Persuasion Starter Links

Controversial Issues

This page contains research starter links, some of which lead to lists of issue-related links. Visiting sites listed under an issue will help to give you a general idea of what the issue is about and possibly outline the opposing points of view.

Multiple sources (including print sources) must be used so that you may judge a site's accuracy and get a more balanced view of the issue. Be alert: some sites represent extremely biased points of view!

Consult Evaluating Internet Resources before proceeding.

Disclaimer: The listing of the various sites on this page does not represent any endorsement of their views. Many useful sites for controversial topics may be blocked by Internet filtering software. Ask your library media specialist for assistance if this problem arises with your topic.

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Google link (to find additional sites)

Airline Safety and Security  Alaska Oil Drilling

Airline Safety Home Page

Airline Accident and Airline Safety and Security Information

When Does Airline Security Go Too Far?

Enhancing Aviation Safety and Security

Airport Security Issues

Airport and Airline Security

Should the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be Open to Oil Drilling? 

Senate Poised to Clear the Way for ANWR Drilling

 Alcohol Abuse  Alternate Sources of Energy

Frequently Asked Questions from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Alcohol Use Disorders Among Teens

A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences

Alternative Energy and Energy Security

Solar Energy: What the Heck Should We do With it?

Replace Oil Without Dirty Fuels

Animal Rights  Arts Education

Some Animals are More Equal Than Others

Animal Dissection - Humane Society

Animal Research Issues: Dissection

The Captive Animals' Protection Society

Circuses - The Humane Society

Zoos: Nature vs. Nurture

Music Makes a Difference

Loss of Art: Government Cutbacks in Education

National Arts Education Public Awareness Campaign

Why Art Education?

 Avian Flu Threat Baseball Salary Cap (see Salary Caps)

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Avian Influenza - Fact Sheet

PandemicFlu.gov

  Broadcast Decency  Bullying

House Passes Broadcast Decency Bill

As Broadcast Decency Wanes, Feds Stand Ready to Act

Government Regulation of Broadcast Content

Group Urges Senate to Pass Broadcast Decency Enforcement Bill

The Online Alternative to Broadcast Decency

Bullying Online - Helping Children and their Parents with Bullying

Stop Bullying Now!

What's Bullying?

Anti-Bullying Network

Issues Related to Bullying

Capital Punishment/Death Penalty Cell Phone Use and Abuse

Death Penalty Information Center

Death Penalty Information and Resources

Capital Punishment Statistics (from Dept. of Justice)

Capital Punishment (U. S. Dept. of State)

Cell Phones:Nuisance or Necessity

Cell Phones, Pagers, and School Issues

Cell Phones @ School?

Cell Phone Laws and Policies Center

Cell Phones in High Schools (NPR)

Study Finds that Restricting Cell Phones May be Premature

Using a Cell Phone While Driving vs. Intoxicated Driving

 Censorship/ Banning Books, Music, Film. etc.  Childhood Obesity

National Coalition Against Censorship

Frequently Asked Questions about Banned Books

A History of Banned Music in US

Censored: Wielding the Red Pen (includes films and television)

Childhood Obesity: What Parents can Do

Childhood Obesity

American Obesity Association: Childhood Obesity

Pediatric Oncall Parent Corner: Obesity

Study: Americans Fatter Than Ever and Getting Fatter

Cloning Copyright/Illegal Downloading

Human Reproductive Cloning

Cloning - from Wikipedia

A Real Copy Cat! (from Time for Kids)

Cloning Ban Coming?

The Gene School: Cloning Related Links

When is Downloading Music on the Internet Illegal?

Online Piracy and Electronic Theft

Efforts to Stop Music Piracy Pointless - from BBC News

Cosmetic Surgery   Crime and Criminals

Cosmetic Maxillofacial Surgery 

Cosmetic Surgery and Teens

TeensHealth: Plastic Surgery

Discovery Health: Plastic Surgery

Crime.org

Sentencing Alternatives

CURE - Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants

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Disaster Preparedness  Driving Age

Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness

Ready America: Department of Homeland Security

Ready or Not? Protecting the Public Health

Frontline: The Storm

Driving Age Could be Cut to 16 (from England)

Maryland's New Driving Laws to Go into Effect in October

Teen Driving Laws (from the MVA)

Raising the Driver's Age Limit

Teen Driving is a Cooperative Effort

Drunk Driving  Eating Disorders /Extreme Diets

MADD - Stats and Resources

Impaired Driving - from the CDC

Driving Under the Influence - Wikipedia

MADD - Underage Drinking

SADD - Statistics

Alcohol and Traffic Safety

National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) - Home Page

Eating Disorders Association (EDA)

Eating Disorders -Medline Plus

Teens Run Risk With Extreme Diets

Extreme Adolescent Dieting Leads to Unhealthy Lifestyle

 Educational Testing (and High-Stakes Standardized Testing) Eligibility for Sports Teams

Required Testing in Schools 

Testing: Why Give Standardized Tests at All?

