Problem Solution Essay

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Problem-Solution Essay - Writing Guide, Topics, & Examples!

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Problem-Solution Essay

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Feeling stuck when it comes to writing a solid problem-solution essay?

You're not alone—many students find it challenging. This essay type requires careful consideration and skillful execution, which isn’t always easy.

But fret not! This guide is your go-to solution. We've got all the crucial steps, structures, and examples to make essay writing a breeze for you.

So, keep reading!

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  • 1. What is a Problem-Solution Essay?
  • 2. Problem Solution Essay Structure
  • 3. How to Write a Problem-Solution Essay?
  • 4. Problem-Solution Essay Example 
  • 5. Problem Solution Essay Topics
  • 6. Problem Solution Essay Checklist

What is a Problem-Solution Essay?

A problem-solution essay is a form of persuasive writing that delves into a specific issue, providing a detailed examination of the problem and proposing effective solutions. 

Unlike other essay types, it places a strong emphasis on presenting practical remedies to real-world problems. 

The main aim is not just to explain the problem but to get readers interested in practical solutions. This makes it a unique and impactful type of academic writing.

Why Write a Problem Solution Essay 

There are significant reasons to write a problem solution essay. First and foremost, this type of writing encourages the practical application of knowledge . You are required to address real-world issues and propose practical solutions. This helps develop a deeper sense of the problems around you.

Additionally, this process refines analytical skills , encourages you to approach problems with a solution-oriented mindset.

Also, working on a problem-solution essay helps you become better at communicating . You have to explain complicated problems and solutions in a way that's clear and easy to understand.

Writing problem solution essays is more than just an academic essay exercise. It serves as a platform for intellectual growth, developing a practical and impactful approach to societal challenges.

Problem Solution Essay Structure

In crafting a problem-solution essay, the structure plays a pivotal role in presenting ideas coherently and persuasively. 

Two commonly used structures for this type of essay are the block structure and the chain structure. Each has its unique approach to organizing information, offering writers flexibility in presenting their analysis and proposed solutions.

Block Structure

The block structure, also known as the whole-to-whole or one-side-at-a-time structure, is a straightforward organizational method. 

In this type of structure, the writer dedicates separate blocks of text to first presenting the problem comprehensively. The solutions to the problems are presented in the next sections subsequently. 

This structure allows for a clear separation between the problem and solution sections, providing a systematic and easy-to-follow presentation.

Here is an outline for block structure problem-solution essay:

Chain Structure

Contrasting the block structure, the chain structure takes an interconnected approach. 

In this format, the essay addresses a specific problem and promptly proposes a solution. 

The pattern repeats as each problem is introduced, followed immediately by its corresponding solution. This structure aims to maintain a continuous and engaging flow, presenting a transition between problems and solutions. 

Here is a chain structure template:

How to Write a Problem-Solution Essay?

A problem solution essay requires taking a systematic approach. Here are the basic steps for writing this type of essay:

Step 1 - Topic Selection

Choosing the right topic is the first crucial step in writing a problem-solution essay. Pick a real-world issue that genuinely interests you. 

Consider problems that have personal significance or affect your community. The goal is to engage with a problem that allows for meaningful discussion and exploration.

Step 2 - Understanding the Problem

Before diving into solutions, take the time to fully grasp the intricacies of the problem at hand. 

Research the issue thoroughly, aiming to comprehend its various aspects and implications. This step is essential for presenting a well-informed analysis in your essay, ensuring a solid foundation for proposing solutions.

Step 3 - Explore Viable Solutions

Once you've identified and understood the problem, brainstorm possible solutions. 

Think about practical, achievable, and effective ways to address the issue. Consider different angles and perspectives, aiming for solutions that are not only feasible but also have the potential to make a positive impact in real-world scenarios.

Step 4 - Create an Outline

Organize your thoughts and structure your essay by creating a clear outline. 

Allocate specific sections for introducing the problem, proposing solutions, and crafting a conclusion. A well-organized outline serves as a roadmap, guiding you through each step of the writing process.

Step 5 - Write the Introduction

Begin your essay with a captivating introduction . Start with an attention-grabbing hook that draws your reader in. 

Clearly state the problem, emphasizing its significance. Conclude the introduction with a concise thesis statement that outlines the solutions you will explore in the essay.

Step 6 - Craft Body Paragraph

Dedicate individual paragraphs to each problem and its corresponding solution. Elaborate on the details of the problem and present practical solutions. 

Support your ideas with examples, evidence, or real-life scenarios. This section forms the core of your essay, providing a comprehensive exploration of the issues at hand.

Step 7 - Address Possible Objections

Acknowledge and address potential counterarguments to your proposed solutions. 

Anticipating objections adds depth to your essay, showcasing a thorough consideration of alternative viewpoints. By addressing possible objections, you strengthen the overall persuasiveness of your solutions.

Step 8 - Conclude The Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points without introducing new information. Reinforce the importance of the proposed solutions and leave a lasting impression. 

Consider ending with a call to action or a thought-provoking statement that resonates with your reader. The conclusion should provide a sense of closure to your essay.

Problem-Solution Essay Example 

We know that writing this kind of essay could be a challenge. Here are some problem solution essay samples:

Problem Solution Essay Sample PDF

Financial Problem Solution Essay

Garbage Problem Solution Essay

Problem Solution Essay IELTS

Problem Solution Essay Topics

When picking a topic for your problem-solution essay, think about a few important things. 

Choose something that matters to your audience and is important in society right now. Pick issues that really affect people or communities and need attention. 

Make sure the problem can be realistically solved with practical solutions. Here is a list of problem solution essay topics you can use:

  • Tobacco should be banned to control lung cancer. Discuss.
  • Obesity is caused by genetically modified and processed food. Discuss the solution.
  • Movie scripts should be censored to control violence in youth. Discuss.
  • How to tackle the lack of resources in urban homeless shelters?
  • Government should propose some policies to deal with illegal immigration. Discuss.
  • How can we use social media to improve awareness?
  • Propose some ways to keep your friends and family safe.
  • College students in the United States are overburdened with homework.
  • How to improve the quality of education in high school?
  • Providing equal opportunities to under-privileged children is important. Discuss.

These are some good problem-solution topics that you can tweak to use as your own. 

Problem Solution Essay Checklist

Use this checklist to ensure your problem solution essay is well-crafted and effective:

So, wrapping up, with this guide and checklist, you can now write a problem-solution essay that fulfills its purpose. Just remember to be clear, practical, and interesting. 

But if you still feel unsure or want extra help, our professional essay writing service is here for you. 

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One Community

10 Community Problems and 10 Solutions

We present here 10 community problems and 10 solutions. They cover food, energy, housing, social, education, economics, transportation, and more.

We all live and interact in communities of various sizes. Our towns and cities are the communities most people think of, but we also work in communities, go to school and/or take our kids to schools that have their own community structures, and we usually belong to various social and recreational communities too. As a person and parent living on this planet of finite resources, I’m very focused on solutions and approaches that make our communities more sustainable. As the Director of the One Community Global nonprofit , I’m also interested in community solutions that can be applied globally.

With this in mind, here are 10 common community problems and 10 solutions. If you’d like information on how One Community is integrating these into ultra-sustainable communities that will function as self-sufficient and self-replicating teacher/demonstration hubs , click the related icons.

FOOD SOLUTIONS

highest good food, vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, diet, food infrastructure, hoop houses, large scale garden, food forest, botanical garden, soil amendment

LARGE-SCALE APPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL CHANGE

Duplicable food infrastructure designed to produce food that is grown on-site. Food grown this way will be fresher and can be produced without pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. In addition, it will be more diverse than what people find in the grocery store because it is grown as part of our open source botanical garden model .

ENERGY SOLUTIONS

highest good energy, off-grid energy, solar power, wind power, water power, energy efficiency, hydronic, electricity, power, fuel, energy storage

Duplicable energy infrastructure including solar , wind , and hydro to help people eliminate their power bills and be a source of revenue for those still connected to the grid. Also, built to evolve and grow with the evolution and expansion of new technologies too.

HOUSING SOLUTIONS

highest good housing, shelter, dome home, living space, eco-housing, earthbag village, straw bale village, cob village, earth block village, shipping container village, recycled and reclaimed materials village, tree house village, duplicable city center

If the above plugin doesn't allow fullscreen, try a different browser. If that or anything else still isn't working for you, you can download a copy of the above book here:  Book PDF download (128 MB)

EDUCATION SOLUTIONS

highest good education, school, home school, learning, teaching, teachers, learners, curriculum, lesson plans. ultimate classroom

Duplicable education models designed for all ages, built to exceed traditional educational standards, and modifiable for application in a homeschooling environment, a traditional schooling environment, or for use as a complete community-based private schooling program.

SOCIAL/RECREATIONAL SOLUTIONS

highest good society, social architecture, fulfilled living, pledge, values, highest good lifestyle, consensus, social equality, community contribution, recreation

Duplicable social architecture and recreation models built within “ True Community ” and designed to provide a more enriching and fulfilling living experience . All on-site, freely available, and providing more activity diversity than most metropolitan areas.

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMICS

Highest Good for-profit economics, Highest Good non-profit economics, open source business, One Community entrepreneurial model, making money at One Community, sustainable business

Duplicable for-profit and non-profit business infrastructure that prioritizes cooperation and collaboration over competition. Resource based economy application and a model for sharing it globally .

STEWARDSHIP SOLUTIONS

highest good stewardship, for the highest good of all, vision, values, solution-based thinking model, open source model, sustainability, cultural diversity, spiritual diversity, drug policy, pet policy

Duplicable “Highest Good” approaches to all aspects of life . This includes community and individually applicable lifestyle considerations and small and large-scale recycling, reuse, and repurposing options for all areas: paper , plastic , glass , polystyrene/styrofoam , clothing/cloth , food and other perishable items , and even non-recyclables .

TRANSPORTATION SOLUTIONS

Transportation is another common community challenge. It includes cost of ownership and maintenance, parking and other space needs, and vehicle contributions to the climate crisis. Co-ownership, ride sharing, alternative transportation (bike, scooter, moped, etc.), and public transportation are all common solutions to this. The larger the community participating, the more effective and convenient these solutions all are.

DIY duplicable housing infrastructure designed to demonstrate community and localized living with almost everything a person needs or would want within walking distance. Models like these will eliminate the need for regular car use, but everyone will still have access to a car anytime they need or want one.

VALUES DIFFERENCES

Values differences are arguably the most destructive community challenge. Religion, politics, lifestyle preferences, dietary preferences, how to raise kids, pets, etc. can all be areas where people passionately differ in their opinions and perspectives. If unresolvable conflicts are arising, your values differences may not be sustainable. One way to address this is to choose to focus on the areas you agree. A second way is to be more transparent with your values and primarily build community with others who share them.

Duplicable and adaptable values structures based on compassion, kindness, and what we call living and creating for “ The Highest Good of All .”

living and creating for The Highest Good of All, global transformation, making a difference, good for people, good for the planet, good for the economy, good for everyone, the solution to everything

GLOBAL IMPLEMENTATION

Almost everyone can look at the list above and see something they would like to implement but find really challenging. Some would even like to implement all of these ideas, but how? Local, national, and global communities are the answer. Groups of people will find it easier to implement these solutions, even the individual ones. Find a group or start one, there are so many resources out there and every action makes a difference. The bigger the community, the bigger the difference.

Click these icons if you’d like to learn more about our community :

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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How to Write the Community Essay – Guide with Examples (2023-24)

September 6, 2023

community essay examples

Students applying to college this year will inevitably confront the community essay. In fact, most students will end up responding to several community essay prompts for different schools. For this reason, you should know more than simply how to approach the community essay as a genre. Rather, you will want to learn how to decipher the nuances of each particular prompt, in order to adapt your response appropriately. In this article, we’ll show you how to do just that, through several community essay examples. These examples will also demonstrate how to avoid cliché and make the community essay authentically and convincingly your own.

Emphasis on Community

Do keep in mind that inherent in the word “community” is the idea of multiple people. The personal statement already provides you with a chance to tell the college admissions committee about yourself as an individual. The community essay, however, suggests that you depict yourself among others. You can use this opportunity to your advantage by showing off interpersonal skills, for example. Or, perhaps you wish to relate a moment that forged important relationships. This in turn will indicate what kind of connections you’ll make in the classroom with college peers and professors.

Apart from comprising numerous people, a community can appear in many shapes and sizes. It could be as small as a volleyball team, or as large as a diaspora. It could fill a town soup kitchen, or spread across five boroughs. In fact, due to the internet, certain communities today don’t even require a physical place to congregate. Communities can form around a shared identity, shared place, shared hobby, shared ideology, or shared call to action. They can even arise due to a shared yet unforeseen circumstance.

What is the Community Essay All About?             

