At The Economist Educational Foundation, we believe that discussions shouldn’t stop when the lesson ends: developing critical thinking and communication skills is vital and learning carries beyond the classroom. By engaging with global issues through our resources, students don’t just analyse the world around them — they are empowered to have their say on issues that matter to them.
Lyons Hall Primary School, United Kingdom
After exploring our Doomscrolling and brain rot lesson, students left with a better understanding of digital habits and were motivated to share their ideas with a wider audience.
Using the evidence and arguments developed in class, they wrote opinion pieces about the impact of doomscrolling on youth mental health, which were later published in The Daily Gazette, their local newspaper.
On the feature, one student wrote “I really liked learning about Doomscrolling and the lesson made me realise me and my friends do it all the time! After the lesson, I knew lots about it to write my opinion column and could use all of my class discussions to help me.” While another student added “It was really helpful that we could quote experts in our article to back up what we said. I think it made our articles stand out!”
Elsewhere, Coombe Girls School are proud Topical Talkers; one student made badges to show their class’ participation in the programme.
Our resources are designed to be flexible and act as a springboard for further cross-curricular learning. You might use them to:
- Create a podcast to share the news and opinions about it with others
- Launch a student-led campaign or petition
- Organise workshops led by your students
- Share what your class gets up to! We want to celebrate the creative ways students bring these topics to life. Your story could inspire other students to turn Topical Talk into action.
Explore our ‘Doomscrolling and brain rot’ lesson.