The Unconventional Wisdom Project is a website that selects and organizes articles with different stances on important, current issues. With everything that is going on in the world today, it can be difficult to differentiate between real news and fake news. Biased news, however, can also change how an individual perceives a certain event. The organization strives to achieve its goal of helping students eliminate bias and develop their own opinions by providing different perspectives on controversial topics.

Molly Flicker, a sophomore at SHS, started this project after realizing how entrenched people can get in their own opinions and beliefs, without even hearing out other ideas. A member of the high school debate team, Flicker found that a good argument often requires an understanding of opposing viewpoints. “I decided to start the Unconventional Wisdom Project freshman year when I realized how much of the media ignores and dismisses alternative viewpoints rather than addressing and discrediting them,” said Flicker. “When I asked [my peers] if they had ever questioned the data presented to them, a shocking amount said no. There is no shame in individuals having strong opinions, however, you cannot have opinions until you educate yourself on both sides of every story,” she added.

Current events that affect teenagers such as the coronavirus pandemic, vaping, and grading policies for the second semester are all posted on the website. Each topic includes at least three different articles from news organizations that are known for having liberal, conservative, or moderate views on topics. The organization has also posted suggestions on compelling novels to read that can educate students on how and where we get their opinions from, as well as how to be more open-minded in the future.

Currently, the organization has three contributors. In addition to Flicker, Abigail Fine ’22, the national photographer, and Naomi Cohen, the media director, also help to update and maintain their website. “Some of the challenges I faced were trying to gain an audience. Often people feel uncomfortable reading about politics that go against their initial viewpoint. I had to really push my peers and readers to look at these articles with an open mind,” explained Flicker. “I am working to raise awareness of my project by telling my peers about it, continuing to post about it on my social media, and working hard towards expanding my site to other states and countries,” she added.

Check out the website! For more information on the organization, click here!