In a nutshell, the community essay should exhibit three things:

  • An aspect of yourself, 2. in the context of a community you belonged to, and 3. how this experience may shape your contribution to the community you’ll join in college.

It may look like a fairly simple equation: 1 + 2 = 3. However, each college will word their community essay prompt differently, so it’s important to look out for additional variables. One college may use the community essay as a way to glimpse your core values. Another may use the essay to understand how you would add to diversity on campus. Some may let you decide in which direction to take it—and there are many ways to go!

To get a better idea of how the prompts differ, let’s take a look at some real community essay prompts from the current admission cycle.

Sample 2023-2024 Community Essay Prompts

1) brown university.

“Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)”

A close reading of this prompt shows that Brown puts particular emphasis on place. They do this by using the words “home,” “College Hill,” and “where they came from.” Thus, Brown invites writers to think about community through the prism of place. They also emphasize the idea of personal growth or change, through the words “inspired or challenged you.” Therefore, Brown wishes to see how the place you grew up in has affected you. And, they want to know how you in turn will affect their college community.

“NYU was founded on the belief that a student’s identity should not dictate the ability for them to access higher education. That sense of opportunity for all students, of all backgrounds, remains a part of who we are today and a critical part of what makes us a world-class university. Our community embraces diversity, in all its forms, as a cornerstone of the NYU experience.

We would like to better understand how your experiences would help us to shape and grow our diverse community. Please respond in 250 words or less.”

Here, NYU places an emphasis on students’ “identity,” “backgrounds,” and “diversity,” rather than any physical place. (For some students, place may be tied up in those ideas.) Furthermore, while NYU doesn’t ask specifically how identity has changed the essay writer, they do ask about your “experience.” Take this to mean that you can still recount a specific moment, or several moments, that work to portray your particular background. You should also try to link your story with NYU’s values of inclusivity and opportunity.

3) University of Washington

“Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW. (300 words max) Tip: Keep in mind that the UW strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints.”

UW ’s community essay prompt may look the most approachable, for they help define the idea of community. You’ll notice that most of their examples (“families,” “cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood”…) place an emphasis on people. This may clue you in on their desire to see the relationships you’ve made. At the same time, UW uses the words “individual” and “richly diverse.” They, like NYU, wish to see how you fit in and stand out, in order to boost campus diversity.

Writing Your First Community Essay

Begin by picking which community essay you’ll write first. (For practical reasons, you’ll probably want to go with whichever one is due earliest.) Spend time doing a close reading of the prompt, as we’ve done above. Underline key words. Try to interpret exactly what the prompt is asking through these keywords.

Next, brainstorm. I recommend doing this on a blank piece of paper with a pencil. Across the top, make a row of headings. These might be the communities you’re a part of, or the components that make up your identity. Then, jot down descriptive words underneath in each column—whatever comes to you. These words may invoke people and experiences you had with them, feelings, moments of growth, lessons learned, values developed, etc. Now, narrow in on the idea that offers the richest material and that corresponds fully with the prompt.

Lastly, write! You’ll definitely want to describe real moments, in vivid detail. This will keep your essay original, and help you avoid cliché. However, you’ll need to summarize the experience and answer the prompt succinctly, so don’t stray too far into storytelling mode.

How To Adapt Your Community Essay

Once your first essay is complete, you’ll need to adapt it to the other colleges involving community essays on your list. Again, you’ll want to turn to the prompt for a close reading, and recognize what makes this prompt different from the last. For example, let’s say you’ve written your essay for UW about belonging to your swim team, and how the sports dynamics shaped you. Adapting that essay to Brown’s prompt could involve more of a focus on place. You may ask yourself, how was my swim team in Alaska different than the swim teams we competed against in other states?

Once you’ve adapted the content, you’ll also want to adapt the wording to mimic the prompt. For example, let’s say your UW essay states, “Thinking back to my years in the pool…” As you adapt this essay to Brown’s prompt, you may notice that Brown uses the word “reflection.” Therefore, you might change this sentence to “Reflecting back on my years in the pool…” While this change is minute, it cleverly signals to the reader that you’ve paid attention to the prompt, and are giving that school your full attention.

What to Avoid When Writing the Community Essay  

  • Avoid cliché. Some students worry that their idea is cliché, or worse, that their background or identity is cliché. However, what makes an essay cliché is not the content, but the way the content is conveyed. This is where your voice and your descriptions become essential.
  • Avoid giving too many examples. Stick to one community, and one or two anecdotes arising from that community that allow you to answer the prompt fully.
  • Don’t exaggerate or twist facts. Sometimes students feel they must make themselves sound more “diverse” than they feel they are. Luckily, diversity is not a feeling. Likewise, diversity does not simply refer to one’s heritage. If the prompt is asking about your identity or background, you can show the originality of your experiences through your actions and your thinking.

Community Essay Examples and Analysis

Brown university community essay example.

I used to hate the NYC subway. I’ve taken it since I was six, going up and down Manhattan, to and from school. By high school, it was a daily nightmare. Spending so much time underground, underneath fluorescent lighting, squashed inside a rickety, rocking train car among strangers, some of whom wanted to talk about conspiracy theories, others who had bedbugs or B.O., or who manspread across two seats, or bickered—it wore me out. The challenge of going anywhere seemed absurd. I dreaded the claustrophobia and disgruntlement.

Yet the subway also inspired my understanding of community. I will never forget the morning I saw a man, several seats away, slide out of his seat and hit the floor. The thump shocked everyone to attention. What we noticed: he appeared drunk, possibly homeless. I was digesting this when a second man got up and, through a sort of awkward embrace, heaved the first man back into his seat. The rest of us had stuck to subway social codes: don’t step out of line. Yet this second man’s silent actions spoke loudly. They said, “I care.”

That day I realized I belong to a group of strangers. What holds us together is our transience, our vulnerabilities, and a willingness to assist. This community is not perfect but one in motion, a perpetual work-in-progress. Now I make it my aim to hold others up. I plan to contribute to the Brown community by helping fellow students and strangers in moments of precariousness.    

Brown University Community Essay Example Analysis

Here the student finds an original way to write about where they come from. The subway is not their home, yet it remains integral to ideas of belonging. The student shows how a community can be built between strangers, in their responsibility toward each other. The student succeeds at incorporating key words from the prompt (“challenge,” “inspired” “Brown community,” “contribute”) into their community essay.

UW Community Essay Example

I grew up in Hawaii, a world bound by water and rich in diversity. In school we learned that this sacred land was invaded, first by Captain Cook, then by missionaries, whalers, traders, plantation owners, and the U.S. government. My parents became part of this problematic takeover when they moved here in the 90s. The first community we knew was our church congregation. At the beginning of mass, we shook hands with our neighbors. We held hands again when we sang the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t realize our church wasn’t “normal” until our diocese was informed that we had to stop dancing hula and singing Hawaiian hymns. The order came from the Pope himself.

Eventually, I lost faith in God and organized institutions. I thought the banning of hula—an ancient and pure form of expression—seemed medieval, ignorant, and unfair, given that the Hawaiian religion had already been stamped out. I felt a lack of community and a distrust for any place in which I might find one. As a postcolonial inhabitant, I could never belong to the Hawaiian culture, no matter how much I valued it. Then, I was shocked to learn that Queen Ka’ahumanu herself had eliminated the Kapu system, a strict code of conduct in which women were inferior to men. Next went the Hawaiian religion. Queen Ka’ahumanu burned all the temples before turning to Christianity, hoping this religion would offer better opportunities for her people.

Community Essay (Continued)

I’m not sure what to make of this history. Should I view Queen Ka’ahumanu as a feminist hero, or another failure in her islands’ tragedy? Nothing is black and white about her story, but she did what she thought was beneficial to her people, regardless of tradition. From her story, I’ve learned to accept complexity. I can disagree with institutionalized religion while still believing in my neighbors. I am a product of this place and their presence. At UW, I plan to add to campus diversity through my experience, knowing that diversity comes with contradictions and complications, all of which should be approached with an open and informed mind.

UW Community Essay Example Analysis

This student also manages to weave in words from the prompt (“family,” “community,” “world,” “product of it,” “add to the diversity,” etc.). Moreover, the student picks one of the examples of community mentioned in the prompt, (namely, a religious group,) and deepens their answer by addressing the complexity inherent in the community they’ve been involved in. While the student displays an inner turmoil about their identity and participation, they find a way to show how they’d contribute to an open-minded campus through their values and intellectual rigor.

What’s Next

For more on supplemental essays and essay writing guides, check out the following articles:

  • How to Write the Why This Major Essay + Example
  • How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example
  • How to Start a College Essay – 12 Techniques and Tips
  • College Essay

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Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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Composition Type: Problem-Solution Essays

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  • B.A., English, State University of New York

In composition , using a problem-solution format is a method for analyzing and writing about a topic by identifying a problem and proposing one or more solutions. A problem-solution essay is a type of argument. "This sort of essay involves argumentation in that the writer seeks to convince the reader to take a particular course of action. In explaining the problem, it may also need to persuade the reader concerning specific causes" (Dave Kemper et al., "Fusion: Integrated Reading and Writing," 2016).

The Thesis Statement

In many types of report writing, the thesis statement is posed front and center, in one sentence. Author Derek Soles writes about how the thesis statement in a problem-solution paper differs from a straight "report of findings" type of text:

"[One]  expository  mode is the problem-solution essay, topics for which are typically framed in the form of questions. Why did fourth-graders from poor families score low on a nationwide math test, and how can educators improve math education for this group? Why is Iran a threat to our national security, and how can we reduce this threat? Why did it take the Democratic Party so long to select a candidate for the 2008 presidential election, and what can the party do to make the process more efficient in the future? These essays have two parts: a full explanation of the nature of the problem, followed by an analysis of solutions and their likelihood of success."
("The Essentials of Academic Writing," 2nd ed. Wadsworth, Cengage, 2010)

Readers need additional context before you get to your thesis, but that is not to say that the thesis has to be posed as a question in the introduction:  

"In a problem-solution essay, the thesis statement usually proposes the solution. Because readers must first understand the problem, the thesis statement usually comes after a description of the problem. The thesis statement does not have to give details about the solution. Instead, it summarizes the solution. It should also lead naturally to the body of the essay, preparing your reader for a discussion of how your solution would work."
(Dorothy Zemach and Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz, "Writers at Work: The Essay." Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Sample Introductions

It can be helpful to see completed examples before writing in order to examine what makes for an effective piece. See how these introductions give some context before posing the topic and lead naturally into the body paragraphs, where the evidence will be listed. You can imagine how the author has organized the rest of the piece.

"We buried my cousin last summer. He was 32 when he hanged himself from a closet coat rack in the throes of alcoholism, the fourth of my blood relatives to die prematurely from this deadly disease. If America issued drinking licenses, those four men—including my father, who died at 54 of liver failure—might be alive today."
(Mike Brake, "Needed: A License to Drink."  Newsweek , March 13, 1994)
"America is suffering from overwork. Too many of us are too busy, trying to squeeze more into each day while having less to show for it. Although our growing time crunch is often portrayed as a personal dilemma, it is, in fact, a major social problem that has reached crisis proportions over the past twenty years."
(Barbara Brandt, "Whole Life Economics: Revaluing Daily Life." New Society, 1995)
"The modern-day apartment dweller is faced with a most annoying problem: paper-thin walls and sound-amplifying ceilings. To live with this problem is to live with the invasion of privacy. There is nothing more distracting than to hear your neighbors' every function. Although the source of the noise cannot be eliminated, the problem can be solved."
(Maria B. Dunn, "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor: The Problem of Noise")

Organization

In "Passages: A Writer's Guide, " how to organize a problem-solution paper is explained:  

"Though to some extent [your organization of the paper] depends on your topic, do make sure that you include the following information:
Introduction: Identify the problem in a nutshell. Explain why this is a problem, and mention who should be concerned about it.
Problem Paragraph(s): Explain the problem clearly and specifically. Demonstrate that this is not just a personal complaint, but a genuine problem that affects many people.
"Solution Paragraph(s): Offer a concrete solution to the problem, and explain why this is the best one available. You may want to point out why other possible solutions are inferior to yours. If your solution calls for a series of steps or actions to be followed, present these steps in a logical order.
"Conclusion: Reemphasize the importance of the problem and the value of your solution. Choose a problem that you have experienced and thought about—one that you have solved or are in the process of solving. Then, in the essay itself, you may use your own experience to illustrate the problem. However, don't focus all the attention on yourself and on your troubles. Instead, direct the essay at others who are experiencing a similar problem. In other words, don't write an I essay ('How I Cure the Blues'); write a you essay ('How You Can Cure the Blues')."
(Richard Nordquist, Passages: A Writer's Guide , 3rd ed. St. Martin's Press, 1995)
  • What Is Expository Writing?
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Problem-solution essays Situation-problem-solution-evaluation

Problem-solution essays are a common essay type, especially for short essays such as subject exams or IELTS . The page gives information on what they are , how to structure this type of essay, and gives an example problem-solution essay on the topic of obesity and fitness levels.

