Flatwater Free Press Journalist Chris Bowling Leads Discussion at Guided by Kids!

A Question from a Student

Local non-profit online news source Flatwater Free Press published an article written by Chris Bowling--"A School Sees a Lice Check. Lakota People Sense Centuries of Repression”--September 17, 2021.The story, which told of two elementary-age Lakota Sioux children in the Cody-Kilgore Unified School District and a school secretary's decision to cut their hair as a way to check for lice, garnered nationwide attention, and was published by major newspapers, including USA Today.

Pizza and Discussion

Notes from Chris Bowling's Presentation about Quality Journalism

Chris Bowling was kind enough to visit our classroom on March 11 to talk about not only that story but also the methods of reporting, fact-checking, and editing review that contribute to quality journalism.

Students had read the story before his visit and were prepared with questions. We had a wonderful discussion about how a hard-working journalists can be sure to give the people they report about respect, by meeting in person with them, if possible, and in being sure that stories are thoroughly researched to provide multiple perspectives and historical background, when that is necessary.

During class, Mr. Bowling explained that his research on US Indian Boarding Schools, which operated for 150 years across the nation, from 1819 through 1969--and his inclusion of this research in the story-- was crucial to giving readers a full understanding of how important Native American religious and cultural beliefs had been denied.

We appreciate the opportunity Chris Bowling gave our students to interact with a fine writer and understand how to better identify-- in their own research on debate topics--the type of journalism that is credible, has depth of information, and can help lead to intelligent argumentation.

Our next class will be March 25 at our classroom at First United Methodist Church at 6 p.m. We will work on development of ideas for the middle school debate topic for Omaha area schools this year--The United States Federal Government should provide free healthcare to every American citizen.

We began discussing this topic after Mr. Bowling's presentation, and students should have some research to present to each other at our next Guided by Kids.

Thanks to Liz Emis, our host at First United Methodist, for taking the photos and also for providing her insight to our discussion from her own experience as a staff writer for the The Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.