Maybe it's hearing about friends, driving home from a dance, who get into a car wreck that no one survives. Or a fellow student - the one who wears a bandanna to hide what chemotherapy has done to her hair - one day fails to show up for homeroom. Or an announcement over the school's PA system: "There will be a memorial service this afternoon..." For many young people, this will be their first exposure to death. How can teachers and school administrators...

The Scottish tongue is one of the oldest in Britain, a Northern variety of English that, but for the accidents of history, might have become a separate language. This classic PBS program deals with the influence of the Scots in spreading the language of their historic enemies-the Sassenachs of the South-around the world. The program begins in the 15th century, the golden age of the Scottish tongue; it follows the linguistic path of the Scots as they...

They're an average American family at a typical American restaurant. They also happen to be Hispanic (not to mention that the restaurant is situated in Tucson, Arizona, a hub of our nation's ongoing immigration debate) From out of nowhere, an off-duty security guard asks to see their documentation, and as he grows more insistent, the other diners nervously consider what steps, if any, to take. It's a scenario drawn from real life, no doubt, but in...

In 2003, the Wide Angle program Time for School profiled children in seven countries-Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, and Romania-as they started their first year of school, often in the face of great adversity. Three years later this Wide Angle episode returns to visit each child, updating the progress of their educational and personal development. The similarities and contrasts that emerge among the lives of these young people provide...

As the digital revolution sweeps across America, many young people are experiencing what has come to be known as the digital divide. The first hour of this program examines the push to wire America's schools, addressing crucial issues such as integration of technology into curriculums, budget trade-offs that leave low-tech subjects starving for scarce funds, and the need for ongoing hardware and software support. In the second hour, more experts,...

Archaic models of global commerce assume that all parties will benefit equally from free trade. But well-documented exploitation of workers in the developing world has convinced many experts of the need for stronger fair trade practices. This program reports on the efforts of socially concerned entrepreneurs and leaders to safeguard the interests of foreign farmers, producers, and laborers. Bob Stiller, president and founder of Green Mountain Coffee...

The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest written charter of government in continuous effect. Much of the success of this document can be attributed to the way the Constitution has changed to meet the needs of the American people. The framers of the Constitution wisely anticipated the need to make changes to the Constitution as the world itself changed. Between 1787, when the Constitution was written, and the present time, thousands of proposed...

Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with an administration at her high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. Viv's mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the '90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother's past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously...

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin describes how past presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, mastered the technology of their times to bring their message to the masses.