What are problem-solution essays?

Problem-solution

Problem-solution essays consider the problems of a particular situation, and give solutions to those problems. They are in some ways similar to cause and effect essays , especially in terms of structure (see below). Problem-solution essays are actually a sub-type of another type of essay, which has the following four components:

The 'situation' may be included in the essay prompt, in which case it will not be needed in the main body. If it is needed, it can often be included in the introduction, especially for short essays, as with the example essay below . The 'evaluation' may be included as part of the conclusion (also as in the example below), or omitted altogether, especially for short essays. For these reasons, problem-solution essays are more common than situation-problem-solution-evaluation essays (or SPSE essays).

There are two main ways to structure a problem-solution essay. These are similar to the ways to structure cause and effect essays , namely using a block or a chain structure. For the block structure, all of the problems are listed first, and all of the solutions are listed afterwards. For the chain structure, each problem is followed immediately by the solution to that problem. Both types of structure have their merits. The former is generally clearer, especially for shorter essays, while the latter ensures that any solutions you present relate directly to the problems you have given.

The two types of structure, block and chain , are shown in the diagram below. This is for a short essay, which includes the 'situation' in the introduction and 'evaluation' in the conclusion. A longer essay, for example one of around 1,000 words, with citations , would probably have these two sections as separate paragraphs in the main body.

Example essay

Below is a problem-solution essay on the topic of obesity and poor fitness . It uses the block structure . Click on the different areas (in the shaded boxes) to highlight the different structural aspects in this essay, i.e. Situation, Problem, Solution, Evaluation. This will highlight not simply the paragraphs, but also (for problems and solutions) the thesis statement and summary , as these repeat the problems and solutions contained in the main body.

Consumption of processed and convenience foods and our dependence on the car have led to an increase in obesity and reduction in the fitness level of the adult population. In some countries, especially industrialized ones, the number of obese people can amount to one third of the population. This is significant as obesity and poor fitness lead to a decrease in life expectancy , and it is therefore important for individuals and governments to work together to tackle this issue and improve their citizens' diet and fitness. Obesity and poor fitness decrease life expectancy. Overweight people are more likely to have serious illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, which can result in premature death. It is well known that regular exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, which means that those with poor fitness levels are at an increased risk of suffering from those problems. Changes by individuals to their diet and their physical activity can increase life expectancy. There is a reliance today on the consumption of processed foods, which have a high fat and sugar content. By preparing their own foods, and consuming more fruit and vegetables, people could ensure that their diets are healthier and more balanced, which could lead to a reduction in obesity levels. In order to improve fitness levels, people could choose to walk or cycle to work or to the shops rather than taking the car. They could also choose to walk up stairs instead of taking the lift. These simple changes could lead to a significant improvement in fitness levels. Governments could also implement initiatives to improve their citizens' eating and exercise habits. This could be done through education, for example by adding classes to the curriculum about healthy diet and lifestyles. Governments could also do more to encourage their citizens to walk or cycle instead of taking the car, for instance by building more cycle lanes or increasing vehicle taxes. While some might argue that increased taxes are a negative way to solve the problem, it is no different from the high taxes imposed on cigarettes to reduce cigarette consumption. In short, obesity and poor fitness are a significant problem in modern life, leading to lower life expectancy . Individuals and governments can work together to tackle this problem and so improve diet and fitness . Of the solutions suggested, those made by individuals themselves are likely to have more impact, though it is clear that a concerted effort with the government is essential for success. With obesity levels in industrialized and industrializing countries continuing to rise, it is essential that we take action now to deal with this problem.

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Compare & contrast essays examine the similarities of two or more objects, and the differences.

Cause & effect essays consider the reasons (or causes) for something, then discuss the results (or effects).

Discussion essays require you to examine both sides of a situation and to conclude by saying which side you favour.

Problem-solution essays are a sub-type of SPSE essays (Situation, Problem, Solution, Evaluation).

Transition signals are useful in achieving good cohesion and coherence in your writing.

Reporting verbs are used to link your in-text citations to the information cited.

Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Community — Me as Part of My Community: Our Problems and Preferred Solutions

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Me as Part of My Community: Our Problems and Preferred Solutions

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Published: Aug 14, 2023

Words: 1139 | Pages: 3 | 6 min read

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The nature and problems in my community, causes and effects linked to current problems, few possible solutions to address or solve community problems.

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community problem and solution essay

Addressing Challenges: A Guide to Problem and Solution Essay Topics

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Table of contents

  • 1.1 Environmental Issues Problem-Solution Essay Topics
  • 1.2 Social Problems Problem And Solution Essay Ideas
  • 1.3 Healthcare Challenges: Problem-Solving Essay Ideas
  • 1.4 Technological Advancements Ideas for a Problem Solution Essay
  • 1.5 Educational Concerns Problem Solution Paper Topics
  • 1.6 Economic Problems to Write About
  • 1.7 Global Challenges Topics for Problem Solution Essays
  • 1.8 Political and Governance Problem Solution Essay Topics
  • 1.9 Transportation Problem Solution Topics
  • 1.10 Cultural and Ethical Dilemmas
  • 2 Easy Problem Solution Topics For an Essay
  • 3 Closing Note

Navigating the complexities of real-world issues through the lens of academic inquiry, problem-and-solution essays serve as a dynamic educational tool. Which topic is specific enough for a good problem-and-solution essay? Problem and solution essays are crucial to academic writing, offering students an invaluable opportunity to analyze various situations and articulate effective solutions critically. These essays sharpen critical thinking and problem-solving skills and encourage a deep exploration of a multitude of contemporary issues. By tackling these essays, students gain the ability to approach problems from multiple perspectives and develop insights into potential remedies.

This article promises to dive into an extensive array of topics for problem and solution essays, encompassing diverse areas and problems to write about, such as environmental issues, social challenges, healthcare dilemmas, and more.

120 Problem Solution Essay Topics List

With such a rich palette of issues, the next step in crafting an impactful essay becomes crucially important. Selecting an appropriate topic is key when tasked with writing a problem-solving essay. It’s essential to choose a subject that is not only relevant and engaging but also provides ample scope for in-depth research and thorough analysis. This careful selection allows for a detailed exploration of the issue and the formulation of effective solutions. To aid in this process, we have compiled an extensive list of 120 thought-provoking topics for problem-solution essays.

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Environmental Issues Problem-Solution Essay Topics

  • Combating Climate Change: Strategies for Global Cooperation.
  • Addressing Ocean Pollution: Cleaning Our Seas.
  • Deforestation: Reforestation and Sustainable Practices.
  • Urban Air Pollution: Cleaner Cities.
  • Endangered Species: Conservation Efforts.
  • Plastic Waste Management: Innovative Solutions.
  • Sustainable Agriculture: Feeding the World Responsibly.
  • Renewable Energy: Transition from Fossil Fuels.
  • Water Scarcity: Effective Water Management.
  • Eco-friendly Transportation: Reducing Carbon Footprint.

Social Problems Problem And Solution Essay Ideas

  • Homelessness: Creating Sustainable Housing Solutions.
  • Gender Inequality: Bridging the Gap in the Workplace.
  • Racial Discrimination: Fostering Inclusivity.
  • Bullying in Schools: Prevention Strategies.
  • Elderly Care: Improving Senior Living.
  • Child Abuse: Strengthening Child Protection Services.
  • Poverty Alleviation: Economic Empowerment Programs.
  • Substance Abuse: Effective Rehabilitation Approaches.
  • Unemployment: Job Creation Strategies.
  • Digital Divide: Bridging the Technological Gap.

Healthcare Challenges: Problem-Solving Essay Ideas

  • Mental Health Stigma: Promoting Awareness and Acceptance.
  • Obesity Epidemic: Lifestyle and Dietary Changes.
  • Healthcare Accessibility: Universal Health Coverage.
  • Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons from COVID-19.
  • Antibiotic Resistance: Developing New Treatments.
  • Chronic Diseases: Prevention and Management.
  • Mental Health in the Workplace: Supporting Employees.
  • Telemedicine: Bridging the Healthcare Gap.
  • Health Education: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles.
  • Drug Affordability: Policies for Cheaper Medications.

Technological Advancements Ideas for a Problem Solution Essay

  • Cybersecurity: Safeguarding Digital Information.
  • AI Ethics: Balancing Innovation and Privacy.
  • Social Media Addiction: Finding Digital Balance.
  • Technological Unemployment: Reskilling the Workforce.
  • Online Privacy: Protecting Personal Data.
  • E-waste Management: Sustainable Recycling Practices.
  • Digital Literacy: Educating the Next Generation.
  • Internet Censorship: Balancing Freedom and Security.
  • Tech in Education: Enhancing Learning Experiences.
  • Future of Work: Adapting to Technological Changes.

Educational Concerns Problem Solution Paper Topics

  • Student Loan Debt: Financial Aid and Repayment Options.
  • Academic Pressure: Promoting a Balanced Education.
  • Dropout Rates: Improving Student Engagement.
  • Quality Education in Rural Areas: Bridging the Gap.
  • Gender Disparity in STEM: Encouraging Female Participation.
  • Teacher Burnout: Strategies for Support and Retention.
  • Digital Divide in Education: Accessible Learning for All.
  • Standardized Testing: Alternatives for Student Assessment.
  • Special Needs Education: Inclusive Teaching Strategies.
  • Lifelong Learning: Promoting Continuous Education.

Economic Problems to Write About

  • Income Inequality: Fair Wage Policies.
  • Global Trade: Promoting Ethical Practices.
  • Sustainable Economic Growth: Eco-friendly Business Models.
  • Financial Literacy: Educating the Public.
  • Unemployment: Innovative Job Creation Strategies.
  • Cryptocurrency: Regulation and Security.
  • Global Poverty: Effective Aid Strategies.
  • Economic Crises: Preventive Measures and Solutions.
  • Gig Economy: Ensuring Worker Rights.
  • Consumer Debt: Promoting Responsible Spending.

Global Challenges Topics for Problem Solution Essays

  • International Conflict Resolution: Peacekeeping Strategies.
  • Refugee Crisis: Humanitarian Aid and Integration.
  • Global Hunger: Sustainable Solutions.
  • Climate Change Migration: International Policies.
  • Cultural Preservation: Protecting Heritage in a Globalized World.
  • Human Trafficking: Global Efforts to Combat.
  • Global Health: Eradicating Communicable Diseases.
  • Water Crisis: International Cooperation for Water Security.
  • Wildlife Trafficking: International Laws and Enforcement.
  • Global Education: Ensuring Access for All.

Political and Governance Problem Solution Essay Topics

  • Corruption: Transparency and Accountability Measures.
  • Election Integrity: Ensuring Fair Democratic Processes.
  • Political Polarization: Fostering Civil Discourse.
  • Human Rights: Protecting Individual Freedoms.
  • Press Freedom: Combating Censorship.
  • Public Trust in Government: Building Confidence through Transparency.
  • Policy Making: Involving Public Participation.
  • International Relations: Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.
  • Government Surveillance: Balancing Security and Privacy.
  • Political Activism: Encouraging Civic Engagement.

Transportation Problem Solution Topics

  • Urban Traffic Congestion: Efficient Public Transport Solutions.
  • Road Safety: Reducing Accidents and Fatalities.
  • Sustainable Aviation: Eco-Friendly Air Travel.
  • Maritime Pollution: Cleaner Shipping Practices.
  • Electric Vehicles: Infrastructure and Adoption.
  • Public Transportation Accessibility: Inclusive Design.
  • Bicycle-Friendly Cities: Promoting Cycling Infrastructure.
  • Autonomous Vehicles: Ethical and Practical Considerations.
  • Urban Planning: Integrating Efficient Transportation Systems.
  • Transportation in Rural Areas: Improving Connectivity.

Cultural and Ethical Dilemmas

  • Cultural Appropriation: Promoting Cultural Sensitivity.
  • Ethical Consumerism: Making Informed Choices.
  • Media Bias: Promoting Objective Reporting.
  • Animal Rights: Ethical Treatment and Welfare.
  • Online Censorship: Balancing Free Speech and Regulations.
  • Genetic Engineering: Ethical Implications and Regulations.
  • Work-Life Balance: Corporate Policies for Better Harmony.
  • Privacy in the Digital Age: Ethical Considerations.
  • Artificial Intelligence: Addressing Ethical Concerns.
  • Cultural Preservation: Respecting and Protecting Heritage.

