Family & friendship
Belonging, traditions, support, listening and relationships.
What Makes a Good Friend?
An argumentative essay about why reliability, respect, and room for disagreement matter more to friendship than the size of a social circle.
Why Listening Matters in a Disagreement
An explanatory essay on how listening can clarify what people need without requiring them to agree, and how that interpretation relates to the CDC’s broader findings about supportive relationships.
Family Traditions and a Sense of Belonging
An explanatory essay about how recurring family activities preserve memory and create belonging, while adapting to new circumstances.
Online Friendship and Friendship in Person
A compare-and-contrast essay examining how online and in-person friendships provide support, enable communication, and create different limits, using teen survey findings from 2024.
Helping Others Without Taking Away Their Independence
A developed argument that effective support combines care with respect for the recipient’s preferences, using hypothetical examples to distinguish emotional support from practical help.
Why Communities Need Connections Across Generations
An argumentative essay explaining why communities should create opportunities for younger and older people to exchange practical help, while distinguishing a proposed approach from a documented program.
Should Friends Always Agree With Each Other?
A qualified argument that friends need not agree on every issue, but should treat disagreement with respect, offer honest support, and set boundaries when conversation becomes harmful.