The Standardized Testing Debate

How Standardized Testing Damages Education

What Should Parents Know About Standardized Testing in Schools

Pioneer High School - Sample of Sports Eligibility Rules

Supreme Court Set To Rule on HS Drug Testing Case

9th Grade Participation in High School Sports

Mandatory Drug Testing for HS athletes

 Endangered Species  Food Safety and Genetically Engineered Foods

The Endangered Species Act Debate

Endangered Species Factbook

Endangered Species of Maryland

The Endangered Species Act of 1973

Nat Endangered Species Act Reform

Scientists Go on Offensive Over Safety of Crops

Genetically Engineered Foods: Fears and Facts

Genetically Engineered Food

Genetically Engineered Food Alert

 

Gambling Gangs

Frontline: Gambling: Pro/Con

NCALG homepage

Backgrounder: Legalized Gambling

Youth Gangs

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Gangs

Why Kids Join Gangs

 Genetic Engineering Global Warming

Genetic Engineering and its Dangers

Mothers for Natural Law - Dangers of Genetic Engineering

Explore More: Genetic Engineering Issues

Genetic Engineering (from the Regents Prep)

Genetics: Decoding Life

Welcome to EPA's Global Warming Site

Global Warming: Early Warning Signs

Global Warming (from the Natural Resources Defense Council)

Gun Control Homelessness

NRA Institute for Legislative Action (Use "Search" feature)

Handgun Control, Inc.

GunCite: Gun Control and Second Amendment Issues

The ACLU on Gun Control (use search feature)

U. S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

National Alliance to End Homelessness

U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

Homework Overload  

Homework Overload?

Help Your Student Get the Most out of Homework

Death to Busy Work

Homework Overload: A Myth?

Homework Overload May Hit Grades (from the BBC)

No Homework Overload

 
Illegal Immigration  Internet Safety

 Illegal Immigration (from Wikipedia)

Bush Calls for Changes on Illegal Workers

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - Fact Sheet

ACLU: Immigration Rights

Educating the Public about Immigration

The Why Files: A Growing Debate

Internet Safety News

Wired Kids

Online Risks (from Netsmartz)

iSAFE.org

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Invasive Species (plants, snakefish, killer bees, etc.)  Iraq Crisis (War in Iraq)

Invasive Species of Concern in Maryland

Maryland Suffers Setback in War on Invasive Walking Fish

National Invasive Species Information Center

Africanized, Sometimes Called "Killer Bees"

Pros and Cons for the War on Iraq

Bush's Request Brings Pros, Cons to the Forefront

Should We Use Military Force to Unseat Saddam Hussein's Government?

Juvenile Justice  Lawn Services (and Environmental Safety)

National Center for Juvenile Justice

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

National Criminal Justice Reference Service

crime library story archive

Justice Policy Institute: The Florida Experiment

Ohio Northern University: The Juvenile Death Penalty

Chemical Pesticides Health Effects Research

Refuse to Use Lawn Chemicals

 Living Wills Media Bias

Living Will (from Wikipedia)

The Living Will: A Guide to Health Care Decision Making

Living Wills: A Wake Up Call for Many

Advance Directives

How to Detect Bias in the News

Media Bias - from Wikipedia

Reporting Wars - What is Media Bias?

FAIR - Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

Media Violence  Military Draft

Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children

Does Violent Media Make Violent Kids?

FTC: The Influence of Violent Entertainment

Rock the Vote - The Draft

Two Views: Time to Bring Back the Draft

 Obesity  

Study: Americans Fatter Than Ever and Getting Fatter

World Health Organization: Obesity and Overweight

Exercise and Children

All About Obesity

 
Open Space Preservation/ Overdevelopment Outsourcing of Jobs

Keeping "Open Space" Open

Open Space and Farmland

Department of Agriculture - Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program

Benefits and Criticism of Outsourcing - Wikkipedia

Point-Counterpoint: Outsourcing

The Problem with Outsourcing

Overpopulation Patriot Act (Security Vs. Constitutional Rights)

 U. S. and World Population Clocks

What is Overpopulation?

Department of Homeland Security

Civil Liberties After September 11

Constitutional Rights Foundation Homepage

Performance-enhancing Drugs/ Steroid Use and Abuse  Pet Population Control

Steroids: Play Safe, Play Fair 

Facts on Drugs: Anabolic Steroids

Steroids: The Truth About Steroids

 Spay Day USA

Important Spay and Neuter Information

Model Guidelines for Nuisance Wildlife Control

Common Questions about Animal Shelters and Animal Control

Should Wild Animals be Kept as Pets?

