Teen Issues
In The Freedom Writers Diary, many of the entries have to
do with issues that teens face every day. But these students
also had some pretty big obstacles to overcome given the fact
that they grew up in Long Beach, CA where poverty, violence,
gangs, and drugs were common presences and a diversity of
culture, including White, Hispanic, AfricanAmerican, and Latino,
brought together a variety of people with sometimes clashing
effects.
For this section of the webquest, go to SIRS (Social Issues
Resources Service) to read more about some of the issues
teens face today: drugs/substance abuse, pregnancy,
physical/sexual abuse, gangs, divorce, homelessness, racism,
etc. For the issue you choose, you need to identify 5 criteria that
would help a teen overcome that issue and 5 criteria that would
detract from their ability to overcome the issue (e.g., criteria that
help a teen stay away from drugs or eliminate a substance
abuse problem and criteria that cause them to develop a drug
problem and/or keep them from overcoming that problem). For
each issue, you will need a current example of a
success story (someone who changed his/her life) and an
example of someone who has not been able to change his/her
life. In addition, be able to identify the diary entry from The
FWD that represents your teen issue.
Teen Issues:
Drugs/Substance Abuse
Pregnancy
Physical/Sexual Abuse
Gangs
Divorce
Homelessness
Racism