Easy Problem Solution Topics For an Essay

Selecting an easy topic for a problem-solving essay is a strategic process that can significantly streamline your writing phase. Which topic is specific enough for a good problem-and-solution essay? To identify such a topic, begin by reflecting on common challenges faced in everyday life, whether they pertain to personal, community, or global issues. An easy topic often lies in an area where you have personal experience or interest, as this familiarity can provide a wealth of insights and ready solutions. Additionally, consider issues with widespread impact yet are manageable in scope, ensuring that your essay can propose realistic and achievable solutions. Researching current events and trends can also unveil relevant and engaging topics, yet not overly complex, making them ideal candidates for a concise and focused essay. Here are 20 easy problem and solution topics:

  • Reducing Stress in College: Time Management Strategies.
  • Healthy Eating on a Budget: Accessible Nutrition.
  • Overcoming Procrastination: Effective Techniques.
  • Managing Social Media Use: Finding a Healthy Balance.
  • Improving Sleep Quality: Strategies for Better Rest.
  • Balancing School and Work: Time Management Tips.
  • Reducing Screen Time: Encouraging Outdoor Activities.
  • Dealing with Bullying in Schools: Prevention and Intervention.
  • Encouraging Physical Activity: Community Fitness Programs.
  • Improving Reading Habits: Encouraging Literary Engagement.
  • Enhancing Community Safety: Neighborhood Watch Programs.
  • Reducing Littering: Effective Waste Management.
  • Coping with Anxiety: Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques.
  • Promoting Environmental Awareness: Educational Campaigns.
  • Addressing Teen Smoking: Prevention and Education.
  • Encouraging Volunteerism: Community Involvement Programs.
  • Reducing Carbon Footprint: Sustainable Lifestyle Changes.
  • Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking: Confidence Building.
  • Enhancing Road Safety: Awareness and Enforcement.
  • Promoting Cultural Understanding: Exchange Programs.

By aligning your selection with areas of personal insight or concern, you ease the research and writing process and infuse your essay with authenticity and enthusiasm.

Closing Note

In conclusion, problems and solutions examples offer a platform to address a plethora of issues, ranging from personal challenges to global concerns. The problem-solution paper topics listed in this article provide diverse issues to explore, offering opportunities for critical thinking and solution-focused writing. Whether you choose a complex global issue or a simpler, more relatable topic, the key is to present a well-researched problem and propose feasible and effective solutions. It is a problem-solving solution essay topic guide for college students guide. Thus, young people develop their writing skills through these essays and contribute their voices to ongoing discussions about important matters. Remember, every problem has a solution, and your essay could be the first step toward finding it.

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community problem and solution essay

In this chapter you will write a problem/solution essay. To write a problem/solution essay, think about a problem that you have experienced and how it could be fixed.

A problem/solution essay is written to explain the solution(s) for a problem. This essay can describe multiple solutions or one “ideal” solution to the problem you describe.

This content is provided to you freely by BYU Open Learning Network.

Access it online or download it at https://open.byu.edu/academic_a_writing/problemsolution_essa .

Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem Essay

Public health is a broad area of healthcare, which is aimed at improving the quality of life in a community. According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2020), population-based healthcare lies in the foundation of overall well-being. Public health services mainly include disease prevention and health promotion, and the timely identification of threats and problems may contribute to maintaining the population’s health. One of the main public health problems is that unhealthy lifestyle among populations of different age and gender is the reason for many diseases, such as obesity, cancer, and diabetes (Glasper, 2013). A nurse’s responsibility is to address the importance of preventive measures. For example, a balanced diet, regular exercises, and stress management may help avoid different conditions, from flu to breast cancer (“International Nurses Day 2020: Case study of the week,” 2020). Being closest to communities, nurses play an essential role in providing a basis for the population’s well-being.

It is fair to say that in the modern world, it is difficult to avoid unhealthy habits. People from my community and my colleagues work in offices and lead a sedentary life. A busy schedule does not allow many people to eat regularly and healthily; much time spent in front of a computer screen causes sleep disturbances and related problems. Finally, the high level of stress and anxiety may negatively influence people’s emotional state.

There are multiple strategies of dealing with the global problem of an unhealthy lifestyle. According to the Intervention Wheel, at the system level, collaboration is a common type of intervention (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2020). Medical institutions may establish connections with other organizations focused on specific problems, for example, substance addiction. At the community level, interventions may include social media promotion and patient education. It is also important to understand the cause and the consequence of the current public health problem. Dr. Attia (2013) proved it through an example of obesity, which is presented as a result of insulin resistance. Therefore, people need to be supportive of each other rather than judgmental to solve the problems threatening their physical and mental health.

Attia, P. (2013). Is the obesity crisis hiding a bigger problem ? TED. Web.

Glasper, A. (2013). The nursing and midwifery contribution to public health. British Journal of Nursing, 22 (15), 900–901. Web.

International Nurses Day 2020: Case study of the week (2020). International Council of Nurces. Web.

Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2020). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (10 th ed.). Elsevier.

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IvyPanda. (2022, February 28). Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unhealthy-lifestyle-as-a-community-problem/

"Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem." IvyPanda , 28 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/unhealthy-lifestyle-as-a-community-problem/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem'. 28 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem." February 28, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unhealthy-lifestyle-as-a-community-problem/.

1. IvyPanda . "Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem." February 28, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unhealthy-lifestyle-as-a-community-problem/.

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IvyPanda . "Unhealthy Lifestyle as a Community Problem." February 28, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unhealthy-lifestyle-as-a-community-problem/.

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  • Section 4. Analyzing Root Causes of Problems: The "But Why?" Technique

Chapter 17 Sections

  • Section 1. An Introduction to the Problem-Solving Process
  • Section 2. Thinking Critically
  • Section 3. Defining and Analyzing the Problem
  • Section 5. Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Development
  • Section 6. Generating and Choosing Solutions
  • Section 7. Putting Your Solution into Practice
  • Main Section

What are "root causes?"

Root causes are the basic reasons behind the problem or issue you are seeing in the community. Trying to figure out why the problem has developed is an essential part of the "problem solving process" in order to guarantee the right responses and also to help citizens "own" the problems.

What is the "but why?" technique?

The "But why?" technique is one method used to identify underlying causes of a community issue. These underlying factors are called "root causes."

The "But why?" technique examines a problem by asking questions to find out what caused it. Each time an answer is given, a follow-up "But why?" is asked.

For example, if you say that too many people in poor communities have problems with alcoholism, you should ask yourself "but why?" Once you come up with an answer to that question, probe the answer with another "but why?" question, until you reach the root of the problem, the root cause.

Why should you identify root causes?

Identifying genuine solutions to a problem means knowing what the real causes of the problem are. Taking action without identifying what factors contribute to the problem can result in misdirected efforts, and that wastes time and resources. However, by thoroughly studying the cause of the problem, you can build ownership, that is, by experiencing the problem you will understand it better, and be motivated to deal with it.

The "But why?" technique can be used to discover basic or "root" causes either in individuals or broader social systems:

  • Do people need more knowledge about nutrition?
  • Do children need to learn refusal skills to avoid smoking?
  • Do teenagers need to learn how to use contraceptives?
  • Cultural factors, such as customs, beliefs, and values;
  • Economic factors, such as money, land, and resources;
  • Political factors, such as decision-making power.
  • It can uncover multiple solutions for a certain problem and allow the user to see alternatives that he or she might not have seen before. It increases the chances of choosing the right solution, because many aspects of the problem are explored during the "But why?" exercise.

When should you identify root causes?

  • Whenever you are faced with addressing a challenging community problem. Of course, the "But why?" technique is not always your best bet and should not be used 100% of the time. It's extremely efficient to find a variety of solutions and is a quick and inexpensive technique that can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere. For some issues, however, you should use more sophisticated methods, such as surveys, interviews and data collecting.
  • When there is support for a "solution" that does not seem to get at the real causes of the problem. For example, if there is hunger in community, let's distribute free turkey at Thanksgiving.
  • When there is ignorance or denial of why a community problem exists.

How does the "but why" technique work?

Technique guide.

Here's how it works. A group examines a community problem by asking what caused it. Each time someone gives an answer, the "asker" continues to probe, mostly by asking "But why?" or "How could that have been prevented."Example:

Too many (too few) people are ________. Q: But why? A. Because... Q: But why? A. Because... Q: Could that have been prevented? A. Yes Q: How? Q: But why? A. Because... Q. But why? A. Because... Q But why? (and so forth)
  • First, invite people who are both affected by the problem and are in a position to contribute to the solution to brainstorm possible causes. The more representative the working group is, the more likely it is for the root causes to be uncovered.
  • The working group should then examine a community problem, such as substance use or violence, by asking what caused it. Each time someone gives an answer, the group asks, "But why?"Here's an example:
A child has an infected foot. Q: But why? A. She stepped on broken glass while walking. Q: Could that have been prevented? A. Yes. Q: How? A . She could have been wearing shoes. Q: But why doesn't the child have shoes? A. Because the family can't afford shoes. Q. But why? A. The father or mother has no job. Q. But why? (and so forth)

In this example, the "But why?" analysis leads to at least two very different conclusions. The criterion for choice between them is to look into the environment of each one. Many solutions may apply to your problem, so it's up to you to find the one that fits it better. The "But why?" analysis by itself doesn't lead automatically to the best solution. It just points out many paths you may take.

Print Resources

Altman, D., Balcazar, F., Fawcett, S., Seekins, T., & Young, J. (1994). Public health advocacy: Creating community change to improve health . Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention.

Sholtes, P.R. (1988). The team handbook . Madison, WI: Joiner Associates Inc.

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Community Problem

Till recently, the community I live in was primarily a residential,

middle class neighborhood that enjoyed a feeling of peace and security in

what was seen as a safe district. Today, that same community is

increasingly worried about a growing problem of juvenile delinquency caused

by the commercial and low cost residential developments in next-door areas.

While the community is concerned about juvenile delinquency leading to a

higher crime rate, there is also worry over negative influences impacting

younger members given the inevitable intermingling of children in schools

The signs of juvenile delinquency first manifested itself in the

appearance of graffiti in what was earlier a green, pristinely clean

neighborhood; the seemingly aimless loitering of congregations of youth

(youth gangs) at street corners, in malls and parks; and stray incidents of

reported burglaries. At first, the tendency was to ignore the signs of

change but when the frequency of such incidents began rising, disturbing

the historically safe and peaceful pattern of community life, the community

collectively began to perceive that it was faced with the problem of

juvenile delinquency. In fact, it would be of interest to note that though

there is no official definition, the situation nevertheless meets three out

of the six criteria that are commonly used to identify a community problem:

frequency; duration; scope or range; disruption of personal or community

life; deprivation of legal and moral rights; and problem perception

Having said that, while there was enough tangible evidence to define

loss of safety as a community problem, there was reason to doubt the

veracity of the worry over younger community members getting negatively

impacted by the juvenile delinquents in district schools and surrounding

neighborhoods. However, here too, scholarly literature on the subject

indicated that the grounds for such concerns are unfortunately all too

real: 'aˆone must understand the pre-delinquent, as well as the

delinquentaˆdelinquency is merely one of a wide variety of youthful

maladjustmentsaˆchild's becoming a delinquent is largely determined

byaˆcommunity practice.' (Bloch & Flynn, 16)

To date, any community effort to solve the problem has been in the

area of police complaints, setting up of neighborhood watches and advising

children to stay away from kids not from the immediate vicinity. While, no

doubt, the need to protect the community from crime is of undeniable

importance, the fact of the matter is that neither police nor watch dog

patrols are going to solve the core problem. If anything, such measures are

only likely to cause resentment and a further widening of the gap between

different branches of a growing community. In other words, the first step

to a long-term solution is to accept that the definition of the community

has now changed and has expanded to include the newcomers.

Secondly, any solution needs to take cognizance of the fact that the

social and behavioral sciences have clearly established that community

problems focused on people creating the problems as the root cause only

leads to victim-blaming and less to effective solutions. Advances in the

fields of human and community development have also further revealed that

the only effective approach to achieving commonly shared goals lies in

changing the behavior of entire populations and thereby building a healthy

Leading from the aforesaid, it is evident that part of the solution

lies in recognizing that the new families in the expanded neighborhood

will, without doubt, share some goals common to humanity and society at

large. This, in turn, will lead to a deeper understanding of the problems

of the figurative other group,' from which will emerge 'effective

collaborative partnershipsaˆbringing about community changeaˆdefined as those

that are new or have been modifiedaˆafter school activitiesaˆpoliciesaˆfamily-

friendly policies in businesses; and practicesaˆincreased opportunities for

academic achievementaˆrelate to community determined goals.' (Bremby &

Key to the success of any overall community effort then is an

understanding of the above as well as an understanding of the adolescent

need for social autonomy yet a sense of relatedness to the adult world.

This last was identified as an important factor in the documented success

of the Teen Outreach program in reducing teenage pregnancies, drop out

rates and school failures (Allen et al.).

Naturally, any solution to the problem of juvenile delinquency will

involve multiple approaches and processes, the details of which cannot be

described here owing to limitations of space. However, an overall framework

to the solution i.e. prevention of juvenile delinquency would be: the sum

total of all activities that contribute to healthy personalities in

children; the addressing of particular environmental conditions believed to

contribute to juvenile delinquency; and specific preventive services

provided to individual children or groups of children (Bloch & Flynn, 512).

