The following random questions are meant to inspire you when you’re stuck. While some of them aren’t going to lead to social action, they’ll at least get your creative juices flowing.
Remember: there is no one that has experienced life in the way that you have. For real. All the random family, friends, and strangers you’ve met. The crazy, disgusting, heroic, cruel, and beautiful acts you’ve done. The shows you’ve watched, the music you’ve listened to, the smell of your couch, the weird light patterns you see when your eyelids are closed…they all combine into the one-and-only you. Use your unique self to tell unique stories and solve problems uniquely.
1. If someone wrote a book about your life, what would they title it? Write the first chapter.
2. Do you believe in the death penalty? Why or why not?
3. Would you rather have the power to be invisible or the power to read minds? Give a detailed description of your day with one of those powers.
4. Should marijuana be legalized? Why or why not?
5. Are you the type of person who can eat at a restaurant or go to the movies alone? Or do you always need someone by your side? Explain.
6. Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?
7. You just got a full scholarship to two colleges: one is in New York City, the other is in California. Which one would you choose? Explain.
8. Some people enjoy getting compliments and some people feel embarrassed by them. Which are you? What are some compliments you get a lot? Are there times when you get compliments and don’t believe them? Explain.
9. What is your favorite song? How do the words make you feel? What images or thoughts come to mind when you listen to it?
10. Are you an extrovert (energized by being around other people) or an introvert (energized by being alone)?
11. Are you lucky or unlucky? Explain.
12. What’s something you bought this year, you wish you could return? Why?
13. What are your bad habits?
14. When someone has bad breath do you tell them or try and ignore it?
15. When you meet someone your age the first time, what’s usually the first thing you notice? What’s something they could say or do in the first minute that would make you say to yourself “I want to be friends with him/her!”
16. You’ve been hired to write a teen dictionary. What would be the first 10 words all teens should know about?
17. Is it ok to tell lies sometimes or should you always be honest? Please use examples.
18. Are you good at keeping secrets? Are there any situations where you would tell your friend’s secret?
19. Does Google Maps invade your privacy? Why or why not? Watch THIS video to inspire your answer.
20. If you could design a middle school, what would it be like?
21. A well-known football coach once said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Do you agree or disagree with this?
22. Are you a forgiving person? Explain.
23. A television network is looking for ideas for a new television series for teenagers. Pitch your idea to the president of the network. What would a typical episode look like?
24. Invent a new kind of sandwich. Describe what is on it and how you would make it.
25. What do you do to let others know you love them?
26. I will never forgive ________ for ________ .
27. What would the world be like if men gave birth to the children?
28. List 10 things you want to do before you die.
29. Describe when you have been most scared.
30. Do you believe in karma? Explain.
31. Who is your complete opposite? What is that person like?
32. Talk about your favorite teacher.
33. If you could live your life over, what would you change?
34. What is your worst habit?
35. Talk about your grandparents.
36. If you were given the power to cure one disease, which would it be? Why?
37. How close can someone stand to you?
38. What’s one thing in life you regret the most?
39. When did you stop believing in Santa Claus?
40. Write a poem about how it feels when you’re dancing.
41. Write a poem about how it feels while you’re playing your favorite sport.
42. Pick one of these photos and tell a story about it 1 2 3 4 5
43. Do you have a role model? Who are they and why do you admire them?
44. What’s something you just can’t figure out? Explain.
45. What’s your opinion on sagging pants?
46. What does it mean to be an adult?
47. Say you’ve met an amazing person you’re dying to date. This person feels the same way about you. The problem is that this person has a quality your family would flip out about, even though you don’t think it’s a big deal. Maybe it’s this person’s age, race, occupation, appearance, religion, or interests. What about a potential boyfriend or girlfriend would drive your parents insane? Do you think you’d back down and not date this person if your family made a huge fuss, or would you stick to your guns?
48. Pheromones are invisible scents that your body lets out. Some scientists believe that smelling someone else’s pheromones can make you feel angry or sexually attracted to them. They also believe that pheromones may be responsible for babies knowing who their mothers are and female friends getting their periods at the same time. Do you believe in pheromones? Why or why not? If you do believe in them, can you think of a situation where it might have influenced you?
49. Describe the perfect prom night.
50. Imagine you are leaving the country for many years. Write a letter to your friends telling them what you’ve learned from living in this neighborhood and what you would have done over again if you were given the chance.
51. Think of a special event (dance, party, sports game, etc.) that you looked forward to that turned out much differently then you expected. Blog about what you expected would happen and what actually happened.
52. If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be? Consider scientists, entertainers, world leaders, artists, writers, people in your family, and so on. Make a list of questions you’d like to ask this person.
53. There are many firsts in our lives: a first pet, a first award, the first day of middle school, a first kiss, etc.. Write about a special first that you remember clearly.
