Even if you’re not that excited about making your voice heard, you may be the best person to lead a group. Find out why.
Author Archives: Mikki Gibson
What Is Career and Technical Education, Anyway?
Get the facts about career education classes available in high schools across the country in this Q&A.
Does “Never again!” mean anything if we do nothing about China’s concentration camps?
World War II may be far in the past, but for the Uighur people of China, disturbing echoes of the Holocaust are happening right now.
Charging Youths as Adults Can Be a “Cruel Wake-Up Call.” Is There Another Way?
This in-depth report examines the reasons and outcomes of charging teenagers as adults in the criminal justice system.
Buffalo Soldiers
Learn about some of the many accomplishments of the “buffalo soldiers,” 19th-century regiments of African American troops formed after the Civil War.
Can Fear Actually Be Healthy? 5 Health Effects of Halloween Horrors
Halloween’s popularity grows year after year, perhaps in part because being scared can be good for us.
Why Cultural Appropriation Isn’t Cool
We live in a multicultural society, so we enjoy food, music, and fashion from many backgrounds. But when is it sharing, and when is it stealing?
Maternal deaths fall across globe but rise in U.S., doubling in Texas
Giving birth used to be one of the most dangerous things a woman could do, until medical advancements about a century ago improved outcomes. So why might the United States—and one state in particular— be sliding backward in this key statistic?
When Your Parents Disapprove of Your Partner
Situations today may not be as dramatic as that in Romeo & Juliet, but it does still happen that parents oppose their children’s choice of partners.
Top 5 Reasons Why Traveling Without a Plan is the Best Plan
Part of the Odyssey’s appeal is the element of surprise—would generation after generation dig into a story whose hero figures out exactly how to get where he’s planned to go and goes straight there?
About Intercultural Friendship
Making friends with someone from a culture different from your own is a great way to expand your horizons. Read the article to learn what pitfalls to avoid.
KidsRights Index
Learn which countries do a good (and not-so-good) job of protecting the rights of children. Explore the links to learn more about how each country’s score is tabulated.
Thanks, Robot! Humans Are Showing Kindness with Their AI Helpers
Why do we make connections with digital assistants when we know they don’t have feelings?
Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?
Four centuries and many changes to the English language have passed since Shakespeare wrote. Here’s why we still read his works.
How Smart Are Planet’s Apes? 7 Intelligence Milestones
In response to movies about supersmart apes, National Geographic compiled this slideshow about how smart apes really are.
How to Make a Tesselation
A tesselation is a repeating visual pattern that can be as simple or as complex as its creator wants it to be. Try it for yourself by following the instructions in this online magazine by and for teens.
How Cancer Starts
Cancer is not a disease that people catch—instead, it is the result of mutations, or changes at the cellular level. Find out how these tiny changes can make things go very wrong.
Multicultural Cinderella Stories
“Yeh-Shen” may be the oldest version we know of the Cinderella story, but it’s far from the only variation on this familiar tale. Find out about other versions that span the globe.
Children of the Fifty-Sixers: Growing up in Hungarian Chicago
Author Rebecca Makkai reflects on how her father’s escape from Communist-controlled Hungary in 1956 still echoes in her life in the United States.
Family Farmers Fighting Climate Change
Climate change isn’t only about cars; find out what farmers are doing to help the planet.