In summation, the solution to this particular community problem lies in

Bibliography: Allen, Joseph P., et al. 'Programmatic prevention of adolescent problem behaviors: the role of autonomy, relatedness, and volunteer service in the teen outreach program.' American Journal of Community Psychology 22.5 (1994): 617+. Questia. 6 Oct. 2003 . 'Analyzing Community Problems: What is a community problem'' Contributed: Berkowitz, Bill. Ed. Rabinowitz, Phil. Community Tool Box. University of Kansas Web site. 6 Oct. 2003: http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/sub_section_main_1017.htm Bloch, Herbert A., and Frank T. Flynn. Delinquency: The Juvenile Offender in America Today. New York: Random House, 1956. Francisco, Vincent T., and Roderick Bremby. 'Promoting Community Change for Juvenile Justice: Collaborative Change and Community Partnerships.' Corrections Today Dec. 2001: 64+. Questia. 6 Oct. 2003 .

Sarah

A List of 339 Problem Solution Essay Topics & Questions

A problem solution essay is a type of persuasive essay. It’s a piece of writing that presents a particular problem and provides different options for solving it. It is commonly used for subject exams or IELTS writing tasks.

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In this article, we’ll take a look at how to write this type of essay. We will also provide ideas of good problem and solution essay topics to ease students’ writing process. But first: check out our custom writing service in case you need academic assistance!

  • 🔝 Top 10 Topics

✅ How to Write a Problem Solution Essay

⭐ top 10 problem and solution essay topics for 2024.

  • 🧑🤝🧑 Topics about Society
  • 🏫 Topics on Education
  • 💵 Business & Finance Topics
  • 🍎 Health & Psychology Topics
  • 🌎 Environment Topics
  • 🐶 Topics about Animals
  • 🔬 Science & Technology Topics
  • 🏠 Local Problem Solution Topics
  • 😄 Funny & Easy Topics
  • 🤔 Other Problem Solution Topics

🔍 References

🔝 top 10 problem solution essay topics.

  • The best way to improve logistics
  • How to prevent drunk driving
  • How can we prevent stroke?
  • Ways to promote independent music
  • How to prevent teen pregnancy
  • Can schools help with childhood obesity?
  • Ways to teach children financial literacy
  • What can we do to stop human trafficking?
  • Can teaching self-defense reduce violence?
  • Building dams to fight the flooding problem

When starting to write an essay, think about a problem in the community that needs to be resolved. Sometimes, you will get a ready topic, like at an IELTS exam.

The topics might vary, but the outline of an essay will remain the same. First, write a list of actions that can help to solve the problem. Then, pick the three that you like best and evaluate them.

Once you get your solutions, start writing.

Any essay, whether it’s for high school or college, should be well-structured. Problem solution essays consist of two paragraphs: problem description and solution . The first section is generally divided into several parts:

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  • Introduction. Provide the definition of the problem, some general background, and thesis statement with possible solutions.
  • Situation. Give clear examples on the issue so that readers can understand it better.
  • Problem. Describe the issue and its effect on people.

In the solution section, you need to identify several potential solutions and evaluate their effectiveness. It should include:

  • Two or more possible solutions .
  • Evaluation and critical assessment of the solutions.
  • Conclusion with a summary of the main points of the text.

Now, you have a general idea about the writing process. To help facilitate your writing, take a look at the topic ideas below.

  • Is group therapy effective against BPD?
  • Can smart fridges prevent binge eating?
  • Can having remote workers decrease costs?
  • Sustainable homes as a way to save energy
  • How nature reserves prevent wildlife extinction
  • Reducing education costs with online education
  • Is gun control a way to stop mass shootings?
  • Can class discussions help fight youth violence?
  • One-child policy as a way to stop overpopulation
  • Is car sharing effective for decreasing CO2 emissions?

🧑🤝🧑 Problem and Solution Topics about Society

Social issues are problems of every level that influence the members of our society. They may refer to various factors, such as racial inequality or bullying, that affect the well-being of people or the community as a whole. Here are some problem-solving topics that will help you start writing.

  • A part of the world’s population lives in conditions that don’t meet their basic needs. What are the ways to alleviate or prevent poverty ?
  • There were several instances when social media websites were accused of gathering people’s private information. What are the ways to ensure privacy in the digital age?
  • A vast number of girls get pregnant and give birth before the age of 20. What are some ways to reduce the teenage pregnancy rate in your country?
  • Body shaming is one of the biggest problems of today’s society. What are the ways to solve this issue?
  • Despite an increase in public awareness about the adverse effects of racism, the issue persists. How can we eliminate it?
  • Unemployment negatively affects the living conditions of many people. It also facilitates such issues as domestic violence and depression. How can unemployment rates be improved in your country?

John Dewey quote.

  • Education is a fundamental human right, yet many people in some developing countries remain illiterate. How can we solve this issue?
  • Habits such as smoking and overeating negatively affect people’s health. How can we better promote healthy lifestyles ?
  • Victims of domestic violence often develop physical disabilities, chronic health problems, and stress. In what ways can we reduce domestic violence in our society?
  • Inequality in payment, sexual harassment, and difficulty getting promoted are some of the issues women face at workplaces. What can our society do to increase equality?
  • Celebrities often appear to look flawless, which affects people’s body image . How can we promote healthier beauty standards ?
  • When children observe violent behaviors , they become more aggressive. In what ways can we prevent them from witnessing violence?
  • Health care is a major social issue, as many people don’t have access to high-quality services. How can we improve this situation?
  • The ownership of guns increases the chances of unintentional shootings, which can result in casualties. How can gun control policies be improved?
  • The consumption of illegal drugs often leads to overdosing. In what ways can people be persuaded not to do drugs?
  • Drunk driving is the leading cause of vehicle accidents. What is the best way to restrict people from doing it?
  • Human trafficking is a grave problem that affects countries all over the world. How can it be prevented?
  • Women often report being sexually assaulted while in college. What can we do to reduce this problem?
  • Homeless people are more likely to engage in abuse or violent behavior. What can be done to solve the issue?
  • Parental divorce is a traumatic experience for a child. How can its adverse effects be eliminated?

🏫 Problem Solution Essay Topics on Education

The educational system is riddled with issues. You can think of numerous drawbacks that need to be addressed to make education better. Below are several examples of problem solution essay topics that will inspire you to write.

  • In the pandemic environment, many students had to resort to online education , often with questionable quality. What are the ways to make e-learning effective?
  • Many schools fail to provide adequate sex education programs. How can we reduce the stigma around this topic?
  • Numerous students get bad grades due to reasons other than laziness. How can we help struggling learners?
  • For many students, a strict schedule remains a big issue. Should students be offered the possibility of flexibility?
  • Many private and public schools require a strict uniform . Are there ways to express one’s individuality without violating the dress code?
  • A majority of students in schools and colleges admit to cheating . What are the ways to put an end to this behavior?
  • Technology usage in education can be beneficial, as it might improve engagement and individual learning. How can schools become more adaptable to digitalization?
  • Learning a foreign language can help students develop additional mental abilities. Should it be mandatory in all schools?
  • Students often find themselves delaying or postponing tasks. It leads to lower grades and health issues, such as headaches or insomnia . How can we reduce the levels of student procrastination ?
  • Obesity is associated with the leading causes of death in the US. Should the educational system include more physical education classes to build a fitter community?
  • Students with learning disorders may have a feeling of frustration when mastering a subject. In what ways can colleges adapt to their needs?
  • There are many subjects in school, and not all of them are equally useful for everyone. How can we make sure that students are learning what is best for them?
  • Schools often put more funding into science, mathematics, and humanities. Should they also fund physical education (PE)?
  • Gifted education allows talented students to learn more and move ahead at their pace. At the same time, it creates inequality. How can these programs be improved?
  • Disruptive children usually prevent themselves and other students in class from working. What are the ways to deal with these students to make the work effective?
  • The core curriculum for all schools allows all children to be taught all subjects but can be a bit strict. Should all schools have the same curriculum?
  • Students are often provided with college preparation classes that don’t prepare them for work. Should schools focus more on getting students job-ready?
  • Bullying and violence are the major issues at school that affect mental and physical health. What can teachers do to prevent these behaviors at school?
  • The majority of students don’t perform equally well in all subjects. Instead, they excel in certain ones and fail in others. Should learners be allowed to choose their courses?
  • Printed books are not easy to update, as new editions are often costly. Should schools move to digital textbooks ?

💵 Business & Finance Problem Solutions Topics

A significant number of issues can arise while managing a business or creating a startup. It can be related to anything from cybersecurity to marketing strategies. If you are into entrepreneurship, consider choosing a problem solutions topic from the list below.

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  • Raising minimum wages might result in the loss of jobs. What are the alternatives?
  • Job dissatisfaction often stems from issues related to wages, career progression, and leadership approach. How can we increase job satisfaction?
  • The high unemployment rate brings an economic loss to the government, as well as causes individual sufferings. What are the possible methods to reduce it?

Suggesting solutions.

  • A large number of startups fail in the first year of functioning. How can governments ensure their sustainability?
  • Low employee productivity can create serious setbacks for businesses. What are the ways to increase productivity?
  • Bad customer service damages the company’s reputation and leads to the loss of clients. What are the steps to fix this issue?
  • The lack of teamwork might result in efficiency and productivity drop. How can we improve team cooperation in the company?
  • Inflation negatively affects people with fixed wages and large amounts of cash savings. How can it be avoided?
  • Carrying a student loan debt and failure to repay one may result in serious financial troubles. How can we solve the problems associated with student credit?
  • The lack of performance monitoring might lead to unintended behaviors within the organization. How can we persuade people to start using a set of performance indicators?
  • A significantly high number of people live from payday to payday, failing to accumulate savings. What is the best way to save money monthly?
  • Bad investments rarely bring any profit. How can people avoid poor investments?
  • Financial crisis can lead to mass job losses and businesses shutting down. How can we overcome recessions effectively?
  • The biggest challenge for small businesses during a pandemic is staying open and making a profit. How can governments support small businesses in case of another epidemic?
  • Poor marketing might result in financial problems and low customer volumes. How can you improve an average marketing strategy ?
  • Imagine a company whose cash flow is adequate, yet there aren’t enough financial resources for it to grow. What are the ways to manage a strapped budget?
  • Employee turnover has immediate consequences for a company. How can we reduce it?
  • Business competition can harm small businesses through price factors and labor costs. How can they handle the competition?
  • Poor workflow directly affects the revenue of the company. How can companies manage it effectively?
  • Unsatisfied customers might spread the word about the ineffectiveness of the company. How can organizations increase customer satisfaction?

🍎 Health & Psychology Problem Solving Topics

Problems related to health and mental well-being are common in the modern world. It’s not surprising, considering the influence of consumerist culture and environmental factors. You can address any issue you’re particularly concerned about. The following problem solution essay topics will give you an idea of where to start.

  • There are several reasons for poor mental health among older people in the US. What are the ways to improve it?
  • Substance addiction affects individuals because of the stigma associated with it. In what ways can we help people in recovery?
  • A significant number of people suffer from eating disorders , which affects their mental and physical states. How can society prevent it?
  • Depression is a common disorder among teenagers. How can teachers and parents help them manage it?
  • Birth order can impact the way parents treat their children and children’s behavior. Can we, as a society, raise more awareness about the effects of birth order ?
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder is experienced by people who suffered from trauma. How can society help those who have it?
  • Peer pressure forces people to do things that they might not want to do. How can we reduce its influence?
  • Romantic relationships often fail due to misunderstandings. How do we raise awareness about the possible difference in love styles?
  • Schizophrenia is a complicated mental illness that has a severe impact on one’s life. How can society help people seek treatment for this disorder?
  • Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) might isolate themselves from peers. How can teachers and parents help kids with social skills impairments?
  • Alzheimer’s disease affects intellectual and physical abilities, memory, and personality. How can people prevent its development?
  • Somatization disorder is a tendency to feel psychological pain in the form of physical. What is the best treatment for its symptoms?
  • Prolonged use of defense mechanisms makes people feel as if they aren’t in control of their own emotions. How can we help people overcome these feelings?
  • A significant percentage of children have ADHD . How can we help children with this disorder?
  • Nowadays, many people have sleep disorders. How can insomnia be prevented?
  • The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 caused many children to feel lonely and detached. What can parents do to help their kids in case of another pandemic?
  • Suicide is a growing problem among people of all ages. What can we do to prevent it?
  • Constant stress negatively affects sleep quality. What techniques can help improve it?
  • It’s natural for parents to help their children as much as possible. But because of this, they often put them under too much pressure. How can we help parents find the right balance?
  • Constant stress increases the chances of stroke . What are the ways to reduce the risk?