54. What’s something you keep telling yourself you’re going to do, but keep putting off?
55. What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and do something?
56. What’s something you should throw away, but can’t? Explain.
57. What’s something valuable that you accidentally dropped and broke? Describe the situation.
58. What sound drives you crazy?
59. Who’s the smartest person you know?
60. What’s something about yourself that you hope will change, but that probably never will?
61. Are you a rule breaker or a rule keeper? Why?
62. Do you have a collection? If so, what do you collect and why?
63. Make a poem entitled “I Make Waves”. Use THIS SITE as an inspiration.
64. Do you think the world will be better or worse 100 years from now?
65. If you found out that a good friend had AIDS, would you avoid him? What if your brother or sister had it?
66. Have you ever wished you were the opposite sex? Explain.
67. You are offered $1,000,000 for the following act: Before you are ten pistols- only one of which is loaded. You must pick up one of the pistols, point it at your forehead, and pull the trigger. If you can walk away, you do so a millionaire. Would you accept the risk? *BONUS* Tell the story as if this situation was happening to you.
68. Someone very close to you is in pain, paralyzed, and will die within a month. He begs you to give him poison so that he can die. Would you? What if it were your father or mother?
69. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
70. Would you add one year to your life if it meant taking one year from the life of someone in the world at random. Would it matter if you were told whose life you had shortened?
71. Would you be willing to go to a slaughter house and kill the cow you’ll be eating that night?
72. You are driving late at night in a safe but deserted neighborhood when a dog suddenly darts in front of your car. Though you slam on the breaks, you hit the animal. Would you stop to see how injured the animal was? If you did so and found out the dog was dead but had a name tag, would you contact the owner?
73. Do you prefer being around guys or girls? Do your closest friends tend to be guys or girls?
74. Who can make you happy? How?
75. When you hear your inner voice say “no”, do you listen?
76. Would you like to know the exact date of your death?
77. Your friend is an artist. His/her latest work is absolutely awful. He/She wants your opinion. What do you say?
78. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?
79. Would you be willing to give up using the Internet for the next five years if, as a result, it would save 10 starving children in Indonesia?
80. While arguing with a close friend on the phone, she gets angry and hangs up. Assuming she is at fault and makes no attempt to contact you, how long would you wait to get in touch with her?
81. If you had the choice of one soulmate, but no friends or no soulmate, but lots of friends, which would you choose?
82. You’ve had a girlfriend/boyfriend for six months but realize you need to end the relationship. If you were certain that the person would commit suicide if you were to leave, what would you do?
83. If there was a public execution on TV would you watch it?
84. How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror?
85. Walking along an empty street, you notice a wallet. It contains $5,000 in cash, the address, and picture of the owner. Would you give it back? What if the picture looked like a wealthy-looking young man? What if the picture showed a frail-looking old lady?
86. Will you raise your kids the same way your parents raised you?
87. Facial transplants are a reality. Click HERE and HERE to read about it. One of the problems with facial transplants is that it is highly experimental and many patients die as a result of the operation (their body rejects the new face). Do you think humans should be experimented on when it comes to facial transplants?
88. Write a poem about the wind. Use THIS MAP for inspiration.
89. You are visiting China. You’re broke, so instead of a hotel you are with a family that has let you stay for free. They have fed you well, took you to see all the great sites, and even took you shopping! But, on the last night, they serve THIS for dinner. What do you do? Keep in mind: it may taste good!
90. If you went to a beach and it turned out to be a nude beach, would you stay and go swimming? Would you swim nude?
91. Would it disturb you much if, upon your death, your body were simply thrown into the woods and left to rot? why?
92. Do you find it hard to say “no”– that you regularly do favors you do not want to do? If so, why?
93. You are applying for a very important job. Before deciding to hire you, your new employer wants your Facebook password. Do you give it to them? Why or why not?
94. Before having a conversation, do you ever rehearse what you’re going to say? If so, describe one of these times.
95. If you could pass your whole life cared for in every way as you slumbered peacefully, entranced by wonderful dreams, would you do so?
96. In conversations, do you tend to listen or talk more?
97. You discover a crystal ball that can tell you the truth about ONE thing in your life– past, future, or present. What would you want to know?
98. Sometimes you hear about teens “cutting” or “self-harming”. Do you know anyone like that? If so, tell the story (without using names). Did you try you try to help them? How?
If you don’t know anyone like that, why do you think people cut themselves? What advice would you give a friend who started doing it? Click HERE and HERE for more info.
99. Write a letter to the NYCDOE (New York City Department of Education) about why YouTube should not be blocked.
100. Ever noticed how a HUGE number of teens and adults wear headphones all the time? You could be in the middle of a conversation with someone and they still have headphones on. Are they even listening to you? Are you one of those people? If yes, explain why it’s ok to wear your headphones all the time. Besides class, is there a time you think it’s important to take them off? If you’re not one of those people, does constant headphone wearing bother you?
101. Who is the greatest rapper of all time? Biggie? Tupac? Jay-Z? Someone else? Explain why.
102. Watch THIS VIDEO showing a girl growing up from newborn to age 12. What year of your life do you think you went through the most changes?
