What do teens care about? Stanford education researchers uncover top concerns in letters to presidential candidates

By ITS Education Asia

Here is a very interesting article from Stanford University giving an insight into the issues of importance to American teenagers.

In the months leading up to the U.S. presidential election in 2016, thousands of teenagers around the country wrote letters to the candidates about the issues that mattered most to them, posting their letters onto a public website. Too young to vote, these middle and high-school students crafted passionate arguments about everything from homelessness and immigration to abortion and climate change. 

Immigration, police and race were among those issues more likely to be addressed in letters from schools serving predominantly lower-income students and students of color. Guns, school costs and gender issues were more likely at schools serving more affluent and white students.

Researchers grouped more than 11,000 student letters into 69 categories. 

It would be great to see some research like this into Hong Kong young people’s concerns.