Pledge of Allegiance in Schools Pollution (air, water, etc.)

The Pledge of Allegiance

Pledge of Allegiance Case

Lawmakers Blast Pledge Ruling

Flap After Court Rules Pledge Unconstitutional

The Pledge of Allegiance - Hall of Heroes

American Lung Association: State of the Air

Rankings of Cities, 2004

State of the Air, 2004

Sources of Indoor Air Pollution - Pesticides

Air Trends

Air Pollution Kills, But Deaths Can Be Prevented

Exposure to Radon

Water Pollution

Popular Culture (celebrity worship, fads, reality TV, etc.) Prayer in Schools (see School Prayer)

A New Age of Celebrity Worship

When Celebrity Worship Leads to Mental Problems

When Your Child's Sports Hero is a Bad Role Model

Model Behavior: Today's Teens and the Role Models They Choose

Role Models in Need of Reform

Why America Loves Reality TV

Why Reality TV is Good for Us

 

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Racial Profiling  Rainforest Preservation

The Definition of Racial Profiling (from Ethnic Majority)

Racial Profiling: Old and New

Racial Profiling Data Collection

Deforestation

On the Line: Conservation

S.O.S. from the Amazon Rainforest

Rainforest Conservation

Rebuilding of New Orleans  Recycling and Conservation (gas, electricity, etc.)

Rebuilding the Gulf Coast

Disaster Help

The Greater New Orleans Foundation

Frontline: The Storm

City of New Orleans

Hurricane Recovery (from the White House)

Internet Consumer Recycling Guide

National Recycling Coalition

Salary Cap (Baseball, etc.) School Funding

Salary Cap (from Wikipedia)

Pros/Cons of a Salary Cap

Salary Cap (from Baseball Prospectus)

Baseball Can't Bear Costs for Salary Cap

Talking the Talk

Paid to Play Games

Online Backgrounders: School Funding

Ask Questions: School Funding

Education in the United States

School Overcrowding  School Prayer

Towson Times (search archives)

Baltimore Sun (search archives)

National Crisis: Overcrowded Schools

Federation for American Immigration Reform - Immigration and School Overcrowding

Overcrowding in Urban Schools

The Daily Bruin: Public school is not Sunday school

Unconstitutional Religious Expression

Secretary's Statement on Religious Expression

School Reform (school vouchers, year-round schools, extended day, etc.)  School Violence and Safety

School Choice Has Been Tried And It Works!

Response to The Effectiveness of School Choice

Anti-Def League: Think Twice About Vouchers

Family Education: Year-Round Schooling

Chicago Public Schools: Year Round Schools

National Assoc. for Year-Round Education

School Associated Violent Deaths

Indicators of School Crime and Safety

School House Hype: School Shootings

School Uniforms or School Dress Codes Skateboarding

School Uniforms: Safety in Schools and Uniforms

Manual on School Uniforms

School Uniforms and Middle School Reform

NAESP School Uniforms and Dress Codes

Heather Wells fights her school dress code

Hackensack High School - Dress Code Protest

Skatepark.org - promoting skateboarding

The Social Impact of Skateparks

Shopping Around for Skateparks?

SPS Positions on Skateparks

Are you Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor?

Safety and Statistics

Sleep Deprivation  Smoking

Sleep Deprivation May be Undermining Teen Health

Sleep Deprivation: Causes and Consequences

Sleep Deprivation Links and Information

Sleep Deprivation as Bad as Alcohol Impairment, Study Suggests

Smoking from all Sides

Smoking in Workplaces and Public Places

Action on Smoking and Health

Young Citizens: Latest News

Smoking in Public Places

Stem Cell Research Taser (Stun) Guns

NIH Stem Cell Information Page

Stem Cell Fact Sheets

Forum: Stem Cell Research

Don't Throw the Stem Cells Out with the Fraud

Life Issues Institute: Stem Cell/Cloning

American Bioethics Advisory Commission

Teen Alcohol Use and Abuse (and Alcoholism) Terrorism and Homeland Security

NCADD Home Page (National Commission on Drunk Driving)

InfoFacts: Alcohol and other Drugs on Campus

MADD Online (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

Drinking and Driving (Univ. of Potsdam, NY)

Facts About Terrorism

Terrorism Research Center

Council on Foreign Relations: Terrorism

Office of the Coordinator of Counter Terrorism

Thyroid, Overactive  Video Game Violence

The American Thyroid Association

The American Thyroid Association - Research

Patient Information - Santa Monica Thyroid Diagnostic Center

Setting Research Priorities at the National Institute of Health

Video Games and Children

Violence in Video Games - by Bernard Farrales

Video Game Violence - by Patrick Masell

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 Last update: April 3, 2006

J. Caldwell, Perry Hall Middle School

Baltimore County Public Schools