🌎 Problem Solving Topic Ideas about Environment

Today’s most significant environmental issue is climate change, but it’s not the only one. There are more global problems that need to be resolved. If you’re concerned about the environment, here are some problem-cause-solution topics for you.

  • Drinking water has become an uncommon thing in many countries due to pollution. What can people do to help with this problem?
  • Climate change has numerous adverse effects, such as shifting seasons and new sicknesses. How can this issue be effectively addressed?
  • Vehicles release a significant amount of greenhouse gases , which contributes to global warming. Should there be a rule about reducing car usage to facilitate the solution to the environmental problem?
  • Woodlands produce oxygen and help regulate the temperature. Unfortunately, a vast amount of wooded areas is lost due to deforestation. What are the possible ways to solve this problem?
  • Marine life is suffering because of the amount of carbon in the water. How can people protect it?
  • Air pollution poses a serious danger to people’s health . How can we reduce its adverse effects?
  • Overpopulation results in a deficiency of assets like water, food, and fuel. How can we control it?
  • Ozone depletion leads to an increase in the amount of ultraviolet. It results in cancer and other skin diseases. How can we solve this problem?
  • Due to overpopulation, people use natural resources faster than nature can replenish them. How can we prevent its depletion?
  • Leftover food is a massive problem, as it wastes water and farmland. How can we reduce it?
  • Pesticides used to grow fruits and vegetables might cause health problems. How can we promote organic farming?

Modal verbs.

  • Polluted soil contains chemicals dangerous to humans, animals, and plants. Is there something that can help to avoid soil pollution ?
  • Using bicycles reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. How can governments promote the usage of bicycles to reduce air pollution ?
  • Natural disasters result from Earth’s processes and negatively affect people’s lives. What can we do to prepare for natural hazards?
  • Fluorinated gases used in refrigerators and hair sprays significantly contribute to climate change. How can we minimize their impact on the environment?
  • Oil spills harm wildlife and marine life, as well as contribute to climate change. How can major companies prevent that from happening?
  • Marine life is drowning in plastic, which creates major environmental issues. How can we stop plastic pollution in the ocean?
  • The rapid loss of biodiversity threatens our health and economic stability. What can we, as consumers, do to solve this issue?
  • A significant amount of money is spent on cleaning garbage. Still, it’s not enough to get rid of it completely. What are the solutions to the problem of littering ?
  • Noise pollution creates discomfort and lowers the quality of people’s lives. What are the practical ways to reduce it?

🐶 Problem Solution Essay Topics about Animals

Animals have existed on our planet way before the emergence of humans. As time went by, many species vanished or became endangered due to people’s activities. Factory farms, fur industry, poaching— all of these issues require a solution. If you’re passionate about this topic, try exploring one of the following prompts.

  • Circus animals are often violently forced to jump through rings of fire, ride bicycles, and do other activities. How can we stop the use of wild animals in circuses?
  • Experiments on animals lead to reduced quality of their life and are often ineffective. How can we help stop this practice?
  • Hunting causes pain and suffering to animals and disrupts the patterns created in the animal communities, such as wolf packs. How can people reduce hunting?
  • The animals in zoos are deprived of natural habitat and are forced to be near people. How can we make zoos as comfortable as possible for them?
  • The fur industry takes millions of animals’ lives away. How can people stop it?
  • One of the issues animal shelters face is the lack of public awareness. What are the strategies to improve their work?
  • Many animals live in abusive environments, where they’re neglected or physically hurt. What are the solutions to this problem?
  • Dog Hunters Association argues for the right to use dogs in hunting. How can we change their attitude towards animals?
  • Dogs from puppy mills are often poorly treated and suffer from a variety of diseases. How can this practice be stopped?
  • Due to human activities, many animals are on the brink of extinction. How can we protect endangered species?
  • Dog meat is still used for human consumption in some parts of Asia. What are the ways to stop the inhumane trade?
  • Some animal species are sold, either alive or dead, to various countries. What are the ways to stop the wildlife trade and keep animals safe in their natural environment?
  • One of the primary reasons for animal extinction is poaching. What are the solutions to this issue?
  • After adopting animals, some people decide that they no longer want them and send them to shelters. How can we prevent this from happening?
  • Killing horses for meat is inhumane, and horse meat consumption is dangerous. How can we stop these practices?
  • With more forests being cleared for farming and building, wild animals lose their natural habitats. How can people make safer environments for them?
  • Ring fighting leaves animals with severe wounds that might lead to death. What can we do to stop it?
  • Some countries continue to kill whales for commercial purposes, which threatens their existence. How can we stop whaling?
  • The continuation of the ivory trade results in thousands of elephants being killed annually. What actions should be taken to stop it?
  • Factory farms work to maximize profit, which is why animals are kept in inhumane conditions. What are the ways to reduce this cruelty?

🔬 Science & Technology Problem Solutions Topics

Scientific and technological processes are complicated and riddled with issues. Advances in these fields increase as well as worsen the quality of human life. In case you’re interested in science or technology, have a look at these problem solution essay topics.

  • With the widespread use of technology, students can find everything online, which affects their critical thinking . What are the most effective ways to preserve this ability?
  • There’s a price we have to pay for living in a digital age . It includes the loss of online data privacy. What is the best way to maintain it?
  • To run research, scientists need large amounts of money, which often becomes an issue. How can they get more funding?
  • A significant percentage of research papers contain wrong results due to poor study design. What is the best way to improve it?
  • Scientists rarely want to replicate existing research. The results might turn out insignificant, and some studies are too hard to replicate. How can scientists be encouraged to do it nevertheless?
  • Peer review is meant to prevent poor-quality works from being published. Yet, it doesn’t always work. How can the peer review system be fixed?
  • Often, not everyone can access a published study due to journals being expensive. How can we make knowledge more accessible?
  • Many people are unaware of scientific research in crucial areas such as nutrition. What is the best way to communicate scientific facts to a larger population?
  • Cyber attacks are a significant threat to many businesses, as they involve the theft of large amounts of information. What are the ways to prevent them from happening?
  • Artificial intelligence implementation creates new challenges, such as the risk of unemployment. How can we solve emerging technological problems?
  • Technological advances allowed some countries to transition to cashless societies . While it has many advantages, it also creates some security concerns. What is the best solution for these issues?
  • With technology advancing at a quicker pace, it is harder to find talented personnel to work with it. How can you help the employees to adapt to new technologies?
  • While many researchers have ideas for studies, only a few get financial support for them. How can the government support scientists more effectively?

Albert Einstein quote.

  • Mobile apps, social media, and games distract people from the real world. How can we stop smartphone addiction ?
  • Many graduating Ph.D. students have limited training for jobs outside of academic research. What can universities do to change the situation for the better?
  • Wearable computers, such as Apple Watch , have become very convenient. Yet, they create additional privacy and security issues. How can we overcome the challenges of body-borne computers?
  • Cyberbullying victims might experience psychological issues, such as depression, anxiety, and social exclusion. What is the best way to prevent it?
  • Environmental issues, such as air and water pollution , negatively affect the quality of life. How can technology help us save the environment?
  • Scientists are often obligated to publish research only with statistically significant results. How can bias towards certain studies be eliminated?
  • The constant stress and underpayment cause talented people to quit their careers in science. How can they be encouraged to continue working in their field?

🏠 Local Problem Solution Essay Topics

Another excellent idea for your essay is to write about the problems in your community. Think about the issues that need to be resolved, and start your writing. These topics will facilitate your creativity.

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  • A significant number of people view affordability of healthcare as a pressing problem, as it is quite expensive. How can healthcare costs be reduced in your community?
  • Children may be exposed to hazardous labor, which can harm their health. What can be done to stop child labor in your country?
  • Youth violence increases the possibility of future behavior and mental health problems. How can people stop this type of violent behavior in your community?
  • The rise in rent prices makes housing hard to afford. How can housing in your country be improved?
  • People who leave school or college often feel unprepared for work. This makes them feel anxious about getting a job. How can school leavers in your country be helped to get employed?
  • When they get older, many young adults struggle to manage their finances. What is the best way to improve financial literacy in your community?
  • A good internet connection has become a necessity for many people. This also made access to high-speed internet a major issue. How can you solve this problem in your local community?
  • Drug addiction is a public health problem that affects many people, especially youth. What are the solutions to the drug abuse problem in your country?
  • Traffic congestion causes environmental issues, as well as vehicle breakdowns. What is the best way to stop this in your country?
  • Poverty leads to a lack of education, malnutrition, social exclusion, and limited access to other essential services. How can this problem be solved in your country?
  • Crime can cause short-term problems, like an injury, and long-term ones, such as depression or PTSD . How can illegal behavior be reduced in your community?
  • After graduating from college, many students face difficulties in finding a job. How can educational institutions in your country help graduates get employed?
  • Public transportation can be frustrating with its inflexibility and delays. How can it be improved in your country?
  • Lack of car parking areas is a common problem in urban areas. How can people solve this issue in your city?
  • Junk food advertisements target children, which later leads to an increase in childhood obesity. How can we protect young people in your country from being affected by these advertisements?
  • Hate crime affects the security of individuals and societies as a whole. How can such crimes be prevented in your community?
  • Corruption is a global issue that negatively affects the economic and political systems of the country. What are the measures to resolve this issue in your state?
  • Low fertility rates reduce the population size of a country. If your country has low birth rates, how can it be improved?
  • Media propaganda has the potential of promoting violent behavior and reducing trust in the government. How should this problem be dealt with in your country?
  • The number of acts of domestic violence against women, men, and children continues to grow drastically in many societies. How should these cases be handled in your country?

😄 Funny & Easy Problem Solution Essay Topics

Problems are not always serious and yet require a solution. Whether it’s a choice of cereal or a friend zone, it’s an issue that has to be dealt with. Take a look at the funny problem solution essay topics list, and choose the one you like the most.

  • We often buy items that we never use afterward. How can we prevent ourselves from buying unnecessary stuff ?
  • Your favorite soccer team keeps losing, and it’s affecting your mood. What’s the best way to cope with this continuous disappointment?
  • You’ve invented a cool, new nickname for yourself. How do you get people to use it?
  • You love playing League of Legends with your friend. They’re the worst support, but they insist on having this role. What should you do about it?
  • Santa Claus is a beloved figure for many children. But they can’t believe in him forever. How should parents tell their kids that Santa isn’t real?
  • Water is crucial to human survival. Still, some people don’t like its bland taste. How can you stay hydrated without resorting to unhealthy, sugary drinks?
  • Happiness matters, as it makes people feel at ease. What can you do to make your community happier?
  • Your partner loves jazz while you prefer death metal. How do you overcome this musical discrepancy?

The two main types of problems.

  • A sturdy case can ruin the appearance even of the most beautiful phone. How can one compromise effectively on this issue?
  • House parties are fun, but your neighbors probably disagree. How can you throw a noisy party without upsetting those who live close by?
  • It’s hard to keep up the spark in long-distance relationships. Conversations via Zoom quickly get boring. What are fun things a couple can do together on the internet?
  • Many people believe that legalizing marijuana will reduce its consumption levels and solve social and economic issues. What are the other solutions to cannabis use?
  • Taking a perfect selfie requires much patience. How can you make creating a fantastic picture of yourself easier?
  • Pizza is great, but it’s not particularly healthy. How can you upgrade your favorite junk food to make it more nourishing?
  • Studies have shown that growing houseplants is good for the mood. But what do you do if you simply don’t have a green thumb?
  • Exercising is important, but it’s not fun for everyone. What can unathletic people do to stay fit without suffering?
  • Being the funny one among friends often prevents people from taking you seriously. What can change people’s attitude towards you?
  • Some people face the issue of “having a lot of clothes, but nothing to wear.” How can we fix this problem?
  • Your friends want to go on a trip soon, but you’re broke. What are the best strategies for students to save $100 in four weeks?

