The Program author Suzanne Young is a teacher — and so we are especially excited today to share our ideas for incorporating her new book into the classroom. Here are some essay topics and project ideas to get both students and teachers alike thinking about how to use The Program in the classroom.
Essay Topics
- Research depression and suicide, and write a scientific essay about the causes and realistic approaches to preventing suicide. Explore how these real-life treatments compare and contrast with the methods described in The Program.
- Debate the methods used in The Program. Decide whether you think it is a good option or not for preventing teen suicides (as they occur in the book), and craft your argument in a 5-paragraph style essay. Use evidence and examples from the book to support your claims.
- In the alternate reality of The Program, teen suicide has become an epidemic. Write a fictional prequel to the book describing how this came to be.
Project Ideas
- In The Program, it becomes questionable whether The Program is really helping stop teen suicide, or if it’s causing more suicide. Split into teams and debate whether The Program is helping or hurting the teen suicide epidemic. Support your claims with examples and evidence from the book.
- Make a collage of memories you’d want to remember if you were forced into The Program. Use photos, words, magazine clippings, etc.
- Suzanne Young’s own students created a series of promotional images for The Program. Create your own propaganda-style posters for The Program.
For the comments: What are your ideas for using The Program in the classroom? Share below!
Novel Novice 