. They formally signed a surrender agreement on 2 September.

This brought World War Two to an end.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out about World War Two with BBC Bitesize History. For students between the ages of 11 and 14.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the history of the Atomic Bomb during World War II. Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan to end WW2.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Hiroshima bombing: What you need to know about the nuclear attack”

# data[].attributes.subject
The Hiroshima bombing: What you need to know about the nuclear attack”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.headline
Physics for Kids: Nuclear Energy and Fission

# data[].attributes.subject
Physics for Kids: Nuclear Energy and Fission

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about nuclear energy and fission in the science of physics including E=mc2, power plants, uses of nuclear power, and fusion.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
History for kids - Free history network for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Atomic Bomb

Background

Before the war, many scientists had been investigating the possibility of generating energy and even weapons from the atom, the building block of the universe and everything that surrounds us.

The famous scientist Albert Einstein represented these leading thinkers by writing to the American president Franklin Roosevelt in August 1939.

He told him about their ideas and the danger of the Nazis in Germany developing such a bomb for military use.

Roosevelt responded by setting up a group of experts to develop the idea in the United States.

The idea only really got going after the Japanese bombed the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbour in December 1941.

Other countries also saw the appeal in having a very powerful weapon that would prevent their soldiers being killed in large numbers, as well as being able to stop enemies from making possible attacks on them.

These countries included Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. However, none of them were able to make the bomb before the Americans.

Between 1941 and 1945, the scientist, Robert Oppenheimer, led a group of experts on the Manhattan Project with the aim of making the world's first atomic bomb.

Many of the people on Oppenheimer's team were scientists who had escaped Nazi Germany.

They all worked at a special research site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The decision to use the bomb

Throughout the war, Allied forces heavily bombed Japan killing hundreds of thousands of people. But the Japanese survived these attacks and were still very strong.

They refused to surrender and so President Harry Truman thought about a possible invasion of the country.

The Japanese army was huge and the President knew that he would lose hundreds of thousands of men, if he embarked on such a plan.

So, in July 1945, Truman offered the Japanese the chance to surrender.

He knew that the bomb had now been completed and effectively tested in the New Mexico desert and was ready for use.

The Japanese wanted to negotiate the conditions of surrender and refused to give in to the demands of the Allies.

Hiroshima

The Americans targeted Hiroshima because it had not yet been hit by their air raids.

This meant that it would be a better testing ground to examine the effects of the atomic bomb over a particular area. Hiroshima also had an important military base.

On the morning of the 6th of August 1945, Paul Tibbets flew an American B29 bomber plane, called 'Enola Gay', over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and dropped the bomb named 'Little Boy' at 08:16 am local time.

The explosion was devastating and instantly wiped out the entire city. 140,000 people were killed at the time of the explosion and by the end of 1945.

The intense heat of the blast led to fires throughout the city which continued for three days, making survival more difficult for those who were not killed in the initial explosion.

Nagasaki

On the 9th of August, Charles Sweeney piloted a second mission on another B29 called Bockscar with the 'Fat Man' bomb, as it was known.

The main target of the bomb was in fact another Japanese city, Kokura. Due to cloud and smoke over Kokura, visibility was poor and Japanese fighter planes were drawing near.

So the pilot decided to target the city of Nagasaki as an alternative.

Nagasaki was picked due to the fact that it was an important port.

The bomb was dropped.

It was not as devastating as the Hiroshima bomb, but thousands of people died with the total reaching around 70,000 by the end of the year.

Several days later, on the 14th of August 1945, Japan gave its unconditional surrender to the Allies.

At noon the next day, Emperor Hirohito told the Japanese people of the decision.

Consequences

The atomic bomb changed the world forever after the end of the war.

As well as the high number of people who lost their lives, those who survived the blast suffered from terrible illness.

Several years after the war, the Americans and Soviets had created even more powerful hydrogen bombs which could now be fired at long-range targets all over the world, using missiles.

These new bombs made ordinary people fearful that one day there might be an all out war causing mass destruction.

Many people fought against nuclear weapons and still do. But they were unable to stop leaders developing more and more weapons.

Despite the fears, the two main powers after the war, America and the Soviet Union, never used the weapons even though there were many close calls.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hiroshima and Nagasaki - History for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Atomic Bomb Background Before the war, many scientists had been investigating the possibility of generating energy and even weapons from the atom, the building block of the universe and everything that surrounds us. The famous scientist Albert Einstein represented these leading thinkers by writing to the American president Franklin Roosevelt in August 1939.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Plague is one of the deadliest diseases in human history, second only to smallpox. A bacterial infection found mainly in rodents and associated fleas, plague readily leaps to humans in close contact. Plague outbreaks are the most notorious epidemics in history, inciting fears of plague's use as a biological weapon.

Today, plague cases still pop up sporadically around the world-including in the United States or China, where a suspected case was recently reported in the Inner Mongolia region. But the disease is no longer as deadly as it can be treated with antibiotics when available.

Here's what you need to know about the plague, including how it spreads, the difference between bubonic and pneumonic plague, the most infamous plague pandemics in history, and why it's not all that unusual to see modern cases of the disease.

For hundreds of years, what caused plague outbreaks remained mysterious, and shrouded in superstitions. But keen observations and advances in microscopes eventually helped unveil the true culprit. In 1894, Alexandre Yersin discovered the bacterium responsible for causing plague: Yersinia pestis.

Y. pestis is an extraordinarily virulent, rod-shaped bacterium. Y. pestis disables the immune system of its host by injecting toxins into defense cells, such as macrophages, that are tasked with detecting bacterial infections. Once these cells are knocked out, the bacteria can multiply unhindered.

Many small mammals act as hosts to the bacteria, including rats, mice, chipmunks, prairie dogs, rabbits, and squirrels. During an enzootic cycle, Y. pestis can circulate at low rates within populations of rodents, mostly undetected because it doesn't produce an outbreak. When the bacteria pass to other species, during an epizootic cycle, humans face a greater risk for becoming infected with plague bacteria.

Rats have long been thought to be the main vector of plague outbreaks, because of their intimate connection with humans in urban areas. Scientists have more recently discovered that a flea that lives on rats, Xenopsylla cheopis, primarily causes human cases of plague. When rodents die from the plague, fleas jump to a new host, biting them and transmitting Y. pestis. Transmission also occurs by handling tissue or blood from a plague-infected animal, or inhalation of infected droplets.

Bubonic plague, the disease's most common form, refers to telltale buboes-painfully swollen lymph nodes-that appear around the groin, armpit, or neck. The skin sores become black, leading to its nickname during pandemics as "Black Death." Initial symptoms of this early stage include vomiting, nausea, and fever.

Pneumonic plague, the most infectious type, is an advanced stage of plague that moves into the lungs. During this stage, the disease is passed directly, person to person, through airborne particles coughed from an infected person's lungs.

If untreated, bubonic and pneumonic plague can progress to septicemic plague, infecting the bloodstream. If left untreated, pneumonic and septicemic plague kills almost 100 percent of those it infects.

Three particularly well-known pandemics occurred before the cause of plague was discovered. The first well-documented crisis was the Plague of Justinian, which began in 542 A.D. Named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, the pandemic killed up to 10,000 people a day in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey), according to ancient historians. Modern estimates indicate half of Europe's population-almost 100 million deaths-was wiped out before the plague subsided in the 700s.

Arguably the most infamous plague outbreak was the so-called Black Death, a multi-century pandemic that swept through Asia and Europe. It was believed to start in China in 1334, spreading along trade routes and reaching Europe via Sicilian ports in the late 1340s. The plague killed an estimated 25 million people, almost a third of the continent's population. The Black Death lingered on for centuries, particularly in cities. Outbreaks included the Great Plague of London (1665-66), in which 70,000 residents died.

The cause of plague wasn't discovered until the most recent global outbreak, which started in China in 1860 and didn't officially end until 1959. The pandemic caused roughly 10 million deaths. The plague was brought to North America in the early 1900s by ships, and thereafter spread to small mammals throughout the United States.

The high rate of fatality during these pandemics meant that the dead were often buried in quickly dug mass graves. From teeth of these plague victims, scientists have pieced together a family tree of Y. pestis, discovering that the strain from the Justinian Plague was related to, but distinct from, other strains of the plague. ( Read how modern plague strains descended from a strain that arose during the Black Death pandemic.)

Plague in modern society

Plague still exists in various parts of the world, popping up sporadically and followed actively by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases have appeared in Africa since the 1990s.

Between 2004 to 2014, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported the majority of plague cases worldwide, with 4,630 human cases and 349 deaths. Scientists link the prevalence of plague in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the ecosystem-primarily mountain tropical climate. More recently, plague broke out in Madagascar in 2017, causing more than 2,300 cases.

The United States, China, India, Vietnam, and Mongolia are among the other countries that have had confirmed human plague cases in recent years. Within the U.S., on average seven human cases of plague appear each year, emerging primarily in California and the Southwest.

Today, most people survive plague with rapid diagnosis and antibiotic treatment. Good sanitation practices and pest control minimize contact with infected fleas and rodents to help prevent plague pandemics.

Plague is classified as a Category A pathogen, because it readily passes between people and could result in high mortality rates if untreated. This classification has helped stoke fears that Y. pestis could be used as a biological weapon if distributed in aerosol form. As a small airborne particle it would cause pneumonic plague, the most lethal and contagious form.

Of conservation concern, federally endangered black-footed ferrets contract another form of the plague, sylvatic plague, from nearby prairie dogs. Plague can decimate prairie dog populations, which are a critical food source for black-footed ferrets. Scientists have started to administer a vaccine to prevent plague outbreaks in prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on August 20, 2019.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Plague was one of history's deadliest diseases-then we found a cure

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Plague is one of the deadliest diseases in human history, second only to smallpox. A bacterial infection found mainly in rodents and associated fleas, plague readily leaps to humans in close contact. Plague outbreaks are the most notorious epidemics in history, inciting fears of plague's use as a biological weapon.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola for a second time Thursday after a brief resurgence of the disease.

Liberia was the country hardest hit in the largest Ebola epidemic on record, accounting for more than 4,800 of the 11,300 people killed by the virus since the end of 2013.

The outbreak there was declared over in May after no new cases were reported for 42 days, twice the usual incubation period for the virus. But six additional cases were later identified, including two people who died, the WHO said in a statement.

Health officials reiterated Thursday that the country won't be safe from Ebola until the virus has been defeated throughout West Africa.

In neighboring Sierra Leone, tests confirmed Saturday that a woman believed to be in her 60s had died of Ebola less than a week after the last-known patient in the country was discharged from a treatment center.

Those who came into contact with the victim and their contacts are being offered an experimental vaccine that has shown promising results in trials in neighboring Guinea, the WHO said. Those trials are being extended to Sierra Leone.

Guinea, where the epidemic began, reported two more cases last week.

Liberia now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance during which authorities will be on the lookout for any possible cases, the WHO said.
For more international news, follow @alexzavis on Twitter

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Liberia declared Ebola-free for a second time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola for a second time Thursday after a brief resurgence of the disease. Liberia was the country hardest hit in the largest Ebola epidemic on record, accounting for more than 4,800 of the 11,300 people killed by the virus since the end of 2013.

