Advocacy

Great Website to Help You Go Out and Make the World a Better Place

General Tools / Political Issues

• • A Starting Point brings together the viewpoints of both sides of the aisle to discuss issues.

  • All Sides allows you to see the news and current affairs from all perspectives:  from the left, center and right.  What's your personal bias and how can we learn to conduct civil discourse when talking to people who are coming from a different perspective?

  • Judy Records is the largest search engine of United States court cases on the Internet. 

  • New York State Board of Elections helps you understand the election process (voting is one of the BEST ways to advocate) plus ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION FOR THOSE WHO TURN 18.

Animals

• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the world's most comprehensive info source on the extinction risk status of animals, fungus & plant species. 

Bullying / Positive School Climate

• • Bully Free NZ is a great resource put out by the New Zealand government to identify and reduce bullying

  • Random Acts of Kindness Bingo is a fun way to spread kindness.  Also see ways to become a RAKtivist in the world by spreading kindness.

  • RULER Program Q & A talks about the approach used to foster positive school climate used at RN Middle School

Climate Change

• • AirVisual provides access to the world's largest air quality database, spanning 10,000+ locations globally.

  • BBC Earth Sustainability has lots of information on creating  a more sustainable future

  • Climate Central provides visualizations of the effects of rising sea levels.

  • Climate Choice offers actions you and your family can take to reduce global emissions and work to Improve the planet.

  • Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) shows climate-related hazards in real time,

  • Electricity Map is a live visualization of where your electricity comes from and how much CO2 was emitted to produce it. 

  • Energy Saver by the Department of Energy helps you improve your energy efficiency.

  • Extreme Weather Watch provides historical data back to the 1800's on record high and low temps for all of North America.

  • Global Coal Countdown tracks our progress toward a coal-free future.

  • Living Atlas of the World is the foremost collection of geographic & environmental info that can be combined & layered.

  • Protecting Our Planet offers advice from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) on caring for our environment.

  • Science.gov is your portal to 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information.

  • Science Daily aggregates science news and research from around the globe, including environmental resources.

  • Solar Impulse Foundation Solutions Explorer offers a searchable database of clean and sustainable solutions to individuals and businesses.

  • Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is a non-profit dedicated to reducing the use of plastics and finding more sustainable solutions.

  • UK COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow in Oct/Nov 2021.  Read about goals, results, etc. 

  • Violation Tracker helps you discover which corporations are the biggest violators of environmental and health & safety laws.

  • Waterbear allows you to stream free, environmentally focused, award-winning documentaries and short films

Data Privacy

• Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) details US government rules on protecting children from harmful internet content.

• Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulates the personal information that website may collect on children under 13 years old.

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act FERPA lays out the rules protecting the privacy of student education records and the rights of parents.

• NY State Education Department Data Privacy & Security details state efforts to protect the personally identifiable information (PII) of students.

• Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) defines the protection of student data captured through various means.

• US Department of Education Student Privacy details the extent of the US government's efforts to protect student privacy.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

• • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a professional development resource to help promote DEI.

  • Living Wage Calculator estimates the hourly pay necessary to meet basic costs of living in different areas.

Gun Violence

• • Gun Violence Archive provides near real-time data about the results of gun violence from independent data collection

Immigration

• • A Starting Point brings together the viewpoints of both sides of the aisle to discuss issues.

  • All Sides allows you to see the news and current affairs from all perspectives:  from the left, center and right.  What's your personal bias and how can we learn to conduct civil discourse when talking to people who are coming from a different perspective?

  • Department of Homeland Security immigration data and statistics, also see info on legal immigration

  • Pew Research Center key findings about U.S.  immigrants

  • US Citizenship and Immigration Services provides many resources on immigration and citizenship data, including naturalization statistics

  • US Department of State Immigrant Visa Statistics also provides a  link to laws & regulations

Labor/Unionization

• ILR Labor Action Tracker provides a comprehensive database of strike and labor protest activity across the United States.

LGBTQ+

• • How to Fight Book Bans provides students with tips on how to stand up against campaigns to remove books from schools and libraries. 

  • GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) works with lawmakers to improve education systems and ensure all LGBTQ+ youth can learn without fear or harassment.

  • GSA Network (Gay Straight Alliance) is a youth-led coalition connecting GSA's across the country to educate communities to LGBTQ issues and create safe spaces to learn.

  • It Gets Better Project  provides inspiration to uplift and empower LGBTQ youth.

  • LGBT National Help Center is a call center for LGBT people of all ages which provides support, advice,  and information. All of their hotline volunteers are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender.  

  • PFLAG (Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) provides support and advocacy for a more welcoming society for LGBTQ youth.

  • Pride & Protest Safety Tips from GSA provides a downloadable doc with tips for attending a protest safely.

  • Podcasts

    • Outcasting unites LGBTQ youth, straight allies, and the power of media in advocacy for a less unjust world. 

  • The Trevor Project is the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth 

Mental Health

• • National Alliance on Mental Illness provide outstanding support and information on mental health