Youth Voices

Politically-active internet users are moving away from news sites with no point of view to sites that match their politics views; this is especially true among younger voters.

The fact that students today almost always write for an audience (something virtually no one in my generation did) gives them a different sense of what constitutes good writing. In interviews, they defined good prose as something that had an effect on the world. For them, writing is about persuading and organizing and debating, even if it's over something as quotidian as what movie to go see. The Stanford students were almost always less enthusiastic about their in-class writing because it had no audience but the professor: It didn't serve any purpose other than to get them a grade.

“Simply put, there is just no place for prejudice or hate or bullying in our schools,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who was joined by Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein as he announced the rules.The policy is intended to deter intimidation and harassment based on ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.Every principal will be required to designate a staff member to whom students can report bullying, and schools will be required to report complaints to the Department of Education within 24 hours.The schools will have to investigate the complaints and contact the families of students accused of bias-based harassment.