# data[].attributes.headline
Liberia declared Ebola-free for a second time”

# data[].attributes.subject
Liberia declared Ebola-free for a second time”

# data[].attributes.headline
Liberia declared Ebola free, though risks remain, WHO warns”

# data[].attributes.subject
Liberia declared Ebola free, though risks remain, WHO warns”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(Abbas Dulleh / Associated Press)

Just over 13 months since Liberia's first case of Ebola, the West African nation Saturday was declared free of the deadly disease, 42 days after the burial of the last fatal victim on March 28.

In the world's worst outbreak since Ebola's discovery in 1976, more people were killed in Liberia than any other nation, as the disease swept through densely populated neighborhoods of the capital city, Monrovia.

Amid the celebration Saturday, there was a note of caution from the World Health Organization because neighbors Sierra Leone and Guinea continue to struggle with the disease..

"While WHO is confident that Liberia has interrupted transmission, outbreaks persist in neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone, creating a high risk that infected people may cross into Liberia over the region's exceptionally porous borders," the organization said in a statement Saturday.

After the first case in Liberia was reported in late March of 2014, the outbreak was at first limited and appeared contained. But by June, the contagious disease had hit Monrovia, the first time it ever spread to a densely populated African city. Thousands would die, and health experts feared the disease would spin out of control, and become endemic -- an awful new part of everyday life in Liberia -- before the number of infections finally began to decline in October.

Confirmed and probable deaths from Ebola have surpassed 11,000 in West Africa, including more than 4,700 in Liberia.

Guinea has seen 2,387 deaths attributed to Ebola, while Sierra Leone has seen more than 3,900, according to WHO figures.

Ebola first appeared in Guinea in December 2013, spread to Sierra Leone and then skipped across the border into Liberia. One reason the virus spread so rapidly was because of the large volume of cross-border traffic and the persistence of unsafe burial practices, with the touching of the dead an important part of the region's culture. People traveled across borders to attend funerals and returned home with the illness, infecting family members and neighbors.

Many of those who died were health workers, community nurses and faith healers, who treated people without protection, particularly in the early stages of the epidemic. In Liberia, 375 health workers were infected and 189 died. More than 500 health workers died in the region and more than 860 were infected.

The WHO said Liberia's eradication of the virus was "a monumental achievement" in dealing with the most complex outbreak of the disease ever seen.

The incubation period for the virus is 21 days, and a country can only be declared free of Ebola after twice the incubation period, or 42 days, has passed.

As of May 6, the total number of suspected cases during the outbreak was close to 27,000. As the disease peaked in Liberia in August and September, the number of cases was increasing rapidly, by 300 to 400 cases a week.

Patients often mistook their symptoms for typhoid or malaria and tragically delayed seeking treatment, infecting members of their families. Treatment facilities were swamped with cases, and patients often died in terrible circumstances at the gates of treatment centers because there was no room to treat them safely inside.

Taxis ferrying sick passengers for treatment may also have spread the disease.

Entire families were wiped out. Some orphans were left as sole survivors in their families.

To help stop the spread of the virus, schools were closed and public gatherings were banned. Ambulances struggled to reach patients on time. In some cases community members left bodies in the streets; in others family members carried their loved ones to the hospital in wheelbarrows.

Survivors of the disease told horror stories of the conditions inside treatment units, with people suffering and dying next to them, or mothers dying, leaving sick children behind. Other patients often stepped in to help when children were left alone in treatment centers.

As late as September, the world's response had lagged disastrously behind, and the lack of sufficient beds in treatment units resulted in a failure to avert thousands of deaths.

"At one point, virtually no treatment beds for Ebola patients were available anywhere in the country. With infectious cases and corpses remaining in homes and communities, almost guaranteeing further infections, some expressed concern that the virus might become endemic in Liberia, adding another -- and especially severe -- permanent threat to health," the World Health Organization said in its statement.

"It is a tribute to the government and people of Liberia that determination to defeat Ebola never wavered, courage never faltered. Doctors and nurses continued to treat patients, even when supplies of personal protective equipment and training in its safe use were inadequate.

"Local volunteers, who worked in treatment centers, on burial teams, or as ambulance drivers, were driven by a sense of community responsibility and patriotic duty to end Ebola and bring hope back to the country's people," the WHO statement said.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said for many in the country, it will take a generation before the pain and grief heal. She referred to the slow response of the international community when she told the Associated Press that the epidemic was a "scar on the conscience of the world."

A White House statement urged vigilance to prevent the return of the disease to Liberia.

"We must not let down our guard until the entire region reaches and stays at zero Ebola cases," the statement said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Liberia declared Ebola free, though risks remain, WHO warns

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Just over 13 months since Liberia's first case of Ebola, the West African nation Saturday was declared free of the deadly disease, 42 days after the burial of the last fatal victim on March 28.

# data[].attributes.headline
Is the Drive for Success Making Our Children Sick?”

# data[].attributes.subject
Is the Drive for Success Making Our Children Sick?”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opinion | Is the Drive for Success Making Our Children Sick? (Published 2016)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Across the country, children are experiencing depression, anxiety and even physical strain because of the pressures of school.

# data[].attributes.headline
"What’s the difference between bacteria and viruses?”"

# data[].attributes.subject
"What’s the difference between bacteria and viruses?”"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ask Smithsonian: Whats the Difference Between Bacteria and Viruses?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rabies is caused by a virus. A virus is a very tiny germ. You can only see that germ if you have a special microscope. Here´s a picture of the rabies virus:

Scientists have discovered more than 300 viruses in animals. Some won´t hurt you. Others cause disease. The common cold and measles are caused by viruses. So are the flu, chickenpox, and AIDS.

Viruses cannot eat food or grow on their own, but they can make more of themselves if they live inside the cells of other organisms, called "hosts".

The viruses attack those host cells and make more of themselves. Then the viruses move on to other host cells and do it all over again.

The rabies virus wants to make its home in a nerve cell, the smallest part of our central nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of our brain and spinal cord and all the other parts of our bodies that control everything we do from breathing to walking.

When there´s a bite from an animal with rabies, the virus attaches to a healthy nerve cell. Then the virus multiplies, making a lot more viruses like itself. Those viruses move on and attach to other nerve cells until eventually they get to the brain. There the virus can cause the brain to swell, and the person with rabies may go into a coma and die.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rabies is caused by a virus. A virus is a very tiny germ. You can only see that germ if you have a special microscope. Here´s a picture of the rabies virus: Scientists have discovered more than 300 viruses in animals. Some won´t hurt you. Others cause disease.

# data[].attributes.headline
“Primary Sources: The Black Death, 1348” by Henry Knighton

# data[].attributes.subject
“Primary Sources: The Black Death, 1348” by Henry Knighton

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Primary Sources: The Black Death, 1348

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Black Death spread from India to Ireland in the 1300s and killed millions of people

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
History is dotted with epidemics and plagues, but a certain number of them stand out as unique for their severity and impact on future generations. This is a list of the worst plagues in man's recorded history.

SEE ALSO: 10 Of Human History's Most Atrocious Plagues

The first signs of plague in Moscow appeared in late 1770, which would turn into a major epidemic in the spring of 1771. The measures undertaken by the authorities, such as creation of forced quarantines, destruction of contaminated property without compensation or control, closing of public baths, etc., caused fear and anger among the citizens. The city's economy was mostly paralyzed because many factories, markets, stores, and administrative buildings had been closed down. All of this was followed by acute food shortages, causing deterioration of living conditions for the majority of the Muscovites. Dvoryane (Russian nobility) and well-off city dwellers left Moscow due to the plague outbreak. On the morning of September 17, 1771, around 1,000 people gathered at the Spasskiye gates again, demanding the release of captured rebels and elimination of quarantines. The army managed to disperse the crowd yet again and finally suppressed the riot. Some 300 people were brought to trial. A government commission headed by Grigory Orlov was sent to Moscow on September 26 to restore order. It took some measures against the plague and provided citizens with work and food, which would finally pacify the people of Moscow.

The Great Plague of Marseille was one of the most significant European outbreaks of bubonic plague in the early 18th century. Arriving in Marseille, France in 1720, the disease killed 100,000 people in the city and the surrounding provinces. However, Marseille recovered quickly from the plague outbreak. Economic activity took only a few years to recover, as trade expanded to the West Indies and Latin America. By 1765, the growing population was back at its pre-1720 level. This epidemic was not a recurrence of the European Black Death, the devastating episodes of bubonic plague which began in the fourteenth century. Attempts to stop the spread of plague included an Act of Parliament of Aix that levied the death penalty for any communication between Marseille and the rest of Provence. To enforce this separation, a plague wall, the Mur de la Peste, was erected across the countryside (pictured above).

The Antonine Plague (also known as the Plague of Galen, who described it), was an ancient pandemic, of either smallpox or measles, brought back to the Roman Empire by troops returning from campaigns in the Near East. The epidemic claimed the lives of two Roman emperors - Lucius Verus, who died in 169, and his co-regent who ruled until 180, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, whose family name, Antoninus, was given to the epidemic. The disease broke out again nine years later, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, and caused up to 2,000 deaths a day at Rome, one quarter of those infected. Total deaths have been estimated at five million. The disease killed as much as one-third of the population in some areas, and decimated the Roman army. The epidemic had drastic social and political effects throughout the Roman Empire, particularly in literature and art. (Pictured above is a plague pit containing the remains of people who died in the Antonine Plague.)

The Plague of Athens was a devastating epidemic which hit the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece during the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BC), when an Athenian victory still seemed within reach. It is believed to have entered Athens through Piraeus, the city's port and sole source of food and supplies. The city-state of Sparta, and much of the eastern Mediterranean, was also struck by the disease. The plague returned twice more, in 429 BC and in the winter of 427/6 BC. Modern historians disagree on whether the plague was a critical factor in the loss of the war. However, it is generally agreed that the loss of this war may have paved the way for the success of the Macedonians and, ultimately, the Romans. The disease has traditionally been considered an outbreak of the bubonic plague in its many forms, but re-considerations of the reported symptoms and epidemiology have led scholars to advance alternative explanations. These include typhus, smallpox, measles, and toxic shock syndrome.

The Italian Plague of 1629-1631 was a series of outbreaks of bubonic plague which occurred from 1629 through 1631 in northern Italy. This epidemic, often referred to as Great Plague of Milan, claimed the lives of approximately 280,000 people, with the cities of Lombardy and Venice experiencing particularly high death rates. This episode is considered one of the last outbreaks of the centuries-long pandemic of bubonic plague which began with the Black Death. German and French troops carried the plague to the city of Mantua in 1629, as a result of troop movements associated with the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Venetian troops infected with the disease retreated into northern and central Italy, spreading the infection. Overall, Milan suffered approximately 60,000 fatalities out of a total population of 130,000.
SEE ALSO: 10 Twisted Facts About The Dancing Plagues
Before the European arrival, the Americas had been largely isolated from the Eurasian-African landmass. First large-scale contacts between Europeans and native people of the American continents brought overwhelming pandemics of measles and smallpox, as well as other Eurasian diseases. These diseases spread rapidly among native peoples, often ahead of actual contact with Europeans, and led to a drastic drop in population and the collapse of native American cultures. Smallpox and other diseases invaded and crippled the Aztec and Inca civilizations in Central and South America in the 16th century. This disease, with loss of population and death of military and social leaders, contributed to the downfall of both American empires and the subjugation of American peoples to Europeans. Diseases, however, passed in both directions; syphilis was carried back from the Americas and swept through the European population, decimating large numbers.