103. Can you tell when people are lying? What gives them away? What is the worst lie you caught someone telling you?
104. If you were a parent, would you let your kids eat donuts and candy for breakfast every day? Why or why not?
105. A statistic is a single number that stands for a bunch of information you collect. For example, imagine if you survey 4 of your friends to see if they are hungry right now. If 2 are, then 50% of your friendS are hungry right now. The 50% is your statistic. Learning how to understand and make your own statistics will make you *BRILLIANT* !
There’s a really cool site all about healthy eating called Massive Health. It is full of interesting statistics about healthy eating. Go to the site by clicking HERE and check out all of the pages. Once you’re done, write a post about at least 3 interesting statistics you learned about. Talk about why they are interesting.
106. Have you ever wondered why gas prices go up and down. How about why our economy goes up and down? Watch this video and post an explanation.
107. The NY Times had an interesting article about the fact that porn is so easily accessible these days. Whether through YouTube, a mistaken Google search, or kids actually trying to see it, today’s youth get exposed to it SO much more then when I was growing up (in the 1980’s). What do you think is the impact for kids and teens of the massive amount of porn on the Internet?
108. Should sex ed. be required in all middle and high schools? Why or why not?
109. Have you ever been on a diet? If so, what was it like?
110. You know what’s annoying? When people pose for pictures. They put on some fake smile, throw up a peace sign or whatever– most of the time I refuse to do it. If you want to catch me in the moment of doing something, great. Otherwise, you’re out of luck. What’s your take on pictures? Do you smile? Do you always do the same pose? What do your friends do?
111. There are so many cool ways to teach, yet too often classes are filled with lectures, worksheets, and textbooks. If you ran a classroom, what would the typical day look like?
112. Describe with as much detail as possible, your best and worst birthday.
113. Tell the story of when you were bullied. What would you say to him/her now?
114. Listen to this Killer Mike song called Reagan. In it, he begins by talking about how his community sabotages itself. Later, he raps about how our government is corrupt and all about keeping the rich rich. He might be right about some of the stuff he says, however, the government does do some good things. What are your thoughts on our government? What do we do well? What do we need to work on?
115. Y’all know what a theme song is right? It’s the music that plays at the beginning of a TV show. Wouldn’t it be cool if everyone had their own theme song? Like every time you walk through the door, the song starts playing. Here’s mine. Use Garageband to create yours or just type in the lyrics in your blog.
116. What is a good idea that you’ve had lately?
117. What are some ways you and your blog can make a real difference in the world? Read this article and check out this blog for a great example.
118. Is it ok to gossip…maybe even a good thing? Or is gossiping evil? Write a post arguing each side.
119. Ageism is when you discriminate against someone because of their age. Watch this *hilarious* video having to do with Ageism. Have you ever treated someone unfairly simply because you felt they were too old or too young. Describe what happened in detail. What did you learn from the experience?
120. Humans are animals…but we don’t often think of ourselves like that. How are we the same as other animals? How are we different?
121. Are you born a good dancer or can it be learned? Are there people who will never be good dancers, no matter what? Explain.
122. If you could design your own holiday, what would it be called? Why? What would people do to celebrate your holiday?
123. Tell a story about one of these “What ifs”:
- Children were the parents
- There were no clocks
- Insects were as big as people
- We all looked the same
- Smiling was against the law
- Every wish came true
- All people were selfish
- We used cookies instead of money
- We all acted the same
124. What does it mean to behave like a man? What does it mean to behave like a woman? Do you think everyone would agree with you? Explain.
125. Watch THIS video about things you never knew had names. Now, think of something you’ve experienced that should have name. Name it and explain it. *Bonus* Google it and see if it does have a name.
126. Watch THIS video about a homeless man named Ronald Davis. Imagine you’re an adult and meet him on the street. Besides giving him food or some spare change, what would you do to really help him out?
127. You know what they say: practice makes perfect. Watch VIDEO 1 and VIDEO 2 to see some amazing examples. What have you practiced to become perfect (it can be something simple like brushing your teeth)?
128. High heels, lipstick, shaving…we do some pretty wild stuff to make ourselves beautiful/handsome. Ever wonder where some of these beauty routines come from? Watch THIS. Once your done, research the origin (how it started) of another beauty routine you’ve noticed.
129. Have we become too obsessed with our gadgets? Watch this video and then compose a “breakup letter” to one of your favorite gadgets.
130. Check out this video showing Jeff Bliss teaching his teacher a lesson. Imagine you are a teacher. What would a day in your classroom like?
131. When was the last time you were really surprised? Tell the story.
132. Borrow a camera and take picture of yourself floating. Show the picture to a couple of friends and write a post on their reactions. Don’t forget to include the photo.
133. Have you ever been rescued? Tell the story.
134. Choose one: Defend our country against terrorism or feed/shelter all our homeless? Why?
THE TECH CAFE 