Firdas Abamislimov, 15; Abdullah Abamislimov and Yusuf Abamislimov, both 12; and Maleyka Musoyeva, 15, were born in Russia and miss their friends and family still there, but they consider themselves lucky. Their ancestors were deported from their own country more than 60 years ago, and as Meskhetian Turks have faced a long, hard struggle. About 70 of these refugees are working to make Indianapolis their home.

When you are young, you are willing to try new things, even if it's not something in which you might excel. For example, you might try out for your school's basketball team. While you are not very tall, have bad eyesight and have never really been interested in sports, it looks like fun. However, everyone you play one-on-one beats you. As you leave the gym, your classmates make snide remarks about

Gender discrimination can start innocently, as when grade-school boys yell, "Boys rule, girls drool," on the playground. It can be more insidious, too. Ann DeVilbiss remembers when her little brother became very upset after spotting a woman driving a truck. "He's like, 'Why is she driving that truck? Only men are truck drivers!' " That's one of the reasons Ann joined SAGE -- Student Advocates of G

More than 40 years ago, a famous battle was fought in this country. It was not waged over land or money but for equal rights -- the right to drink out of any water fountain, the right to vote. This was the civil rights movement. Last spring, a group of eighth-graders at Brownsburg Junior High School had an opportunity to rethink their opinions about society's acceptance of diversity today. They ch

Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan and first woman ever elected to head an Islamic state, once said, "The ethos of Islam is equality, equality between the sexes. There is no religion on earth that, in its writings and teachings, is more respectful of the role of women in society than Islam." Evidence of fair treatment of women in Muslim countries, however, is rarely seen in the West

When asked what color he would use to describe his life, Ricardo Mendes, 17, of Salvador, Brazil, said he would choose black. "I think black means history, and my color is history," he said. Jefferson Sosazo, 18, also would choose black "because the black color says it all. It means suffering. It means that we want a better life." Centuries of slavery have left their legacy in Brazil. Although the