The Great Plague (1665-1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in England that killed 75,000 to 100,000 people, up to a fifth of London's population. The disease was historically identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through fleas. The 1665-1666 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier "Black Death" pandemic, a virulent outbreak of disease in Europe between 1347 and 1353. The Bubonic Plague was only remembered afterwards as the "great" plague because it was one of the last widespread outbreaks in England. Although the disease causing the epidemic has historically been identified as bubonic plague and its variants, no direct evidence of plague has ever been uncovered. Some modern scholars suggest that the symptoms and incubation period indicate that the causal agent may have been a disease similar to a viral hemorrhagic fever. (Pictured above is a list of mortalities from the time of the plague.)

The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine Empire, including its capital Constantinople, in the years 541-542 AD. The most commonly accepted cause of the pandemic is bubonic plague, which later became infamous for either causing or contributing to the Black Death of the 14th century. Its social and cultural impact is comparable to that of the Black Death. In the views of 6th century Western historians, it was nearly worldwide in scope, striking central and south Asia, North Africa and Arabia, and Europe as far north as Denmark and as far west as Ireland. The plague would return with each generation throughout the Mediterranean basin until about 750. The plague would also have a major impact on the future course of European history. Modern historians named it after the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I, who was in power at the time and himself contracted the disease. Modern scholars believe that the plague killed up to 5,000 people per day in Constantinople at the peak of the pandemic. It ultimately killed perhaps 40 percent of the city's inhabitants. The initial plague went on to destroy up to a quarter of the human population of the eastern Mediterranean.

The "Third Pandemic" is the name given to a major plague pandemic that began in the Yunnan province (pictured above) in China in 1855. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents, and ultimately killed more than 12 million people in India and China alone. According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic was considered active until 1959, when worldwide casualties dropped to 200 per year. The bubonic plague was endemic in populations of infected ground rodents in central Asia, and was a known cause of death among migrant and established human populations in that region for centuries; however, an influx of new people due to political conflicts and global trade led to the distribution of this disease throughout the world. New research suggests Black Death is lying dormant.

The Black Death (also known as The Black Plague or Bubonic Plague), was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis (Plague), but recently attributed by some to other diseases. The origins of the plague are disputed among scholars. Some historians believe the pandemic began in China or Central Asia in the late 1320s or 1330s, and during the next years merchants and soldiers carried it over the caravan routes until in 1346 it reached the Crimea in southern Russia. Other scholars believe the plague was endemic in southern Russia. In either case, from Crimea the plague spread to Western Europe and North Africa during the 1340s. The total number of deaths worldwide is estimated at 75 million people, approximately 25 to 50 million of which occurred in Europe. The plague is thought to have returned every generation with varying virulence and mortalities until the 1700s. During this period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe.

(This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.)

SEE ALSO: 8 Fascinating Facts About Plague Doctors

Jamie is the founder of Listverse. When he's not doing research for new lists or collecting historical oddities, he can be found in the comments or on Facebook where he approves all friends requests!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top 10 Worst Plagues In History - Listverse

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
History is dotted with epidemics and plagues, but a certain number of them stand out as unique for their severity and impact on future generations. This

# data[].attributes.headline
Flea bite is likely cause of Oregon teen’s bubonic plague

# data[].attributes.subject
Flea bite is likely cause of Oregon teen’s bubonic plague

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Flea bite is likely cause of Oregon teen's bubonic plague

# data[].attributes.headline
How to Clean and Disinfect Schools to Help Slow the Spread of Flu

# data[].attributes.subject
How to Clean and Disinfect Schools to Help Slow the Spread of Flu

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When she was 9 years old, Ann Albright went to the doctor with odd flulike symptoms. She was exhausted. She had to go to the bathroom frequently in the middle of the night. She was always thirsty. Even her vision was blurry.

After a few tests, the doctor pulled Albright's mother aside.

"I still remember it very vividly," says Ann Albright, now more than 40 years later. "My mom left the room with the doctor and came back in with tears running down her cheeks."

The verdict: diabetes, a disease that affects the way people process food.

At the time, the 1960s, the diagnosis meant that young Ann would never have the carefree childhood her mother wanted for her. For the rest of her life, she would have to give herself shots several times a day. She would need to be very careful about what she ate. And she might not realize all of her dreams in life.

"In the era I was diagnosed, most people were told they'd have a shorter life span," Albright says. "As a little girl with diabetes moving into adulthood, I wondered would I be able to have kids? Would I be able to have a life?"

Science has come a long way since then, says Albright, partly as a result of her own efforts: She's now a doctor and diabetes researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Since her diagnosis, researchers have developed better technologies, more effective medicines and a sharper understanding of how diabetes works.

Despite the advances, though, scientists still can't answer a lot of basic questions about what causes diabetes. There still is no cure. And living with the disease remains difficult.

"Everything changes" after a diabetes diagnosis, says Ali Reed, a pediatric endocrine fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. "Life becomes more complicated."

What's more, diabetes is on the rise - in both adults and kids. One version of the disease, called type 2 diabetes, is increasing at an especially alarming rate.

Scientists have linked type 2 diabetes with obesity. So now, more than ever, doctors are urging young people to start developing healthy habits as early as possible.
Breakdown
Diabetes refers to a group of diseases, but there are two main kinds: type 1 and type 2. In both types, the trouble begins with the body's ability to deal with sugar.

Sugar is the body's main fuel source. When you eat, your digestive system breaks down your food into basic parts, including proteins, fats and a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose gets absorbed through the intestines. From there, it enters the bloodstream. Circulating blood delivers glucose to all the cells, which convert it into energy.

At least, that's what's supposed to happen. In people with diabetes, however, sugar can't get from the bloodstream into the cells. A hormone, or messenger molecule, called insulin is normally responsible for that transfer. But in diabetics, insulin doesn't do its job.

As a result, sugar builds up in the bloodstream. When levels of sugar in the blood stay high, the condition is called chronic. And for reasons scientists don't yet understand, chronically high blood sugar can lead to blindness, kidney damage, limb amputations, heart attacks and more.

"It's not a death sentence, but it's a very serious disease," Albright says.
Two types
Exactly how diabetes affects a patient's life depends in part on which type of diabetes a person has. There are important differences between the two main types.

Type 1 diabetes is the kind Albright has. In this version of the disease, the body stops producing insulin. Symptoms usually begin in kids or teenagers.

After they're diagnosed and for the rest of their lives, type 1 diabetics need to regularly test their blood sugar levels with a pinching tool that draws a little blood. They also have to give themselves shots of insulin several times a day to control blood sugar levels. So far, scientists don't know how to prevent type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetics make insulin, but their bodies don't use the hormone properly. Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1, and most people who have type 2 are adults. These days, though, more and more kids are coming to their doctors with symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

Doctors already know that adults who develop type 2 diabetes tend to be overweight or obese. And as kids have become increasingly overweight, the disease has started appearing at younger and younger ages.

Shorrocks/iStockphoto

As recently as a decade ago, type 2 diabetes was called "adult-onset" because kids just didn't get it.

"When this disease we used to only see in adults started happening in adolescents, it was just shocking to people," Albright says. "Pediatricians just didn't know what to do."
Healthy living
Doctors already knew that adults who develop type 2 diabetes tend to be overweight or obese. (Scientists can't yet explain why.) And as kids have become increasingly overweight, the disease has started appearing at younger and younger ages.

In the United States, two out of three adults are now overweight, according to the CDC. Nineteen percent of kids between the ages of 6 and 11 are overweight, compared with 7 percent just 20 years ago. Over the same period, the proportion of overweight teens rose from 5 percent to 17 percent.

(You can find out whether you are overweight by plugging numbers into a calculator at an online site. Also, see the sidebar "Understanding Body Mass Index" at the bottom of this article.)

Like their type 1 peers, type 2 diabetics have to monitor blood sugar levels. But they often rely on drugs instead of insulin shots. Frequently, they can get the disease under control by simply exercising more and eating reasonable portions of healthy foods.

"We now know that we can prevent or postpone type 2 diabetes by having [adults] at very high risk lose 5 to 7 percent of their body weight," Albright says.

Scientists don't yet know whether the same is true for overweight kids. The trend is so new that CDC researchers are still working to gather basic information about how the disease works in young people.

But it can't hurt to play soccer instead of video games, and to choose fruits and vegetables over junk food.

"There's no harm in having healthier lifestyle habits," Albright says. "Get to know what's going into your body. Make it fun."
Seeking answers
Weighing more than you should doesn't mean you're doomed to develop diabetes. The disease is far more complex than that. And while research has come a long way, plenty of questions remain.

Doctors don't know, for example, why certain ethnic groups have particularly high rates of diabetes, including American Indians, Hispanics and African Americans. Nor can doctors say for sure why the chances of getting diabetes go up if your parents or siblings have it.

Both relationships suggest that genes play a role in setting people up for diabetes. But something in the environment has to push those genes into action, and scientists aren't sure what those triggers are. It's also not clear which genes are involved.

"People spend their whole careers trying to understand this stuff," Albright says.

If you learn you have diabetes, don't despair. There's plenty you can do to live a long and healthy life. Also, know you're not alone.

Reed encourages all newly diagnosed kids to go to one of the nation's many diabetes camps. It can be hugely reassuring, she says, to be surrounded by other kids who feel like you do.

"It's really amazing," Reed says. "It's a very supportive and tolerating environment for kids who are often the only ones at their school with diabetes. At diabetes camp, everyone is going through it together."
Going Deeper:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When she was 9 years old, Ann Albright went to the doctor with odd flulike symptoms. She was exhausted. She had to go to the bathroom frequently in the middle

# data[].attributes.headline
Chipotle Faces Another Foodborne Illness Outbreak, This Time In Boston

# data[].attributes.subject
Chipotle Faces Another Foodborne Illness Outbreak, This Time In Boston

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Is it those holiday parties filled with people eating together? We're not sure, but we keep hearing about new clusters of people getting poisoned by their meals.

The latest outbreak sickened at least 120 people in Boston, most of them students at Boston College.

This included eight members of the college's basketball team. The team is scheduled to play Providence this evening, and as of this morning, it's unclear whether the game will happen.

Most of the sick students reported eating at a nearby Chipotle Mexican Grill. (The college updated the number of students sickened from 80 to 120 students at 12:26 p.m. on Wednesday.)

This provoked suspicions of a link to an earlier outbreak of E. coli poisoning in the Pacific Northwest traced to Chipotle restaurants there.

It appears, however, that the two outbreaks are unrelated. According to preliminary tests, the Boston College students were sickened by another disease-causing organism, called norovirus.

