"Speak," by Laurie Halse Anderson, is one of the most powerful young adult novels to come along in the past decade. It has won numerous awards, including the "School Library Journal" award for "Best Book of the Year," and was a National Book Award Finalist. Despite this acclaim, many English teachers are uncomfortable teaching "Speak" in their…

Literacy educators are troubled by the isolated nature of many contemporary reading programs. Too often in middle school classrooms, students read alone, take computerized tests, and do not engage in authentic dialogue with peers. In this article, the authors argue that reading texts individually, while necessary, is not sufficient, and through…

Examining National Center for Health statistics, questions whether fictional television accounts of teenage suicide affect the teenage suicide rate. Assesses four films about teenage suicide, nationally televised in 1984 and 1985. Accounts for holiday and temporal effects, television new stories, and large city influences. Finds that the films did…

Beginning in the late 1960s, the sexual revolution resulted in new lifestyles, drug cultures, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and a higher incidence of venereal disease. Many schools initiated sex education programs aimed at developing an understanding of interpersonal relationships, human development, and responsible personal behavior. (FG)

In the past few years many movies have addressed social issues such as AIDS, parental estrangement, aging, battered women and children, and racism. Teachers of teenagers can capitalize on these kinds of serious films in two ways: by assuming that students have thought about some serious issues and by building on that assumption. Three movies of…

Junior and senior high school social studies teachers and teachers of the mildly handicapped (primarily learning disabled) in New Jersey (N=195) responded to a social issues survey. For each of 14 social issues, they were asked to indicate the frequency with which the issue was included in the instructional program, its importance, their own level…