<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"  xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>Student Voices Speak Outs</title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/</link><description>Click on a topic to read and participate in a moderated discussion with other Student Voices participants.</description><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[ Do You Have a First Amendment Right to Party? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=752</link><description><![CDATA[ Miley Cyrus sings that there is a party in the U.S.A. The Beastie Boys even proclaimed it’s a right that we should fight for. But is partying protected by the First Amendment? The right to party has become an issue in the sleepy resort town of Narragansett , R.I., where an ordinance allowing police to crack down on parties has been questioned. The partyers, mainly University of Rhode Island students who rent homes off-campus during the school year, claimed that the stickers are pretty much a form of public humiliation and sued the town claiming their First Amendemnt rights were being infringed. So the question must be asked, is partying a form of assembly? If so, is partying protected under the first amendment? Join the discssion and let us know what you think! 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>25 Feb 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=752</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Airport body scanners: Necessary precaution or invasion of privacy? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=751</link><description><![CDATA[ 























    
    
    


Soon, when you travel by plane, you may be asked at the airport to step in front of a screening device called a full-body scanner. The Obama administration decided to increase the number of full-body scanners in airports around the country after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up an airplane using explosives concealed in his underwear on Christmas Day.  Advocates of the devices say they are critical to stopping terrorists.  Others oppose these scans as overly intrusive, comparing them to virtual strip searches. Should full-body scans be routine at airport security screening?  Do you think they will stop terrorists from bringing explosives aboard planes?  Are they an invasion of privacy?  Join the discussion, and tell us what you think! 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>24 Feb 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>James Horner, Student</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=751</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ How should schools respond to bullying? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=745</link><description><![CDATA[ 



    




    
    
    


Bullying is an all-too common problem. You’ve probably seen it happen. You might have even experienced it. But should this be happening in school?  Statistics show that between 15 to 25 percent of students in the United States are bullied, while about the same amount (15 to 20 percent) are bullies themselves. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>12 Feb 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>John Vettese, Student Voices Staff</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=745</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Remembering the Greensboro Four: Students using their voices to make a difference ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=744</link><description><![CDATA[ 







    



    
    
    

Fifty years ago this week, four African American college students staged the first sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.  They were paying customers and decided to quietly sit down at the “whites only” lunch counter. This is one of the three main events of the early civil rights movement—the others were the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that desegregated public schools and the 1955-56 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott that opposed segregation on public buses.  The Greensboro sit-in was the beginning of a nonviolent movement to highlight the immorality of segregation. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>01 Feb 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Student Voices Staff</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=744</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Who’s looking at your Facebook page, and why it matters  ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=743</link><description><![CDATA[ You just threw the most amazing party for your best friend’s birthday. Everyone’s talking about it, and you can’t wait to post the photos on Facebook. Some partygoers may have gotten a little carried away, but that’s OK, because, after all, only your 300 closest “friends” will see the photos, right? Are you sure? Early in December, Facebook rolled out a new privacy policy. The good news is that its 350 million users will be forced to think about their privacy settings. The changes have simplified the privacy settings and made them easier to understand. But critics warn the new policy pushes users to publicly share more information and gives them less control over their personal data. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>19 Jan 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Ellen Iwamoto, Student Voices staff writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=743</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Is merit pay for teachers a worthwhile idea? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=742</link><description><![CDATA[ 








    
    
    


Should teachers be given merit pay for student achievement? Would it improve the education system? How should teachers be evaluated? How do you think teacher merit pay would affect your school environment? Join the discussion, and let us know what you think!
 ]]> </description><pubDate>14 Jan 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>James Horner, Student</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=742</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ What do you think of the President's objectives in Afghanistan? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=740</link><description><![CDATA[  ]]> </description><pubDate>15 Dec 2009 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=740</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Does freedom of speech protect dogfight videos?  ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=739</link><description><![CDATA[ When he was on trial for selling videos of dogfights, Robert Stevens of Virginia argued that the federal law that banned the sale of animal cruelty recordings is unconstitutional. Stevens contended the ban violates the First Amendment, but he was convicted nevertheless. His sentence was 37 months in prison, longer than quarterback Michael Vick’s 23-month jail term for running an illegal dogfighting ring that resulted in the torture and execution of dogs. What kind of speech should be protected by the First Amendment? The Supreme Court has said that some speech, such as child pornography, is not protected. Should acts of animal cruelty also be included as unprotected speech?  How should the justices rule and why? Is free speech more important than animal rights? Are acts of animal cruelty so repulsive that they don’t deserve First Amendment protection?  Join the discussion and let us know what you think!
 ]]> </description><pubDate>23 Nov 2009 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Ellen Iwamoto, Student Voices staff writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=739</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Is sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole constitutional? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=737</link><description><![CDATA[ We’ve all done something bad. But imagine doing something bad, so bad that you go to jail for the rest of your life, with no chance of parole. Would this be considered a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which protects us from “cruel and unusual punishment”? That is the heart of the issue of the Supreme Court cases Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida. In both cases, the juveniles were found guilty of offenses in which no one was killed, and they received life sentences without the chance of release. These two are among the over one hundred cases across the country in which a juvenile was sentenced to life in prison without parole for non-homicide offenses. How should the court rule? Should a juvenile be sentenced to life in prison without parole for a crime in which no one dies? Does the age of the person matter?
 ]]> </description><pubDate>17 Nov 2009 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=737</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Do school uniforms benefit your classroom environment? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=738</link><description><![CDATA[ 




    









    
    
    


Students at Philadelphia’s Northeast High School are now expected to attend class dressed in khakis, blouses, shirts and ties. This month, the school, which houses approximately 3,300 9th through 12th graders, began enforcing the district-wide uniform policy first announced in 2000. Required in elementary and middle schools, it is optional for High Schools – but last school year, Northeast decided to implement it. Some students, and their parents, resisted the change, claiming it was too sudden and too expensive to get the clothes the district required. Their plight received coverage in the Philadelphia Daily News, where the school district also chimed in, saying the uniforms “will reflect school pride and help easily identify students.” 


 ]]> </description><pubDate>17 Nov 2009 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>John Vettese, Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=738</guid></item></channel></rss>