Norovirus is sometimes overlooked, because it is less likely to kill you than disease-causing forms of E. Coli or salmonella. But it is by far the most common source of foodborne illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chipotle has closed the restaurant near Boston College while the investigation continues. Government inspectors cited the company for allowing an employee to work there while ill last week, although the illness was not specified. Norovirus is highly contagious and is generally spread from person to person. (For more on what it's like when this nasty bug strikes, read Emily Sohn's essay over at Shots.)

On the other side of the country, meanwhile, prominent food safety lawyer Bill Marler tells us by email that an outbreak of foodborne illness has dampened spirits in his own office building. Last week, 200 people complained that they didn't feel well after a catered event in that building. Three went to the hospital. They were infected with norovirus.

Today, all the restaurants in that building are closed, including a Starbucks. "People look a bit uncomfortable on crowded elevators," Marler writes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Chipotle Faces Another Foodborne Illness Outbreak, This Time In Boston

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Outbreaks of foodborne illness are ruining the holiday spirit for Chipotle. The latest cases erupted over the past few days among students at Boston College.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hunting the mysterious source of a global illness”

# data[].attributes.subject
Hunting the mysterious source of a global illness”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
aerosol A group of tiny particles suspended in air or gas. Aerosols can be natural, such as fog or gas from volcanic eruptions, or artificial, such as smoke from burning fossil fuels.

agent A compound or activating form of energy (such as light or other types of radiation) that has a role to play in getting something done.

air masses Large volumes of air, sometimes covering many hundreds or thousands of square kilometers (square miles), that typically have a consistent temperature or water-vapor content. Air masses are often classified by their source, such as continental, arctic or tropical. Air masses and other weather systems are steered across Earth's surface by jet streams and by differences in atmospheric pressure.

CandidaA genus of yeasts that are ubiquitous across the globe. More than 20 species have been linked to disease in people and animals.

cell The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the naked eye, it consists of watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall.

chemistry The field of science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of substances and how they interact with one another. Chemists use this knowledge to study unfamiliar substances, to reproduce large quantities of useful substances or to design and create new and useful substances.

climate The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.

clot (in medicine) A collection of blood cells (platelets) and chemicals that collect in a small region, stopping the flow of blood.

computer model A program that runs on a computer that creates a model, or simulation, of a real-world feature, phenomenon or event.

current A fluid body - such as of water or air - that moves in a recognizable direction.

DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) A long, double-stranded and spiral-shaped molecule inside most living cells that carries genetic instructions. In all living things, from plants and animals to microbes, these instructions tell cells which molecules to make.

environment The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create for that organism or process. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature, humidity and placement of components in some electronics system or product.

epidemic A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease that sickens many people (or other organisms) in a community at the same time. The term also may be applied to non-infectious diseases or conditions that have spread in a similar way.

fungus (plural: fungi) One of a group of single- or multiple-celled organisms that reproduce via spores and feed on living or decaying organic matter. Examples include mold, yeasts and mushrooms.

haze Fine liquid or solid particles scattered through the atmosphere that make it hard to see. Haze can be caused by harmful substances such as air pollutants or by water vapor.

heart attack Permanent damage to the heart muscle that occurs when one or more regions of it become starved of oxygen, usually due to a temporary blockage in blood flow.

infection A disease that can spread from one organism to another. It's usually caused by some sort of germ.

nucleus Plural is nuclei. (in biology) A dense structure present in many cells. Typically a single rounded structure encased within a membrane, the nucleus contains the genetic information.

organ (in biology) Various parts of an organism that perform one or more particular functions. For instance, an ovary is an organ that makes eggs, the brain is an organ that interprets nerve signals and a plant's roots are organs that take in nutrients and moisture.

outbreak The sudden emergence of disease in a population of people or animals. The term may also be applied to the sudden emergence of devastating natural phenomena, such as earthquakes or tornadoes.

Pacific The largest of the world's five oceans. It separates Asia and Australia to the west from North and South America to the east.

particle A minute amount of something.

pathologist Someone who studies disease and how it affects people or other infected organisms.

pediatrics A field of medicine that has to do with children and especially child health. A doctor who works in this field is known as a pediatrician.

physics The scientific study of the nature and properties of matter and energy. Classical physics is an explanation of the nature and properties of matter and energy that relies on descriptions such as Newton's laws of motion

red blood cell Colored red by hemoglobin, these cells move oxygen from the lungs to all tissues of the body. Red blood cells are too small to be seen by the naked eye.

tissue Any of the distinct types of material, comprised of cells, which make up animals, plants or fungi. Cells within a tissue work as a unit to perform a particular function in living organisms. Different organs of the human body, for instance, often are made from many different types of tissues. And brain tissue will be very different from bone or heart tissue.

toxin A poison produced by living organisms, such as germs, bees, spiders, poison ivy and snakes.

vaccine A biological mixture that resembles a disease-causing agent. It is given to help the body create immunity to a particular disease. The injections used to administer most vaccines are known as vaccinations.

virus Tiny infectious particles consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by protein. Viruses can reproduce only by injecting their genetic material into the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to viruses as live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesn't eat like animals do, or make its own food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery of a living cell in order to survive.

weather Conditions in the atmosphere at a localized place and a particular time. It is usually described in terms of particular features, such as air pressure, humidity, moisture, any precipitation (rain, snow or ice), temperature and wind speed. Weather constitutes the actual conditions that occur at any time and place. It's different from climate, which is a description of the conditions that tend to occur in some general region during a particular month or season.

yeast One-celled fungi that can ferment carbohydrates (like sugars), producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. They also play a pivotal role in making many baked products rise.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hunting the mysterious source of a global illness

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Doctors and scientists around the world are scouring the environment for the elusive cause of Kawasaki disease, a harmful childhood illness.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The diversity of viral infections in our world is immense, but most biologists don't classify them as a form of life.

# data[].attributes.headline
Zika can damage the brains of even adults

# data[].attributes.subject
Zika can damage the brains of even adults

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(for more about Power Words, click here)

cell The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the naked eye, it consists of watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells, depending on their size. Some organisms, such as yeasts, molds, bacteria and some algae, are composed of only one cell.

development (v. develop) In biology, the growth of an organism from conception through adulthood, often undergoing changes in chemistry, size and sometimes even shape.

epidemic A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease that sickens many people (or other organisms) in a community at the same time. The term also may be applied to non-infectious diseases or conditions that have spread in a similar way.

fetus (adj. fetal ) The term for a mammal during its later-stages of development in the womb. For humans, this term is usually applied after the eighth week of development.

flu Short for influenza. A highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever and severe aching. It often occurs as an epidemic.

Guillain-Barré Pronounced Gee-YAHN Bur-RAY. A rare condition that begins as the body's immune system attacks peripheral nerves, causing weakness or tingling in the lower extremities. In severe cases, total paralysis can result. Three to 5 percent of people with Guillain-Barré die from complications, scientists estimate. The syndrome is thought to be a complication of several infectious diseases, including HIV, dengue, influenza and Zika.

hippocampus A seahorse-shaped region of the brain. It is thought to be the center of emotion, memory and the involuntary nervous system.

immune system The collection of cells and their responses that help the body fight off infections and deal with foreign substances that may provoke allergies.

infection A disease that can spread from one organism to another. It's usually caused by some sort of germ.

journal (in science) A publication in which scientists share their research findings with the public. Some journals publish papers from all fields of science, technology, engineering and math, while others are specific to a single subject. The best journals are peer-reviewed: They send out all submitted articles to outside experts to be read and critiqued. The goal, here, is to prevent the publication of mistakes, fraud or sloppy work.

mature (verb) The process of growth and development that occurs as an individual moves toward adulthood.

microcephaly A condition that leaves babies with abnormally small heads and partially developed brains.

nerve A long, delicate fiber that communicates signals across the body of an animal. An animal's backbone contains many nerves, some of which control the movement of its legs or fins, and some of which convey sensations such as hot, cold, pain.

neuroscience Science that deals with the structure or function of the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Researchers in this field are known as neuroscientists.

risk The chance or mathematical likelihood that some bad thing might happen. For instance, exposure to radiation poses a risk of cancer. Or the hazard - or peril - itself. Among cancer risks that the people faced were radiation and drinking water tainted with arsenic.

STEM An acronym (abbreviation made using the first letters of a term) for science, technology, engineering and math.

stem cell A "blank slate" cell that can give rise to other types of cells in the body. Stem cells play an important role in tissue regeneration and repair.

symptom A physical or mental indicator generally regarded to be characteristic of a disease. Sometimes a single symptom - especially a general one, such as fever or pain - can be a sign of any of many different types of injury or disease.

syndrome Two or more symptoms that together characterize a particular disease, disorder or social condition.

ventilator (in medicine) A device used to help a person breathe - take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide - when the body cannot easily do that on its own.

virus Tiny infectious particles consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by protein. Viruses can reproduce only by injecting their genetic material into the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to viruses as live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesn't eat like animals do, or make its own food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery of a living cell in order to survive.

womb Another name for the uterus, the organ in mammals in which a fetus grows and matures in preparation for birth.

Zika A viral disease that can be transmitted to humans via mosquitoes. About 20 percent of infected people get sick. Symptoms include a slight fever, rash and pinkeye and usually fade quickly. A growing body of evidence suggests that the virus could also cause a devastating birth defect - microcephaly. Evidence suggests it may also cause neurological conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zika can damage the brains of even adults

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Zika virus can damage a developing baby's brain. The infection can also kill off an important type of cells in adult brains, a new mouse study finds.

# data[].attributes.headline
Mental Health In Schools: A Hidden Crisis Affecting Millions Of Students” by MegAnderson

# data[].attributes.subject
Mental Health In Schools: A Hidden Crisis Affecting Millions Of Students” by MegAnderson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Part One in an NPR Ed series on mental health in schools.
You might call it a silent epidemic.

Up to one in five kids living in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year.

So in a school classroom of 25 students, five of them may be struggling with the same issues many adults deal with: depression, anxiety, substance abuse.

And yet most children - nearly 80 percent - who need mental health services won't get them.

Whether treated or not, the children do go to school. And the problems they face can tie into major problems found in schools: chronic absence, low achievement, disruptive behavior and dropping out.

Experts say schools could play a role in identifying students with problems and helping them succeed. Yet it's a role many schools are not prepared for.

Educators face the simple fact that, often because of a lack of resources, there just aren't enough people to tackle the job. And the ones who are working on it are often drowning in huge caseloads. Kids in need can fall through the cracks.
"No one ever asked me"
Katie is one of those kids.

She's 18 now. Back when she was 8, she had to transfer to a different school in Prince George's County, Md., in the middle of the year.

"At recess, I didn't have friends to play with," she recalls. "I would make an excuse to stay inside with the teachers and finish extra work or do extra credit."

We're not using Katie's last name to protect her privacy. She's been diagnosed with bulimia and depression.

She says that in the span of a few months, she went from honor roll to failing. She put on weight; other kids called her "fat." She began cutting herself with a razor every day. And she missed a ton of school.