🤔 Other Problem Solution Essay Topics

  • What can we do about the problem of smoking in teenagers?
  • Obesity as a global problem of modern society
  • Reading problems and how to help students with reading disabilities
  • The solutions to environmental effects of e-waste
  • Potential solutions to noise pollution
  • The migration issue and how to solve it
  • The discussion and solution of COVID-19 ethical dilemma
  • The problem of lack of parking in big cities and how to help it
  • Nursing shortage as a national healthcare issue
  • Agriculture in Honduras: existing challenges and possible solutions
  • The issue of patient safety
  • The problem of safety and efficiency amidst staff deficiency
  • The problem of substance abuse and mental health issues within the homeless African American community
  • The issue of medically assisted suicide
  • The problem of obesity in India
  • Medicare challenges and issues facing America
  • The problem of institutional racism: effects and possible solutions
  • Contemporary issues in health care delivery
  • Solution of every-day problems: scientific method
  • The issue of genetically modified crops
  • Librarian management consultancy: challenges and solutions
  • The software patent issues in China
  • The solution to compassion fatigue and related issues in nursing
  • Is e-cigarettes smoking a solution?
  • Problems in a contemporary health environment and how to overcome them
  • American government contemporary issues
  • Can obesity problem be solved by proper nutrition and exercise?
  • Diversity and cross-cultural issues in the global workplace
  • Ethical issues and dilemmas in business
  • Finding solutions for ethical dilemma
  • Translating Emirati proverbs: problems and solutions
  • How to solve traffic congestion in my school district
  • The Rock Blocks company’s recruiting issues and solutions
  • Staffing problem solution: HR metrics and workforce analytics
  • Solving the health problems of the United States
  • Possible solutions to health disparities
  • Problems of sitting for long and their solutions
  • Will banning plastic bags not solve pollution problem?
  • Problem of predicting fluid responsiveness and its solution
  • Escalating drug prices: the ways to avoid the problem
  • The best way to address obesity in the United States
  • Solution to the world poverty problem
  • Gun violence: the ways to overcome the issue
  • Design solutions for improving website quality and effectiveness
  • Is simplification the best way to express ideas?
  • Fairtrade: better solution to underdevelopment
  • The problem of drug addiction in America and the solutions to it
  • Can charging children as adults solve juvenile criminal problems?
  • Stress in law: reasons and solutions
  • The ways to solve the increasing incidence of criminals reverting
  • Communication solutions for atmospheric scientist
  • Are financial rewards the best way to increase work motivation?
  • The environmental effects of the deforestation problem and how to solve it
  • Recycling: finding the solution
  • The use of the Internet to solve crimes
  • The solution to social inequality and discrimination
  • Encryption as a corporate security technological solution
  • Principal threats to a building efficiency research and ways to overcome them
  • Lack of social tolerance as the cause of discriminatory behavior problem and its solutions
  • Environmental problems and their potential solutions
  • Why technostress is harmful to psychological well-being and ways to reduce it
  • Infant’s health: growth problems and solutions
  • Community policing: the alternative solution to youth crime
  • Strategies to overcome the organization’s problem due to community losses
  • Metropolitan police service: identity management solution
  • The problem of sexual harassment in the army and the ways to eliminate it
  • Reasons of anti-Asian crimes and ways to deal with the problem
  • Green logistics: implementation issues and solutions
  • Technological solutions for effective communication
  • Ways to defend against cyber terrorism
  • Workplace conflict problem and its solutions
  • Doha negotiations: possible solutions and outcomes
  • Handling difficult conversations and ways to avoid conflict escalation
  • Healthcare in Canada: problems and solutions
  • Problem of verbal orders in medicine and how to overcome it
  • Law contracts and ways to break the contract
  • Cinemark USA, Inc.: problems and solutions
  • Air pollution solutions: how to improve air quality
  • The problem of homelessness in Los Angeles and the ways to reduce it
  • Jamaica’s economy: problems and solutions
  • Solutions to poverty in urban areas
  • Australian economy: economic problems and ways of its solving
  • Decrease the disparity between rich and poor solution
  • Lebanon’s environmental problems and solutions
  • Ways of treating obesity in older patients
  • The global water crisis: issues and the ways to avoid them
  • The Bauer school’s parking problem and solution
  • Ways of reducing human trafficking of children
  • Heartland payment system data breach problem solution
  • Immigration policy in US. problem and how to solve it
  • The ways to overcome the investment problem
  • The problem of dysfunctional companies and its solution
  • Du Bois vs. Washington: racist problem solution
  • Fad diets’ impact on human health: problem solution
  • Environmental challenges for NAFTA and how to solve them
  • Three solutions to the problem of pollution externalities
  • Buying things to solve personal problems
  • Remington Peckinpah Davis Inc.’s problem solution
  • Problem solution: best snacks INC.
  • Solutions to the problem of steroids in sports and athletics
  • Problem solution: global communications
  • The problem of global warming and ways of its solution
  • Cyber-bullying and ways to solve the problem
  • Losses of personal data: problem and solution
  • Obamacare: the solution to the healthcare problem
  • The problem of Palestinian-Israeli conflict and viable solution
  • The problem of coral reef depletion and how to address it
  • Social security long-term solvency problems
  • Economic crisis: bailout plan as solution
  • The problem of anterior spacing in dentistry female patients and possible solutions
  • Rising sea levels: how to reduce the global concern
  • Organ trafficking problem and policy solution
  • Cultural issues and their solutions in project management
  • Transforming the Texas plant: possible solutions to the problems
  • Nursing understaffing and evidence-based solution
  • Critical thinking to solve hard problems
  • Healthcare disparities and the ways to overcome them
  • Pressure injury prevention: evidence-based solution
  • Nursing stress solutions: benefits and support
  • The problem of violence in nursing and its solutions
  • What is the best way to stimulate economic growth?
  • Decision making process in management: problem solving
  • Pressure ulcers issue and defense of solution
  • Land pollution and ways to minimize pollution in the US
  • Vancouver’s housing crisis and solution
  • The problem of stress and solutions for working students
  • Seven ways to find help in starting a business
  • Courtelaney Pass police department: potential problem solutions
  • The problem of plagiarism, its reasons and solutions
  • Ways of managing conflict
  • Political corruption and how to address it
  • Low wages and inequality problem and its solutions in the USA
  • Child abuse and ways for its elimination
  • The problem of infant mortality issue in India: possible solutions
  • Domestic violence problem and the ways to overcome them
  • Ways of avoiding cross-cultural miscommunication
  • Risk incidence solution to the problem of substance use disorder
  • Is assisted suicide a humane solution?
  • Successful ways of preventing crime by Blundell
  • Iron seeding oceans: global warming solution

Thank you for reading this article! Hopefully, these topics will help you write your problem-solution essay. Also, don’t forget to send this article to your friends, who might find it useful!

Further reading:

  • 182 Free Ideas for Argumentative or Persuasive Essay Topics
  • 200 Creative Topics for Opinion Essays
  • 180 Excellent Evaluation Essay Topics
  • 140 Classification Essay Topics and Ideas
  • 150+ Excellent Narrative Essay Topics
  • 260 Good Descriptive Essay Topics and Writing Tips
  • 135 Creative Definition Essay Topics and Writing Tips
  • Prewriting for Problem Solution Essays: Thoughtful Learning
  • Structuring Your Essay: Solent University
  • Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions: The University of Kansas
  • 10 Major Challenges Facing Public Schools: Public School Review
  • Major Issues in Education: 20 Hot Topics: Trade Schools
  • The 10 Biggest Challenges Businesses Face Today (and Need Consultants for): Hiscox UK
  • How to Overcome Financial Stress and Improve Finances: Bank of America
  • The Most Important Health Problems (and Why They Matter): Harvard
  • 5 Health Problems You’re Actually Not Too Young For: John Hopkins Medicine
  • 10 Health Problems Related to Stress that You Can Actually Fix: WebMD
  • Top 25 Environmental Concerns: Conserve Energy Future
  • All Our Fights: The Humane Society of the United States
  • The 7 Biggest Problems Facing Science, According to 270 Scientists: Vox
  • Problems that Face Urban, Suburban, and Rural Communities in America: Pew Research Center
  • 14 Major Tech Issues & What Can Solve Them: Built In
  • Five of the World′s Biggest Environmental Problems: DW.com
  • Top 10 Most Common Health Issues: University of Rochester
  • Against the Environment. Problems in Society/Nature Relations: Frontiers
  • Business Financing Problems: Chron.com
  • Social Issues and Community Interactions: The National Academies Press
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As sea levels rise, the Quinalt Nation moves to higher ground

The community on the coast of washington state has a plan to establish a new village with low-impact development and green infrastructure..

Two homes and two cars appear on a street with huge waves pounding a wall behind them.

This story was originally published by  ICT and is reproduced here as part of the  Global Indigenous Affairs Desk , an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, Native News Online, and APTN.

A little more than a century ago the village of Taholah was built where the ocean meets the Quinault River. Today when there’s too much rain, or a storm surge, water will rush past Quinault Street, down 2nd, 3rd all the way across town, filling yards and homes with salt water.

Ryan Hendricks points to the sea wall and remembers one such flood. “It’s almost like a geyser shooting through the rocks,” said Hendricks, a member of the Quinault Indian Nation’s Tribal Council. “The water was coming in from the river and just coming directly into the village. And then over here … the water wasn’t coming really over the wall. It was just coming through the rocks like a geyser. So it was just pushing almost with the speed of like a natural river current.”

The Quinault Nation faces dangerous long-term currents. Taholah is barely inches above the ocean and the sea level is rising. On top of that there are a growing number of storm surges, where flood waters are propelled by high winds.

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What makes the Quinault story so powerful is that it’s a window into our future: It’s the idea that a changing climate will determine where and how we will live, what we will eat, and how much it’s going to cost.

A view of eight tanks sitting in the middle of a parched field.

The Quinault Nation has been deliberate in its response, debating for the past couple of decades about how to protect its lands, its fish, people, and property. After many community meetings the conclusion was reached in a 2017 tribal master plan, a move to higher ground.

That plan included a new village, about a half-mile uphill, that will protect residents from storm surges or even a potential catastrophic tsunami. Relocation will “incorporate smart growth techniques including low-impact development and green infrastructure to better prepare the community for the future climate.”

A man in a black sweater with black and gray hair and a beard stands on a street with a forest in the background.

The easy part of relocation is already done. The nation has constructed what’s needed for a new community. The streets are paved. The sewers are in. And only a couple of things are missing: houses and residents.

The new village “must be designed to be as resilient as possible,” the master plan said. “Even small events, such as windstorms, close roads and down power lines, isolating the village. Thus, planning for safe havens in case of disaster and alternative energy sources is a must when determining facility siting, sizing, orientation, and programming.”

In a reflection of Indigenous values, the first building opened by the nation was the Generations House, a 30,000-square-foot building serving elders, Head Start, day care, and adult education.

“This was our most modern effort to relocate our most vital citizens with all of our next generations,” Hendricks says. “This is a shared building with all of our most valuable resources, our children. And then, all of our most valuable information holders are our elders on the other side [of the building].”

The Generations House is also the gathering point should there be an emergency.

There are a lot of questions that still must be answered before any houses are built.

“We have penciled out what a house would cost. And right now we are sitting at somewhere between $350 and $400,000 per house,” Hendricks says. That is a number unaffordable for most tribal members.

And what about the people now living in Taholah who have paid off their mortgages — especially elders?

Digital collage of green silhouette of state of Illinois with the seal of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation on top

“Why would they come up with a new mortgage? Well, they already have a house for themselves. And then there’s someone who said, ‘Well, we don’t have the means to pay for a new home. Is the tribe going to buy my home?’” asks Hendricks.

That means the nation still must work through these scenarios and come up with individual solutions.

And that starts with a community-based plan.

“I had the chance to visit Quinault a year ago, and they are doing just amazing work on climate relocation and climate resilience,” said Bryan Newland, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for Indian affairs. “It’s one of three communities that are going to serve as kind of pilot projects, if you will, on community driven relocation. And they’re just doing amazing work. I was really impressed by their foresight in their planning and how they are really thinking through a lot of issues that aren’t intuitive and working to address them. And so I’ve been really impressed. And, you know, we shouldn’t be surprised that when tribes have resources, they’re able to do very impressive things. And so I look forward to seeing where they’re going to take that.”

For now the bottom line is that the Quinault Nation is not sure where more than $450 million will come from to pay for this relocation.

But here’s the thing. The Quinault Nation is further along in this sort of planning than nearly every community on the planet. When we drove up the coast to get here, we passed through low-elevation towns and even cities that reflect the scale of the problem. And it’s clear that neither the region nor the country are penciling out what has to be done and what it will cost.

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Grist is the only award-winning newsroom focused on exploring equitable solutions to climate change. It’s vital reporting made entirely possible by loyal readers like you. At Grist, we don’t believe in paywalls. Instead, we rely on our readers to pitch in what they can so that we can continue bringing you our solution-based climate news.  

From Australia to the Arctic, young Indigenous changemakers speak out

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Watch CBS News

Teens come up with trigonometry proof for Pythagorean Theorem, a problem that stumped math world for centuries

By Bill Whitaker

May 5, 2024 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News

As the school year ends, many students will be only too happy to see math classes in their rearview mirrors. It may seem to some of us non-mathematicians that geometry and trigonometry were created by the Greeks as a form of torture, so imagine our amazement when we heard two high school seniors had proved a mathematical puzzle that was thought to be impossible for 2,000 years. 

We met Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson at their all-girls Catholic high school in New Orleans. We expected to find two mathematical prodigies.

Instead, we found at St. Mary's Academy , all students are told their possibilities are boundless.

Come Mardi Gras season, New Orleans is alive with colorful parades, replete with floats, and beads, and high school marching bands.

