1. Bats in the Air

You will soon be permitted to carry small knives, souvenir baseball bats and other sports equipment onto an airplane. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it will relax its security standards next month to conform with international norms, and thus be able to concentrate on more serious safety threats. The policy change, based on a recommendation from an internal working group that decided such items represent no real danger, drew criticism from a spokesman for Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents more than 10,000 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines. The change is “dangerous” and “short-sighted,” the spokesman said. It’s designed to “make the lives of TSA staff easier,” the union said, “but not make flights safer.” Such items pose less of a threat to the pilot in the cockpit, the union concedes, but “are real threats to passengers and flight attendants.” As a class, talk about this change in the rules for air travel. Find more information in the newspaper and online and write a short editorial giving your view of the policy change.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; responding to the ideas and feelings generated by written texts.

2. A Guys-Only Race?

The third annual marathon run in the Middle East region of Gaza has been canceled because its leaders have barred women from participating, according to its organizer, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The Hamas organization, which governs Gaza, had banned female participation as part of its effort to enforce tougher Islamic strictures, which restrict some women’s activities. More than 2,000 runners had registered for the race, scheduled for April 10, and some 370 were women, most from Gaza. Hamas said it regrets the race’s cancellation, but noted that organizers should have respected “some regulations related to the Palestinian people’s traditions and customs.” Gaza is one of the Arab territories that were occupied by the Jewish state of Israel at one time. Gaza and other regions in the Middle East are often in the news. Find a story about the Middle East in the newspaper, write a summary of its most important points and explain why the issues are important to the region, and the world.

Common Core/National Standard: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

3. Something Fishy on the Menu

That red snapper you or your parents order in a restaurant may not be red snapper at all, a nonprofit ocean-protection group named Oceana has reported. In 120 samples tested of what’s identified as red snapper, for example, 28 different species of fish were found, 17 of them not even in the snapper family. The study concluded that sushi bars were most likely to be serving mislabeled fish, while groceries were least likely. Restaurants were somewhere in the middle. The mislabeling is usually because certain kinds of fish are much more popular than others. Almost two-thirds of the “wild” salmon tested turned out to be farmed Atlantic salmon, for example. As a class, talk about ways that different foods are promoted, and why food manufacturers promote them that way. Then find an example of a food being promoted in newspaper ads or online. Write a paragraph explaining the claims made in the promotion. Then write a paragraph listing questions an educated consumer should ask about those claims, and how a consumer could find answers to the questions.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue; responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarizing points of agreement engaging and disagreement; engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.

4. Wrongly Convicted

Wrongful convictions are the major fear of every judicial system, and the new law-enforcement tool, DNA, is leading to many such cases. The state of Texas leads the nation in prisoners set free because of DNA evidence, and a state Supreme Court justice has called for creation of a commission to investigate wrongful convictions. “If innocent people are rotting in prison for crimes they did not commit,” Justice Wallace Jefferson told the state legislature, “we certainly have not achieved justice for all.” He warned the lawmakers that faith in the legal system was being undermined by the situation. See what you can learn with your newspaper and the Internet about DNA and how it is being used more and more in law enforcement and the courts. Write a short editorial giving your view on whether states should set up systems to look at old convictions based on DNA evidence.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

5. Phone-Blocking in the Car

Cars should be equipped with devices making it impossible to use a handheld cellphone while driving, two researchers have suggested. The recommendation follows a report from the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that drivers using cellphones are responsible for 333,000 injuries a year, 2,600 of them fatal. At the same time, the two researchers say that laws alone are not enough to prevent cellphone distractions. In a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers note that 10 states ban use of handheld cellphones while driving, but 40 percent of drivers admit violating these laws. Suggestions to reduce cellphone risks include devices that make it impossible to send a cellphone text message, check an app or dial home while the car is in motion. As a class, discuss the researchers’ recommendations and whether they are an appropriate response to the problem of accidents caused by cellphone use. Then use information from the newspaper and the Internet to brainstorm a policy you think would work. Design an informational ad for the newspaper detailing your policy.

Common Core/National Standards: Responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarizing points of agreement engaging and disagreement; engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.