"I felt like every single day was a bad day," she says. "I felt like nobody wanted to help me."

Katie says teachers acted like she didn't care about her schoolwork. "I was so invisible to them."

Every year of high school, she says, was "horrible." She told her therapist she wanted to die and was admitted into the hospital.

During all this time, she says, not a single principal or teacher or counselor ever asked her one simple question: "What's wrong?"

If someone had asked, she says, she would have told them.
Who should have asked?
We talked to educators, advocates, teachers and parents across the country. Here's what they say a comprehensive approach to mental health and education would look like.
The family
The role: The first place to spot trouble is in the home, whether that trouble is substance abuse, slipping grades or a child who sleeps too much. Adults at home - parents, siblings, other relatives - are often the first to notice something going on.

The reality: Many families do not know what to look for. Sometimes a serious problem can be overlooked as "just a phase." But it's those sudden changes - angry outbursts, declining grades, changes in sleeping or eating - that can signal problems. When something unusual crops up, families can keep in close touch with the school.
The teacher
The role: During the week, many students see their teachers even more than their own families. Teachers are in a prime spot to notice changes in behavior. They read essays, see how students relate with other kids and notice when they aren't paying attention.

The reality: Teachers already have a ton on their plates. They're pressured to get test scores up, on top of preparing lessons and grading assignments. Plus, many teachers receive minimal training in mental health issues. But when they do see something concerning, they can raise a flag.
The social worker
The role: Social workers act like a bridge. If teachers come to them with a concern - maybe a child is acting withdrawn - one of the first things they'll do is call home. They see each child through the lens of their family, school and community. They might learn that a family is going through a divorce or homelessness.

The reality: There aren't enough of them. According to one model, every school should have one social worker for every 250 students. The reality is that in some schools, social workers are responsible for many more.
The counselor
The role: In some schools, counselors focus solely on academics: helping students pick classes and apply to college. But in others, they also act a lot like social workers, serving as a link to families and working with students who need support.

The reality: Like school social workers, there just aren't enough counselors. On average nationwide, each counselor is responsible for nearly 500 students. The American School Counselor Association recommends a caseload nearly half that size.
The special education teacher
The Role: Special education teachers may start working with students when a mental health problem affects the ability to do school work. They are primarily responsible for working on academic skills.

The reality: Again, there aren't enough of them. Nearly every state has reported a shortage of special education teachers. Half of all school districts say they have trouble recruiting highly qualified candidates.
The school psychologist
The Role: Here's one job that, on paper, is truly dedicated to student mental health. School psychologists are key players when it comes to crisis intervention and can refer students to outside help, such as a psychiatrist.

The reality: If you sense a pattern here, you're right. In the U.S., there is just one school psychologist for every 1,400 students, according to the most recent data available from the National Association of School Psychologists.
The school nurse
The role: Most any school nurse will tell you, physical and mental health are tough to separate. That puts nurses in a prime spot to catch problems early. For example: A kid who comes into the nurse's office a lot, complaining of headaches or stomach problems? That could be a sign of anxiety, a strategy to avoid a bully, or a sign of troubles at home.

The reality: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least one nurse for every 750 students, but the actual ratio across the country can be much higher.
The principal
The role: As the top dogs in schools, principals make the big decisions about priorities. They can bring in social-emotional, anti-bullying and suicide-prevention programs.

The reality: Principals also have a lot on their plates: the day-to-day management of student behavior, school culture and teacher support.
Getting help, and "excited for life"
Katie says things started to turn around for her when she met a nurse at the Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C., who finally showed interest in what was wrong.

Now, she's begun college and wants to be a pediatric nurse.

"I'm doing a lot better now" she says. " Obviously, I mean, I'm a lot happier. I'm excited for school. I'm excited to graduate. I'm excited for life."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mental Health In Schools: A Hidden Crisis Affecting Millions Of Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An estimated 20 percent of children show signs or symptoms of a mental health problem. It's a destructive force in schools, but most educators don't have the training or resources to help.

# data[].attributes.headline
Show Me the Science - How to Wash Your Hands

# data[].attributes.subject
Show Me the Science - How to Wash Your Hands

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Wash Your Hands – Read the Science Behind the Recommendations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CDC recommends washing your hands in a specific way to avoid getting sick and spreading germs. Learn why each of the 5 handwashing steps – wet, lather, scrub, rinse, and dry – is important.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Two studies prove Ebola virus infects humans more easily, is deadlier

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scientists reveal Ebola virus was worse due to a mutation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Two studies prove Ebola virus infects humans more easily, is deadlier” by ScientificAmerican

# data[].attributes.subject
Two studies prove Ebola virus infects humans more easily, is deadlier” by ScientificAmerican

# data[].attributes.headline
One out of five children have mental illness, and schools often don’t help

# data[].attributes.subject
One out of five children have mental illness, and schools often don’t help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
One out of five children have mental illness, and schools often don’t help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
School has been a real challenge for them. That’s not unusual for the 1 in 5 children with a mental illness. They often suffer anxiety, difficulty focusing and social challenges.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
New World vulture traits

* Are found in North, South, and Central America

* All have bald heads

* Lack a voice box, so they can only hiss and grunt

* Lay their eggs in rocky surfaces or tree cavities

* Have weak feet

* Primarily locate food by smell

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vultures may be gross, but they play an important role in the ecosystem.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(by Betsy McKay and Gautam Naik, WSJ.com) - The swine flu epidemic crossed new borders Tuesday with the first cases confirmed in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, as world health officials said they suspect American patients may have transmitted the virus to others in the U.S.

Most people confirmed with the new swine flu were infected in Mexico, where the number of deaths blamed on the virus has surpassed 150. But confirmation that people have been infecting others in locations outside Mexico would indicate that the disease was spreading beyond travelers returning from Mexico, World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva.

Mr. Hartl said the source of some infections in the U.S., Canada and Britain was unclear. The swine flu has already spread to at least six countries besides Mexico, prompting WHO officials to raise its alert level on Monday.

"At this time, containment is not a feasible option," said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the World Health Organization.

The United Nations public-health agency raised its global alert to phase 4 from phase 3. The change recognizes that the new A/H1N1 virus spreads from person to person, and signals that governments should prepare for outbreaks. Phase 6 is a pandemic.

Fifty cases - none fatal and most of them mild - were confirmed in the U.S. Including the New Zealand, Israeli and new Spanish reports, there were 92 confirmed cases world-wide on Tuesday. That included six in Canada, one in Spain and two in Scotland.

New Zealand confirmed that 11 people who recently returned from Mexico contracted the virus, Health Minister Tony Ryall said. Laboratory tests on samples from three of the 11 came back positive and "on that basis we are assuming" the eight others are also infected, he said.

Those infected had suffered only "mild illness" and were expected to recover, Public Health Director Mark Jacobs said.

In the Israeli city of Netanya, hospital officials said a 26-year-old patient recently returned from Mexico was the region's first confirmed case of swine flu, but didn't know whether the patient had the same strain as the one that appeared in Mexico. Avinoam Skolnik, Laniado Hospital's medical director, said Israeli Health Ministry laboratory tests confirmed the virus but the patient has fully recovered and is in "excellent condition."

Meanwhile, a second case was confirmed Tuesday in Spain, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said, a day after the country reported its first case. The 23-year-old student, one of 26 patients under observation, was not in serious condition, Mr. Jimenez said.

The European Union health commissioner suggested that Europeans avoid nonessential travel both to Mexico and parts of the U.S. Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus.

Governments in Asia - with memories of previous flu outbreaks - were especially cautious. Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines dusted off thermal scanners used in the 2003 SARS crisis and were checking for signs of fever among passengers from North America. South Korea, India and Indonesia also announced screening.

Teams of doctors, nurses and government officials boarded flights arriving in Japan from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to check passengers for signs of the flu, Japanese Health Ministry official Akimori Mizuguchi said.

World stock markets fell Tuesday as investors worried that any swine flu pandemic could derail a global economic recovery.

Cases Increase in the U.S.

With the virus spreading, the U.S. prepared for the worst even as President Barack Obama tried to reassure Americans. At the White House, a swine flu update was added to Mr. Obama's daily intelligence briefing. Mr. Obama said Monday the outbreak is "not a cause for alarm," even as the U.S. stepped up checks of people entering the country and warned U.S. citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.

"We are proceeding as if we are preparatory to a full pandemic," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The number of U.S. cases rose to 50, the result of further testing at a New York City school, although none was fatal. Other U.S. cases have been reported in Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency guidance that allows certain antiviral drugs to be used in a broader range of the population in case mass dosing is needed to deal with the outbreak. The agency originally approved the use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu for the prevention and treatment of influenza in adults and children age 1 and older. Another antiviral drug, Relenza, was originally approved to treat people 7 years and older and to help prevent flu in those 5 and older.

Late Monday, the FDA said it issued emergency guidance to allow Tamiflu to treat and prevent flu in children under 1 year old and to provide doses other than originally approved in children over 1. The drugs may be distributed to larger segments of the population without complying with the approved label requirements, the FDA said. The agency also authorized a swine flu diagnostic test for testing samples from people with certain flu infections who virus subtypes cannot be identified by currently available tests.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its number of confirmed cases to 40 people, who ranged in age from 7 years old to 54.

The new cases tallied by the CDC were linked to the outbreak at the St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, New York, where eight people had been identified earlier. The new cases came after further testing and weren't new outbreaks, said Richard Besser, the CDC's acting director.

The new cases in Texas include a 24-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 3-month-old in Dallas County. The Dallas County city of Richardson, where the 7-year-old is enrolled, will close an elementary school for the rest of the week, school-district spokeswoman Liz Morse said.

None of the Richardson students have required hospitalization, Ms. Morse said. She said the district made the decision to close Canyon Creek Elementary School on Monday afternoon after consulting with county health officials. She said parents of all Canyon Creek students, even those without symptoms, should keep their children out of public places to avoid spreading the disease.

"We really want the students to not be in public places, to stay maybe a little secluded so that if they've caught it they won't be spreading it around," Ms. Morse said.

The flu outbreak comes as the Obama administration seeks a new head of its Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. The Senate on Tuesday is expected to begin debating the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary. Democratic and Republican aides in the Senate said they expected Senate approval.

The U.S. government is far better prepared for an outbreak than it was when SARS awakened politicians and the public to the notion that infectious diseases continue to be deadly, even with modern vaccines.

Prodded by SARS and the avian flu scare that followed, President George W. Bush in 2005 issued a pandemic flu preparedness plan. Since 2006, $6.2 billion has been appropriated to stockpile antivirals, step up surveillance and improve vaccine-making and technology.

But state and local health departments - which are often the first to detect new infectious threats - haven't received federal funds for pandemic flu preparedness since 2006. Many of the agencies have cut staff and services in the recession.

"You can't stand up to this kind of capacity overnight if you haven't had resources to keep people on staff," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a public health advocacy organization.

Investigation Intensifies

Mexico, where the number of deaths believed caused by swine flu rose by 50% on Monday to 152, is suspected to be ground zero of the outbreak. Health officials said they were stumped over why the strain has been so deadly in Mexico, where the number of suspected cases has surpassed 2,000 people.

