In Other News: Students turn to TikTok to fill gaps in school lessons; A slowdown in US inflation eases some pressure on households

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 16, 2022

Students turn to TikTok to fill gaps in school lessons

Mecca Patterson-Guridy wants to learn, but for some subjects, she isn’t always comfortable asking her teachers. So she has been turning to TikTok. Online, the 17-year-old high school junior in Philadelphia has found videos on social media platforms about protests over police shootings, civic engagement and Black and Latino history in the U.S. The accounts she checks regularly feature segments including “Fast Black History” and “Black Girl Magic Minute.” The videos, Mecca said, address “things that get overlooked in the classroom.” Scrutiny from conservatives around teaching about race, gender and sexuality has made many teachers reluctant to discuss issues that touch on cultural divides. To fill in gaps, some students are looking to social media, where online personalities, nonprofit organizations and teachers are experimenting with ways to connect with them outside the confines of school. The platform has opened new opportunities for educators looking to expand students’ worldviews.

A slowdown in US inflation eases some pressure on householdsInflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households. Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, the government said Tuesday. That was down sharply from 7.7% in October and a recent peak of 9.1% in June. It was the fifth straight slowdown. Measured from month to month, which gives a more up-to-minute snapshot, the consumer price index inched up just 0.1%. All told, the latest figures provided the strongest evidence to date that inflation in the United States is steadily slowing from the price acceleration that first struck about 18 months ago.

Can James Cameron and ‘Avatar’ wow again? Don’t doubt itThirteen years after the original “Avatar” and five years after production started on its sequel, “The Way of Water,” James Cameron is finally unveiling the long-awaited follow-up to the highest grossing film of all-time. For a long time, the “Avatar” sequel was the “Waiting for Godot” of blockbusters — more theoretical than real, with release dates that kept spiraling into the future. Meanwhile, an unending parade of pieces pondered the original’s curious place in entertainment: a box-office behemoth with little cultural footprint, a $3 billion ghost. But the first look at Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel has thrown some cold water on that notion. The overwhelming reaction to the director’s latest three-hour opus? Never bet against James Cameron.