Online Resources for Teens during Quarantine

This blog was written by seventeen year-old Aaron Johnson who attends Village Home in Beaverton, Oregon. He pulled together some resources for his peers and shared them in their newsletter, Village Voice, and I asked him if we could share it here. Thank you, Aaron, for supporting your peers and for supporting Living The Potential Network’s mission!

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While stuck in the house practicing social distancing, you may be running out of things to do. Is playing the same video games over and over getting boring and tedious, or are there no more unwatched YouTube videos in your subscription feed? Not to worry! We’ve got a line-up of entertaining online resources for tweens and teens alike.

First up, we have Crash Course: a YouTube channel that discusses a broad range of topics like world history, sociology, computer science, mythology, and economics. All of their videos are very informative, and not only that, but you’re almost guaranteed to have a good laugh!

Even if you’ve watched Crash Course before, it’s never a bad idea to check in and see if there are any new videos that interest you. Who knows, you might find yourself excited to re-watch some of their older videos, too.

Next, we have Games for Change. It’s a website where you can find and play games that address important social issues. Some subjects you might come across include nature vs. machines, homelessness, mental illness, and environmental struggles—just to name a few!

While many of the games cost money, some of them are free. For example, a web game that explores personal data called “Datak.” Or “Caduceus,” another free web game that aims to teach its players about the challenges scientists and doctors are faced with in their lines of work.

Speaking of science, if you’re interested in science experiments that you can do at home, look no further than the Science Bob website. Most of the experiments don’t require anything more than the resources you already have lying around the house!

You can do things like make rock candy, build a soap-powered model boat, or even create lava in a cup. And, yes—they’re all perfectly safe.

If you’re into math, space, psychology, or you simply like pondering the universe’s strangest questions, you should consider checking out Vsauce on YouTube. The channel offers over three hundred videos, and each one addresses a different, strange, moral, technological, or philosophical dilemma or question. They even have their own YouTube Original series, “Mind Field,” that analyzes the mysteries of the human psyche.

For those of you who are passionate about law, civic duty, and government, consider looking into iCivics. They offer a variety of free games that help you understand supreme court cases, explore what civic responsibilities we have as Americans, and even work on solving governmental problems like immigration.

We, just like many other Village Home students, are disappointed that we may have to stay home for a little while longer. However, while you’re protecting your community from the spread, what if you could turn your time at home into an opportunity to learn and have fun?

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