Amid the alarm, there was a spot of good news. The number of new cases reported by Mexico's largest government hospitals has been declining the past three days, Mr. Cordova said, from 141 on Saturday to 119 on Sunday and 110 Monday.

In a bid to prevent mass contagion, Mexico canceled school nationwide until May 6, and the Mexico City government is considering a complete shutdown, including all public transportation. The Cinco de Mayo parade celebrating Mexico's defeat of a French army on May 5, 1862 and Mexico City's traditional May 1 parade were canceled. More than 100 museums nationwide were closed.

Three games involving Mexico City soccer clubs were played with no spectators over the weekend. Decio de Maria, secretary general of the Mexican soccer federation, said plans for future matches would be announced on Wednesday.

"The idea is to look for the fewest number of games that have to be played behind closed doors," he said. "If it's necessary, we'll play all the matches behind closed doors. We don't foresee canceling any games."

Many residents of Mexico City wore blue surgical masks, though the CDC said most masks offer little protection. Many victims have been in their 30s and 40s - not the very old or young who typically succumb to the flu. So far, no deaths from the new virus have been reported outside Mexico.
-Betsy McKay, Gautam Naik, Janet Adamy, Shai Oster, J.R. Wu, Ben Casselman, Jennifer Martinez, Alicia Mundy and Jonathan D. Rockoff contributed to this article. Write to Betsy McKay at betsy.mckay@wsj.com and Gautam Naik at gautam.naik@wsj.com.
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. Visit the website at wsj.com.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(by Betsy McKay and Gautam Naik, WSJ.com) - The swine flu epidemic crossed new borders Tuesday with the first cases confirmed in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, as world health officials said they suspect American patients may have transmitted the virus to others in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Plague is best known as the killer disease that wiped out nearly half of Europe during the 1300s. But the germ infected people up to 3,000 years earlier than that, DNA from ancient teeth now show.

# data[].attributes.headline
This sounds gross, but some scientists think worms may help treat allergies

# data[].attributes.subject
This sounds gross, but some scientists think worms may help treat allergies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cell vs. virus: A battle for health - Shannon Stiles

# data[].attributes.headline
Common plant could help fight Zika virus

# data[].attributes.subject
Common plant could help fight Zika virus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Aedes aegypti A species of mosquito that can transmit the viruses responsible for several tropical diseases, including dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya and West Nile disease.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC is charged with protecting public health and safety by working to control and prevent disease, injury and disabilities. It does this by investigating disease outbreaks, tracking exposures by Americans to infections and toxic chemicals, and regularly surveying diet and other habits among a representative cross-section of all Americans.

chikungunya A tropical disease that has been crippling large numbers of people in Africa and Asia. It's caused by a virus that is spread by mosquitoes. It recently has been spreading widely throughout warm nations. More than 3 million people have suffered through its initial flu-like symptoms. A large share may also go on to develop intense pain in their muscles and joints that can last months to years. There is no cure or vaccine.

dengue fever A potentially lethal infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. No vaccine yet exists to prevent infection with the virus responsible for the disease, which causes high fevers, severe headache, joint pain, pain behind the eyes, rash, bone pain and sometimes mild bleeding. A more severe form of the disease, known as dengue hemorrhagic fever can cause uncontrolled bleeding if not treated right away.

extract (v.) To separate one chemical (or component of something) from a complex mix. (noun) A substance, often in concentrated form, that has been removed from its natural source. Extracts are often taken from plants (such as spearmint or lavender), flowers and buds (such as roses and cloves), fruit (such as lemons and oranges) or seeds and nuts (such as almonds and pistachios). Such extracts, sometimes used in cooking, often have very strong scents or flavors.

larva (plural: larvae) An immature life stage of an insect, which often has a distinctly different form as an adult. (Sometimes used to describe such a stage in the development of fish, frogs and other animals.)

perennial (in botany) A plant that lives for many years. Some may die back in harsh weather (extreme heat or cold), but then come back months later when conditions improve.

Society for Science and the Public (or SSP) A nonprofit organization created in 1921 and based in Washington, D.C. Since its founding, SSP has been not only promoting public engagement in scientific research but also the public understanding of science. It created and continues to run three renowned science competitions: The Intel Science Talent Search (begun in 1942), the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (initially launched in 1950) and Broadcom MASTERS (created in 2010). SSP also publishes award-winning journalism: in Science News (launched in 1922) and Science News for Students (created in 2003). Those magazines also host a series of blogs (including Eureka! Lab).

toxic Poisonous or able to harm or kill cells, tissues or whole organisms. The measure of risk posed by such a poison is its toxicity.

tropics The region near Earth's equator. Temperatures here are generally warm to hot, year-round.

subtropics A geographic region that reaches to the beginning of the temperate climate zone (around 40° North and 40° South latitudes) from the edges of tropics, that band of hot climate spanning the outer belly of the planet. The tropics reach out to the Tropic of Cancer (around 23.5° north latitude) and Tropic of Capricorn (around 23.5° south latitude). The subtropics tend to be reliably warmer than temperate climates, but may experience brief periods of frost that would be unexpected in the true tropics.

temperate In geography, referring to areas that are cooler than the tropics but warmer than polar regions.

virus Tiny infectious particles consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by protein. Viruses can reproduce only by injecting their genetic material into the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to viruses as live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesn't eat like animals do, or make its own food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery of a living cell in order to survive.

Zika virus A virus that can be transmitted to humans via mosquitoes. About 20 percent of infected people get sick. Symptoms include a slight fever, rash and pinkeye and usually fade quickly. A growing body of evidence suggests that the virus could also cause a devastating birth defect - microcephaly. Evidence suggests it may also cause neurological conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Common plant could help fight Zika virus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A teen discovered that extracts from leaves of the San Francisco plant (Codiaeum variegatum) kill larvae of the mosquito that helps spread the Zika and dengue fever viruses.

# data[].attributes.headline
How do cancer cells behave differently from healthy ones?

# data[].attributes.subject
How do cancer cells behave differently from healthy ones?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How do cancer cells behave differently from healthy ones? - George Zaidan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
So there I was at a kid's birthday party, my 13-month-old daughter playing merrily with her brother in the sandbox, when she suddenly decided that she was hungry. Into her mouth it went-all of the sand-and though I was up with a leap and a "No," I was too late. I laughed nervously while furiously fishing sand out of her mouth (it's surprisingly hard to do, by the way) as other parents looked on with a mixture of unease and relief- Gross, but thank God it wasn't mine. My friend, the host who owned the sandbox, appeared. "Did I ever tell you," she said, "that I think my cat poops in there?"

Kids love sandboxes. Parents do not, and for good reason. When public health-testing organization NSF International sampled 26 different items in public places-toys at doctors' offices, children's library books, playground sandboxes-for a 2008 study on germs, they found that sandboxes were far and away the germiest of all, harboring nearly 2,000 times more bacteria, yeast, and mold per square inch than the door handles of public restrooms.

Of course, bacteria, yeast, and mold aren't all bad. Many are actually quite good for us. Not so for the other microbial gifts that sandboxes sometimes leave for kids: parasitic worms. Like giant litter boxes, uncovered sandboxes invite animals-raccoons, dogs, cats-to use them as bathrooms, which essentially turns them into giant parasite Petri dishes. And that's bad, because even if your kids don't eat handfuls of sand like mine do, they probably do put their fingers in their mouths an awful lot-and parasites are transmitted by what is not-so-euphemistically called the fecal-oral route, meaning they go from one animal (or kid's) butt straight to the next kid's mouth. Bon appétit!

OK, I know you're rolling your eyes, thinking: But most kids who play in sandboxes don't get sick. Fair enough. But it's also possible that kids are getting sick and we just don't know it. Doctors are not required to notify the government when they diagnose these infections-so no one is closely monitoring them or their epidemiology-and many kids who get parasites probably either never get diagnosed with them, as symptoms can be mild and spontaneously resolve, or their diagnoses are kept quiet. (Are you really going to tell your friends that your kid just got dewormed?) And when little Annie does get parasites, her parents also aren't going to tie it back to that time three weeks ago when she played in a sandbox. The fact is that a large proportion of Americans-many of them kids-are infected by parasites, and sandboxes are a known hot spot. "There is a real threat," says Laila Woc-Colburn, an infectious disease specialist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Consider what happened when researchers at McGill University tested the surface sand from sandboxes at 10 local day care centers in 1991. Two of the sandboxes, they discovered, were contaminated with eggs of a parasite called . Once a child eats them, the eggs hatch in his or her body into larvae, which can burrow into the liver, lungs, central nervous system, or eyes. Sometimes the infection is asymptomatic, but when it's not and is not properly diagnosed and treated, it can cause liver damage, lung damage, or blindness. (An earlier 1979 study found that a whopping 39 percent of residential sandboxes in Kansas contained Toxocara eggs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, research suggests that 1 out of every 7 Americans over the age of 6 has been infected with this parasite.)

The McGill study also reported that one of the sandboxes with Toxocara eggs was co-contaminated with the eggs of , a parasitic worm that can, occasionally, cause intestinal blockage and stunted growth. Another parasite kids can get from sandboxes is Toxoplasma gondii, which is spread by cats and believed to chronically infect more than 1 out of every 6 Americans. In one study, researchers in Japan spied on three urban sandboxes at night using camcorders and found that over the course of five months, cats pooped in the boxes 961 times, and dogs pooped in them 11 times. They calculated that one of the sandboxes contained more than 1.5 million viable Toxoplasma eggs per square foot of sand, yet children need only ingest a single egg to get sick.

Although Toxoplasma infections are typically mild-some people get flu-like symptoms, while others feel fine, though most will harbor the parasite for the rest of their lives-individuals with compromised immune systems can fall very ill, and when women become infected during pregnancy, their babies can develop brain or vision damage or become sick later in life. (Some research also suggests that the parasite can affect behavior and personality. So the next time an aggressive driver cuts you off, calm yourself with the thought that he might be infested.)

Let's also not forget pinworms, the tiny little worms that live in your intestines, scurry down to your anus while you sleep, and lay their eggs there every night. Nearly half of all American kids are believed to have pinworms at any given time (and when they do, their parents usually have them too), but they're tough to diagnose: You basically have to set an alarm for a few hours after you go to sleep and then inspect your anus for crawling worms. (No, I'm not kidding.) As Austin, Texas-based pediatrician Ari Brown wrote in her best-selling book Toddler 411, sandboxes are an excellent place for kids to catch pinworms, because pinworms cause kids' butts to itch; then they scratch their butts, getting pinworm eggs on their fingers; then they build sandcastles studded with worm eggs.

I've left my favorite (as in: most absolutely terrifying) sandbox parasite for last. It's called Baylisascaris procyonis, and it is a roundworm that typically infects raccoons.

As many as 4 out of 5 raccoons carry this parasite, and infected coons typically poop out thousands, if not millions, of eggs a day-perhaps right on your lawn. In a 2009 study, researchers found raccoon poop in more than half of the suburban Chicago backyards they sampled. Once there, the parasite's eggs are virtually indestructible, except with exposure to very high heat. One scientist who has studied them recommends using an acetylene torch to incinerate the bastards.

