Exercise 2.1: Finding the Questions


1. By Kids for Kids:anti-violence group


In the space below, write the title of your tentative topic (e.g. Internet addiction)



2. When I was a freshman in high school a nearby high school that our school was close to had a school shooting (Thurston High). After words everyone wanted to do anything they could to help their neighbor high school. After lots of brain storming my school came up with an excellent solution, a anti-violence group called By Kids for Kids which was dedicated to ending school violence. I am really proud of my high school for coming up with such an important organization and I think it would be fun to see how far they have come since I graduated from high school.


Briefly state why you chose this topic.



3. By Kids 4 Kids or otherwise known as BK4K is a student to student movement to end school violence. BK4K is a branch of the Ribbon of Promise, an organization that was founded just days after the Thurston shooting. By kids for kids does not believe in the code of silence. They think if a student hears any kind of threat to their school that this is the one time it is ok to rat out on a friend.


Spend about five minutes listing what you already know (if anything) about your topic. For
example, are you aware of any interesting facts, common misconceptions, your own
assumptions, important people or institutions involved, key schools of thought, the extent of the
problem, current trends, etc.?



4. How do they send their message out?
Where do they get money for their organization?
How many students are in the By Kids for Kids?
Has their method been proven to work?
What are they currently doing in their organization?
Does BK4K have an advisor?
Is BK4K just in Springfield?
Do they send their message out just in the U.S. or world wide?
What do they do after a school shooting?
What makes BK4K think their message really works?
When was their foundation founded?
How often does this group meet in a week?
Is Thurston a part of BK4K now?
How many students have died in school shootings, how many were injured?
How many school shootings has their been?
Was their a problem with school violence in the past(40 years ago)?
Why do students decide to shoot up their school?
How does BK4K actually help stop school violence?
How much money does it take for the organization to run?
Who came up with the idea of a student led organization?




Now spend at least fifteen minutes brainstorming a list of questions about your topic you’d love
to learn the answers to. Make this list as long as you can, and don’t worry whether every
question is a good one.



5.


If you’re working in a computer lab (or generating hard copies of the exercise), your instructor
may ask you to comment on other students’ responses to Steps 1-4. Focus particularly on what
your classmates did in the fourth step. For each you view, do two things: add a question you
would like answered about the student’s topic, and mark the question you find most intriguing.




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