Human infections with Baylisascaris seem to be very, very rare, although no one really knows why, considering everything I wrote above. But thank goodness, because the parasites are extremely dangerous. "If eggs are accidentally ingested by a human," a recent clinical report explained, "larval infection can lead to devastating neurological disease and death." One-third of cases are fatal. In 2009, two kids from Brooklyn caught it; one developed permanent brain damage, and the other went blind in one eye. Another child fell ill with it in Canada in 2009, presumably after-you guessed it!-playing in a sandbox. He was lucky because he was diagnosed and treated quickly, but the infection nevertheless robbed him of the ability to speak, gave him a seizure disorder, and damaged his eyesight.

So, yes, sandboxes are gross and can be dangerous. This is not to say that you should never let your kids play in them, because the danger is remote-they only rarely cause serious illness (my daughter's sandy snack seems to have done her no harm, although I haven't had her tested). If you own your own sandbox, though, consider covering it at night to keep out animals. If you have dogs or cats, make sure they are regularly checked for worms, and keep them out of the sandbox so they never wonder whether it might work well as a toilet. If you suspect that raccoons are pooping on your lawn, check out this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guide to cleaning up their hazardous excrement.

As for public sandboxes: It kind of goes without saying, but if they smell bad, stay away. Also, (try to) keep your kids from putting their hands (or all the sand) in their mouths when they play, and make them wash their hands afterward. (Hand sanitizer won't kill worm eggs, Woc-Colburn says, so best to do it the old-fashioned way.) Would it be crazy to steer your kids away from public, always-uncovered sandboxes just in case? No, particularly if your kids have other sources for creative hands-on play. Brown, for one, has advised parents against them. And if your sandbox-frequenting kid does get really sick-symptoms of parasitic infections vary but can include fever, coughs, stomach pain, eye pain, or seizures-of course, take him to the pediatrician, and mention his sandbox use and any other relevant info, such as that you suspect your cat poops in it. Chances are high that your kid is never going to get really sick from sand play, but it's good to know about the risk just in case, even though it means-and for this I apologize-that you will never be able to look at a sandbox the same way again.
Read more of Slate's parenting coverage, including:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sandboxes Are Disgusting! Are You Sure You Want Your Kids Playing in Them?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
So there I was at a kid's birthday party, my 13-month-old daughter playing merrily with her brother in the sandbox, when she suddenly decided that she...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
History for kids - Free history network for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Black Death

The Black Death : Bubonic Plague

In late 1347, the Black Death killed approximately 30 to 45 percent of the European population (although some people put this rate even higher at around 60 percent). No one knew what caused the plague so people in the Middle Ages tried a number of methods to combat the disease but they didn't help. The only thing people could do was to simply run away from any place that was infected.

What Is It?

The Black Death is a bacterial disease. This simply means it is caused by bacteria. The official name of the bacteria is Yersina pestis. It was named after the French scientist, Alexandre Yersin, who discovered this germ. This bacteria actually causes three different types of plague: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague.

Bubonic Plague: This was the most common form of the plague and got its name from the swollen areas (called buboes) that develop when a person is infected. These buboes appear in the groin, armpit, and neck. They can be the size of a golf ball or as big as an apple. The bubonic plague would typically kill its victim within a week but some people were able to recover from the disease (although not very many).

A flea that was infected with the disease would bite a person .Around six days after being bitten, a black blister would appear around the bite. Shortly after this, the buboes would appear followed by purple blotches on the skin. These blotches were caused by bleeding under the skin of the infected person. Bubonic plague killed around 50 to 60 percent of people who have been infected.

Pneumonic plague: This plague was much more deadly than bubonic plague but didn't happen as often. It entered a victim's lungs and caused pneumonia. The infected person would come down with a fever and begin coughing up blood. This coughing would help pass the disease on to other people. About 95 to 100 percent of people infected with pulmonary plague would die within three days.

Septicemic Plague: Septicemic plague occurs when the bacteria enters the victim's bloodstream. The victim will develop a rash and die within the day. Septicemic plague was always fatal but was very rare. The victim died so quickly that there wasn't time for the disease to be passed on to another person.

How Was It Spread?

The bacteria that causes the plague lives in the stomachs of fleas. These fleas are responsible for the spread of the disease. The fleas live on rats which were numerous throughout the Middle Ages. For some reason (people don't really know why) the bacteria builds up in the flea's stomach. As a result, there is so much bacteria, that the flea "throws up" while feeding. Unfortunately, what the flea is feeding on is a person. The flea bites a person and begins drinking the person's blood. At the same time, the flea throws up and the bacteria enters the blood of the person the flea is biting resulting in the person being infected with the plague.

When Did It Start and Where Did It Come From?

The plague first arrived in Europe in 1347 and came from the steppes area of Central Asia. The disease had been in the area for a while but did not cause a big problem because the people who lived in the area were the Mongols. The Mongols lived closely with their horses and fleas don't like the smell of horses so they did not cause a big problem.

Later trade and trading ports in Central Asia were created to help develop trade. The trading posts were areas where rats could gather. The rats brought the infected fleas with them. Any area that had a lot of rats was in danger of having the plague as well.

The plague probably made it into Europe as the result of an attack on the trading port of Kaffa by the Mongols. As the Mongols laid siege to the city, the army was destroyed by the plague. The Mongol leader, Yannibeg, wanted the people who lived in Kaffa to get the plague as well so he used a catapult to throw infected bodies over the city walls and into the city.

The people who lived in the city tried to stop the plague by quickly throwing the dead bodies into the sea, but the plague quickly spread through the city. In fact, these dead bodies were not responsible for the spread of the plague. A dead body isn't going to breath on anyone and the infected fleas that carry the plague would have almost immediately left the dead body for a living person.

A more likely answer for the spread of the plague into Kaffa is, once again, rats. Rats probably made their way into the city and carried the infected fleas with them. The plague took hold in the city and when the people fled the city in their ships, they took the plague with them. When these ships docked at the town of Messina, most of the crew were infected or already dead. The city government quickly had the ships towed out of the harbour but it was too late. The plague had arrived and began its spread throughout Europe.

Was There A Cure?

During the Middle Ages, there was no cure for the Black Death although a number of things were tried. In fact, doctors had no idea how the disease was spread. To combat the disease, doctors (when they were willing to actually see patients infected with the plague) would use bloodletting and boil lancing. Bloodletting simply means a doctor would cut a person and let some blood drain out. Boil lancing occurred when a doctors would cut open the swollen areas of a person (the buboes) and let them drain.

In addition, people would use burning herbs and bath in vinegar to fight the disease. Another method people would use was to simply run away. People would leave the area as soon as any plague cases were reported (and sometimes even before cases were reported).

Many people believed that the plague was visited upon them by God to punish society for being sinful. To atone for these sins, some people would beat themselves with leather straps or pieces of metal in an effort to lift God's curse.

When Did It End?

This outbreak of the plague ended in the early 1350s (around 1353) although there were a number of outbreaks of the plague over the centuries. In fact, even today, there are plague outbreaks. In 2003, more than 2,100 cases of the plague were reported as well as 180 deaths. In 2006, an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo resulted in the death of at least fifty people. In recent years, cases of the plague have been reported in China, India, Vietnam, and Mongolia as well as in the United States.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Black Death : Bubonic Plague In late 1347, the Black Death killed approximately 30 to 45 percent of the European population (although some people put this rate even higher at around 60 percent).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Bacteria and other microbes can make us sick. But there's a lurking danger with some germs that's far more frightening than a bout of food poisoning or an infected wound. Today, drugs exist to fight most of these germs. They're called antibiotics. Before these medicines came along, common infections frequently killed people. And that's where the danger lies: What will happen if antibiotics no longer kill germs?

Already some antibiotics have lost their superpowers. Many others are beginning to lose theirs. Biologists describe this problem as resistance. Across the globe, germs are becoming resistant to antibiotic medicines. In a sense, these "superbugs" have begun to laugh at those former wonder drugs.

But resistance is no laughing matter. As germs toughen up against drugs that are supposed to slay them, treatable conditions such as TB - tuberculosis - can spread. And surgeries that rely on antibiotics could turn from life-saving to life-threatening.

The threat is huge

"Alarming levels" of drug-resistant bacteria already exist in many parts of the world. That's the conclusion of a 257-page report published in April. It was issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

This United Nations agency, based in Geneva, Switzerland, recently reviewed how well these germ slayers perform in 114 countries. In some places, it found, antibiotics no longer work for half of all people being treated against common diseases. Those diseases include pneumonia and gonorrhea.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based in Atlanta, Ga., also has been investigating the problem . It estimates that in the United States alone, antibiotic-resistant infections now sicken some two million people each year. At least 23,000 of them die.

But even antibiotic-resistant germs that don't kill can be a problem. Their infections become harder to treat - and more expensive. Consider one estimate - $233 million - published May 20 in the journal Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control. That's how much researchers calculated that it costs the United States each year to deal with just one resistant superbug. That germ causes a lung disease known as pneumonia.

Drug-immune bugs that flourish in the human gut can enter the environment with every flush of the toilet. Researchers discovered how big this problem is when they analyzed wastewater from 11 sites in one French city. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria tainted 96 percent of their samples. A May 1 paper in Clinical Infectious Diseases describes the disturbing details.

Some scientists have scouted for such germs in the environment. They collected superbugs at hospitals. Then they probed the germs, identifying parts of their genes that appear to make them resistant to antibiotics. Next, the researchers looked in the outdoor environment for that same genetic fingerprint of superbugs. And they turned up that superbug DNA in 71 places - from the soil and sea water to human wastes. The researchers reported their findings May 8 in Current Biology.

Why it's happening

Drug designers have created antibiotics to kill bacteria, as well as some fungi and other germs. But sometimes, a few treated germs survive. They survive because they're stronger. Or they may have certain genetic mutations that allow them to break down the drug. They might even have evolved a way to keep the drugs from harming their operational machinery. Over time, all germs susceptible to a drug will die off. That will leave behind only superbugs - those microbes that medicines can't kill.

This is not surprising. In fact, it's quite natural. Part of evolution, it's known as survival of the fittest.

Scientists stumbled onto the first antibiotic, penicillin, around 1930. Since then, research has produced a medicine cabinet full of additional ones. It appeared that these would make many of the worst bacterial infections ever more manageable. So, during the 1970s, drug developers began focusing on noninfectious health problems, such as cancer and heart disease. As a result, in the past 30 years, no new types of antibiotics have been developed.

Right now, bacteria are outsmarting antibiotics faster than developers can make new ones. And there are no signs things will change, says Stewart Cole. He directs the Global Health Institute at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

Writing in the May 12 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, he argues that the "golden age" of antibiotic development "is a distant memory, and the likelihood of there being another seems slim." This lack of new types of germ killers, he says, has been allowing superbugs to morph and thrive.

One of the most famous of them is known as MRSA (pronounced MER-sah). The letters stand for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . Methicillin is a widely used antibiotic. And Staph aureus is a germ that can cause boils, food poisoning, toxic-shock syndrome and more. These bacteria sicken (and sometimes kill) by releasing potent natural poisons - called toxins - into the body.

Despite its name, MRSA is resistant to far more antibiotics than just methicillin. That makes this superbug particularly nasty in hospitals and prisons. These are places where people often have open wounds or weak immune systems. Both increase a person's chance of picking up an infection.

Too much of a good thing

Drug resistance can develop at any time. But its likelihood climbs as the use of an antibiotic increases. And this is especially true when an antibiotic is overused. That's when a doctor prescribes it for infections it has no hope of curing.

For instance, doctors sometimes prescribe antibiotics to treat an infection before they learn if the disease is caused by bacteria. If viruses are responsible, then antibiotics will be useless. The reason: Antibiotic medicines do not kill viruses. Yet by giving an antibiotic to someone with a viral infection, that drug will reach good bacteria living in our bodies. And over time, some of these bacteria will become resistant to the drug.

Last year, the CDC reported that up to half of the antibiotics that U.S. doctors prescribed went to people who didn't actually need them.

Take, for example, someone who visits a doctor for a lingering cough. Viral infections cause most coughs. So a viral cough won't be helped by drugs and will tend to go away on its own. Yet 71 percent of the time, doctors will still prescribe antibiotics for patients coming in with a common cough, a May 21 study finds.

"I think there's this perception among both doctors and patients that coughs don't go away without antibiotic treatment," Jeffrey Linder told Science News for Students . Linder, who coauthored the new report, is a doctor at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass. He and Michael Barnett, also from the hospital, tracked the drugs that doctors prescribed during more than 3,000 U.S. clinic visits between 1996 and 2010. They reported their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association .

A small number of people who visit a doctor with a cough turn out to have bacterial pneumonia. These cases do require antibiotic treatment. But Linder says doctors should easily be able to recognize these few from the hordes of people coming in with a routine, viral cough.

Perilous profit

Antibiotic overuse also has become a problem on farms. In the United States, animals - not people - receive about 80 percent of all antibiotics. Sometimes the drugs are used to save an infected animal or prevent disease from spreading through a herd. More often, though, feed suppliers put small amounts of these drugs into the food that will be given to healthy animals. These antibiotics help speed the animals' growth. And this has boosted farmers' profits.

But using antibiotics just to beef up livestock is "a direct threat to human health," argues Kellogg Schwab. He's an environmental microbiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Earlier, he and his coworkers detected bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics in the exhaust air blowing out of farm buildings. That suggests these superbugs can spread through the air from animals to people.

SteveOehlenschlager / iStockphoto

Germs that are immune to antibiotics also can hitch a ride into your body through ground beef or the chicken breast on your cutting board. Biologists have found that much of the fresh beef, pork and poultry sold in grocery stores contains bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

Even if those germs don't sicken us or cause other immediate harm, they can offload their resistance genes into other bacteria that normally live inside our bodies. Sometimes, like with the MRSA superbug, resistance is carried on circular pieces of DNA called plasmids. These plasmids can slip easily from one bacterial cell into another.

In this way, our gut microbes can become "a reservoir of resistance," says Sharon Peacock. She's a microbiologist at the University of Cambridge in England. Later, "when we actually get sick and need an antibiotic, we may already carry a resistance gene" that may keep that drug from working, she says.

In the United States, farmers have fought against banning antibiotics as growth promoters. They say it will reduce their profits because more animals will get sick, slowing their growth. But that's not been the experience in other countries.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has proposed banning antibiotic use in healthy animals. But for more than 30 years, the livestock industry and Congress have fought such action. Recently, the FDA stepped up its efforts to end this practice.

In December 2013, FDA laid out a plan to phase out within three years the use of antibiotics on farms to boost livestock growth. Its stated reason: concern that farm use of these drugs has made more germs immune to the antibiotics needed to fight life-threatening infections in people. And that's a worry because the same germs that sicken animals often sicken people.

Antibiotic resistance is a complex and growing problem. Many microbiologists worry that the time when antibacterial medicines no longer work could be coming. Thankfully, doctors and many patients are becoming more aware of the problem. Researchers also are hard at work creating new tools to keep superbugs from taking over.
Next: How scientists are trying to tackle the problem
Power Words

antibiotic A germ-killing substance prescribed as a medicine (or sometimes as a feed additive to promote the growth of livestock). It does not work against viruses.

bacterium (plural bacteria) A single-celled organism forming one of the three domains of life. These dwell nearly everywhere on Earth, from the bottom of the sea to inside animals.

boils (in medicine) A skin infection that starts as a hard, red, painful lump. Eventually, it gets bigger, softens and fills with pus. A common source of these is a bacterium known as Staphylococcus aureus.

bioengineer A researcher who applies technology for the beneficial manipulation of living things. Bioengineers use the principles of biology and the techniques of engineering to design organisms or products that can mimic, replace or augment the chemical or physical processes present in existing organisms. This field includes researchers who genetically modify organisms, including microbes. It also includes researchers who design medical devices such as artificial hearts and artificial limbs.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC is charged with protecting public health and safety by working to control and prevent disease, injury and disabilities. It does this by investigating disease outbreaks, tracking exposures by Americans to infections and toxic chemicals, and regularly surveying diet and other habits among a representative cross-section of all Americans.

cholera A bacterial disease that infects the small intestine, causing sever diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. It is spread by germs from feces that contaminate water or food.

DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) A long, spiral-shaped molecule inside most living cells that carries genetic instructions. In all living things, from plants and animals to microbes, these instructions tell cells which molecules to make.

evolution A process by which species undergo changes over time, usually through genetic variation and natural selection, that leave a new type of organism better suited for its environment than the earlier type. The newer type is not necessarily more "advanced," just better adapted to the conditions in which it developed.

fungus (plural: fungi) Any of a group of unicellular or multicellular, spore-producing organisms that feed on organic matter, both living and decaying. Molds, yeast and mushrooms are all types of fungi.

gene A segment of DNA that codes, or holds instructions, for producing a protein. Offspring inherit genes from their parents. Genes influence how an organism looks and behaves.

germ Any one-celled microorganism, such as a bacterium, fungal species or virus particle. Some germs cause disease. Others can promote the health of higher-order organisms, including birds and mammals. The health effects of most germs, however, remain unknown.

gonorrhea A serious disease that can infect the genitals, rectum and throat. This sexually transmitted disease is very common, especially among people between the ages of 15 and 24. Untreated, it can cause infertility or death. "Untreated gonorrhea may also increase your chances of getting or giving HIV - the virus that causes AIDS," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

growth promoter (in livestock agriculture) A medicine, usually an antibiotic, added in small doses to the feed given to animals raised for meat. Used as a preventive medicine, it can reduce the risk that animals will become sick, which would slow their growth. And that would decrease a farmer's profits.

immune system The collection of cells and their responses that help the body fight off infection.

infection A disease that can be transmitted between organisms.

influenza (or flu) A highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever and severe aching. It often occurs as an epidemic.

livestock Animals raised for meat or dairy products, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and geese.

microbe Short formicroorganism. A living thing that is too small to see with the unaided eye, including bacteria, some fungi and many other organisms such as amoebas. Most consist of a single cell.

microbiology The study of microorganisms, principally bacteria, fungi and viruses. Scientists who study microbes and the infections they can cause or ways that they can interact with their environment are known as microbiologists.

mutation Some change that occurs to a gene in an organism's DNA. Some mutations occur naturally. Others can be triggered by outside factors, such as pollution, radiation, medicines or something in the diet. A gene with this change is referred to as a mutant.

plasmid A small circular loop of DNA that is separate from the main chromosomal DNA of bacteria.

pneumonia A lung disease in which infection by a virus or bacterium causes inflammation and tissue damage. Sometimes the lungs fill with fluid or mucus. Symptoms include fever, chills, cough and trouble breathing.

resistance (as in drug resistance) The reduction in the effectiveness of a drug to cure a disease, usually a microbial infection. (as in disease resistance) The ability of an organism to fight off disease.

superbug A popular term for a disease-causing germ that can withstand medicines.

toxic shock syndrome A rare and potentially deadly bacterial infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus. This bacterium release toxins - natural poisons - into the body of its host. Symptoms include a sudden high fever, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, a rash and sometimes seizures.

toxin A poison produced by living organisms, such as germs, bees, spiders, poison ivy and snakes.

tuberculosis A bacterial disease that causes unusual growths in the lungs or other tissues. Untreated, it can kill. The infection usually spreads when a sick individual coughs (or talks, sings or sneezes), spewing germs into the air.

virus Tiny infectious particles consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by protein. Viruses can reproduce only by injecting their genetic material into the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to viruses as live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesn't eat like animals do, or make its own food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery of a living cell in order to survive.

World Health Organization An agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, to promote health and to control communicable diseases. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The United Nations relies on the WHO for providing international leadership on global health matters. This organization also helps shape the research agenda for health issues and sets standards for pollutants and other things that could pose a risk to health. WHO also regularly reviews data to set policies for maintaining health and a healthy environment.

Citations

E. Landhuis. " The war on superbugs." Science News for Students. July 16, 2014.

B. Harder. " Joining the Resistance: Drug-immune microbes waft over hogs." Science News. Jan. 1, 2005.

A.L. Mascarelli. " Infectious animals." Science News for Students. April 17, 2013.

J. Raloff. " Antibiotics afield." Science News. Nov. 26, 2005.

J. Raloff. " Growth-promoting antibiotics: On the way out?" Science News. March 23, 2012.

J. Raloff. " Retail meats host drug-resistant bacteria." Science News. Oct. 20, 2001.

N. Seppa. " Danes keeping drugs out of livestock." Science News. April 8, 2003.

Original Journal Source: M. Barnett and J. Linder. Antibiotic prescribing for adults with acute bronchitis in the United States, 1996-2010. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Published May 21, 2014. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.286141.

Original Journal Source: J. Nesme et al. Large-scale metagenomic-based study of antibiotic resistance in the environment. Current Biology. Published May 8, 2014. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.036.

Original Journal Source: S. Peacock. Health care: Bring microbial sequencing to hospitals. Nature. Published May 29, 2014. doi:10.1038/509557a.

Original Journal Source: B. Spellberg, J. Bartlett and D. Gilbert. The future of antibiotics and resistance. New England Journal of Medicine. Published Jan. 24, 2013. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1215093.

Original Journal Source: S. Cole. Who will develop new antibacterial agents? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Published May 12, 2014. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0430.

Original Journal Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotic-resistant threats in the United States, 2013.

Original Report Source: World Health Organization. Antimicrobial resistance global report on surveillance, 2014.

Teachers' questions: Superbugs: A silent health emergency

Esther Landhuis is a freelance journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked on her high school newspaper and spent a decade studying biology before discovering a career that combines writing and science.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have antibiotics become too popular? Overusing these medicines fuels resistant germs that pose a global health threat.

# data[].attributes.headline
Medieval human plague still lurking in western U.S. states”

# data[].attributes.subject
Medieval human plague still lurking in western U.S. states”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Medieval human plague still lurking in western U.S. states

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Plague cases are down, but people should still be aware.