In a city where uniqueness is celebrated, St. Mary's stands out – with young African American women playing trombones and tubas, twirling batons and dancing - doing it all, which defines St. Mary's, students told us.

Junior Christina Blazio says the school instills in them they have the ability to accomplish anything. 

Christina Blazio: That is kinda a standard here. So we aim very high - like, our aim is excellence for all students. 

The private Catholic elementary and high school sits behind the Sisters of the Holy Family Convent in New Orleans East. The academy was started by an African American nun for young Black women just after the Civil War. The church still supports the school with the help of alumni.

In December 2022, seniors Ne'Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson were working on a school-wide math contest that came with a cash prize.

Ne'Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson

Ne'Kiya Jackson: I was motivated because there was a monetary incentive.

Calcea Johnson: 'Cause I was like, "$500 is a lot of money. So I-- I would like to at least try."

Both were staring down the thorny bonus question.

Bill Whitaker: So tell me, what was this bonus question?

Calcea Johnson: It was to create a new proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. And it kind of gave you a few guidelines on how would you start a proof.

The seniors were familiar with the Pythagorean Theorem, a fundamental principle of geometry. You may remember it from high school: a² + b² = c². In plain English, when you know the length of two sides of a right triangle, you can figure out the length of the third.

Both had studied geometry and some trigonometry, and both told us math was not easy. What no one told  them  was there had been more than 300 documented proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem using algebra and geometry, but for 2,000 years a proof using trigonometry was thought to be impossible, … and that was the bonus question facing them.

Bill Whitaker: When you looked at the question did you think, "Boy, this is hard"?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yeah. 

Bill Whitaker: What motivated you to say, "Well, I'm going to try this"?

Calcea Johnson: I think I was like, "I started something. I need to finish it." 

Bill Whitaker: So you just kept on going.

Calcea Johnson: Yeah.

For two months that winter, they spent almost all their free time working on the proof.

CeCe Johnson: She was like, "Mom, this is a little bit too much."

CeCe and Cal Johnson are Calcea's parents.

CeCe Johnson:   So then I started looking at what she really was doing. And it was pages and pages and pages of, like, over 20 or 30 pages for this one problem.

Cal Johnson: Yeah, the garbage can was full of papers, which she would, you know, work out the problems and-- if that didn't work she would ball it up, throw it in the trash. 

Bill Whitaker: Did you look at the problem? 

Neliska Jackson is Ne'Kiya's mother.

Neliska Jackson: Personally I did not. 'Cause most of the time I don't understand what she's doing (laughter).

Michelle Blouin Williams: What if we did this, what if I write this? Does this help? ax² plus ….

Their math teacher, Michelle Blouin Williams, initiated the math contest.

Michelle Blouin Williams

Bill Whitaker: And did you think anyone would solve it?

Michelle Blouin Williams: Well, I wasn't necessarily looking for a solve. So, no, I didn't—

Bill Whitaker: What were you looking for?

Michelle Blouin Williams: I was just looking for some ingenuity, you know—

Calcea and Ne'Kiya delivered on that! They tried to explain their groundbreaking work to 60 Minutes. Calcea's proof is appropriately titled the Waffle Cone.

Calcea Johnson: So to start the proof, we start with just a regular right triangle where the angle in the corner is 90°. And the two angles are alpha and beta.

Bill Whitaker: Uh-huh

Calcea Johnson: So then what we do next is we draw a second congruent, which means they're equal in size. But then we start creating similar but smaller right triangles going in a pattern like this. And then it continues for infinity. And eventually it creates this larger waffle cone shape.

Calcea Johnson: Am I going a little too—

Bill Whitaker: You've been beyond me since the beginning. (laughter) 

Bill Whitaker: So how did you figure out the proof?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Okay. So you have a right triangle, 90° angle, alpha and beta.

Bill Whitaker: Then what did you do?

Bill Whitaker with Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Okay, I have a right triangle inside of the circle. And I have a perpendicular bisector at OP to divide the triangle to make that small right triangle. And that's basically what I used for the proof. That's the proof.

Bill Whitaker: That's what I call amazing.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Well, thank you.

There had been one other documented proof of the theorem using trigonometry by mathematician Jason Zimba in 2009 – one in 2,000 years. Now it seems Ne'Kiya and Calcea have joined perhaps the most exclusive club in mathematics. 

Bill Whitaker: So you both independently came up with proof that only used trigonometry.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: So are you math geniuses?

Calcea Johnson: I think that's a stretch. 

Bill Whitaker: If not genius, you're really smart at math.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Not at all. (laugh) 

To document Calcea and Ne'Kiya's work, math teachers at St. Mary's submitted their proofs to an American Mathematical Society conference in Atlanta in March 2023.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Well, our teacher approached us and was like, "Hey, you might be able to actually present this," I was like, "Are you joking?" But she wasn't. So we went. I got up there. We presented and it went well, and it blew up.

Bill Whitaker: It blew up.

Calcea Johnson: Yeah. 

Ne'Kiya Jackson: It blew up.

Bill Whitaker: Yeah. What was the blowup like?

Calcea Johnson: Insane, unexpected, crazy, honestly.

It took millenia to prove, but just a minute for word of their accomplishment to go around the world. They got a write-up in South Korea and a shout-out from former first lady Michelle Obama, a commendation from the governor and keys to the city of New Orleans. 

Bill Whitaker: Why do you think so many people found what you did to be so impressive?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Probably because we're African American, one. And we're also women. So I think-- oh, and our age. Of course our ages probably played a big part.

Bill Whitaker: So you think people were surprised that young African American women, could do such a thing?

Calcea Johnson: Yeah, definitely.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: I'd like to actually be celebrated for what it is. Like, it's a great mathematical achievement.

Achievement, that's a word you hear often around St. Mary's academy. Calcea and Ne'Kiya follow a long line of barrier-breaking graduates. 

The late queen of Creole cooking, Leah Chase , was an alum. so was the first African-American female New Orleans police chief, Michelle Woodfork …

And judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Dana Douglas. Math teacher Michelle Blouin Williams told us Calcea and Ne'Kiya are typical St. Mary's students.  

Bill Whitaker: They're not unicorns.

Michelle Blouin Williams: Oh, no no. If they are unicorns, then every single lady that has matriculated through this school is a beautiful, Black unicorn.

Pamela Rogers: You're good?

Pamela Rogers, St. Mary's president and interim principal, told us the students hear that message from the moment they walk in the door.

St. Mary's Academy president and interim principal Pamela Rogers

Pamela Rogers: We believe all students can succeed, all students can learn. It does not matter the environment that you live in. 

Bill Whitaker: So when word went out that two of your students had solved this almost impossible math problem, were they universally applauded?

Pamela Rogers: In this community, they were greatly applauded. Across the country, there were many naysayers.

Bill Whitaker: What were they saying?

Pamela Rogers: They were saying, "Oh, they could not have done it. African Americans don't have the brains to do it." Of course, we sheltered our girls from that. But we absolutely did not expect it to come in the volume that it came.  

Bill Whitaker: And after such a wonderful achievement.

Pamela Rogers: People-- have a vision of who can be successful. And-- to some people, it is not always an African American female. And to us, it's always an African American female.

Gloria Ladson-Billings: What we know is when teachers lay out some expectations that say, "You can do this," kids will work as hard as they can to do it.

Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, has studied how best to teach African American students. She told us an encouraging teacher can change a life.

Bill Whitaker: And what's the difference, say, between having a teacher like that and a whole school dedicated to the excellence of these students?

Gloria Ladson-Billings: So a whole school is almost like being in Heaven. 

Bill Whitaker: What do you mean by that?

Bill Whitaker and Gloria Ladson-Billings

Gloria Ladson-Billings: Many of our young people have their ceilings lowered, that somewhere around fourth or fifth grade, their thoughts are, "I'm not going to be anything special." What I think is probably happening at St. Mary's is young women come in as, perhaps, ninth graders and are told, "Here's what we expect to happen. And here's how we're going to help you get there."

At St. Mary's, half the students get scholarships, subsidized by fundraising to defray the $8,000 a year tuition. Here, there's no test to get in, but expectations are high and rules are strict: no cellphones, modest skirts, hair must be its natural color.

Students Rayah Siddiq, Summer Forde, Carissa Washington, Tatum Williams and Christina Blazio told us they appreciate the rules and rigor.

Rayah Siddiq: Especially the standards that they set for us. They're very high. And I don't think that's ever going to change.

Bill Whitaker: So is there a heart, a philosophy, an essence to St. Mary's?

Summer Forde: The sisterhood—

Carissa Washington: Sisterhood.

Tatum Williams: Sisterhood.

Bill Whitaker: The sisterhood?

Voices: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: And you don't mean the nuns. You mean-- (laughter)

Christina Blazio: I mean, yeah. The community—

Bill Whitaker: So when you're here, there's just no question that you're going to go on to college.

Rayah Siddiq: College is all they talk about. (laughter) 

Pamela Rogers: … and Arizona State University (Cheering)

Principal Rogers announces to her 615 students the colleges where every senior has been accepted.

Bill Whitaker: So for 17 years, you've had a 100% graduation rate—

Pamela Rogers: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: --and a 100% college acceptance rate?

Pamela Rogers: That's correct.

Last year when Ne'Kiya and Calcea graduated, all their classmates went to college and got scholarships. Ne'Kiya got a full ride to the pharmacy school at Xavier University in New Orleans. Calcea, the class valedictorian, is studying environmental engineering at Louisiana State University.

Bill Whitaker: So wait a minute. Neither one of you is going to pursue a career in math?

Both: No. (laugh)

Calcea Johnson: I may take up a minor in math. But I don't want that to be my job job.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yeah. People might expect too much out of me if (laugh) I become a mathematician. (laugh)

But math is not completely in their rear-view mirrors. This spring they submitted their high school proofs for final peer review and publication … and are still working on further proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. Since their first two …

Calcea Johnson: We found five. And then we found a general format that could potentially produce at least five additional proofs.

Bill Whitaker: And you're not math geniuses?

Bill Whitaker: I'm not buying it. (laughs)

Produced by Sara Kuzmarov. Associate producer, Mariah B. Campbell. Edited by Daniel J. Glucksman.

Bill Whitaker

Bill Whitaker is an award-winning journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent who has covered major news stories, domestically and across the globe, for more than four decades with CBS News.

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Guest Essay

A Year on Ozempic Taught Me We’re Thinking About Obesity All Wrong

A photo illustration of junk food — potato chips, cheesecake and bacon — spiraling into a black background.

By Johann Hari

Mr. Hari is a British journalist and the author of “Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits — and Disturbing Risks — of the New Weight Loss Drugs.”

Ever since I was a teenager, I have dreamed of shedding a lot of weight. So when I shrank from 203 pounds to 161 in a year, I was baffled by my feelings. I was taking Ozempic, and I was haunted by the sense that I was cheating and doing something immoral.

I’m not the only one. In the United States (where I now split my time), over 70 percent of people are overweight or obese, and according to one poll, 47 percent of respondents said they were willing to pay to take the new weight-loss drugs. It’s not hard to see why. They cause users to lose an average of 10 to 20 percent of their body weight, and clinical trials suggest that the next generation of drugs (probably available soon) leads to a 24 percent loss, on average. Yet as more and more people take drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, we get more confused as a culture, bombarding anyone in the public eye who takes them with brutal shaming.

This is happening because we are trapped in a set of old stories about what obesity is and the morally acceptable ways to overcome it. But the fact that so many of us are turning to the new weight-loss drugs can be an opportunity to find a way out of that trap of shame and stigma — and to a more truthful story.

In my lifetime, obesity has exploded, from being rare to almost being the norm. I was born in 1979, and by the time I was 21, obesity rates in the United States had more than doubled . They have skyrocketed since. The obvious question is, why? And how do these new weight-loss drugs work? The answer to both lies in one word: satiety. It’s a concept that we don’t use much in everyday life but that we’ve all experienced at some point. It describes the sensation of having had enough and not wanting any more.

The primary reason we have gained weight at a pace unprecedented in human history is that our diets have radically changed in ways that have deeply undermined our ability to feel sated. My father grew up in a village in the Swiss mountains, where he ate fresh, whole foods that had been cooked from scratch and prepared on the day they were eaten. But in the 30 years between his childhood and mine, in the suburbs of London, the nature of food transformed across the Western world. He was horrified to see that almost everything I ate was reheated and heavily processed. The evidence is clear that the kind of food my father grew up eating quickly makes you feel full. But the kind of food I grew up eating, much of which is made in factories, often with artificial chemicals, left me feeling empty and as if I had a hole in my stomach. In a recent study of what American children eat, ultraprocessed food was found to make up 67 percent of their daily diet. This kind of food makes you want to eat more and more. Satiety comes late, if at all.

One scientific experiment — which I have nicknamed Cheesecake Park — seemed to me to crystallize this effect. Paul Kenny, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, grew up in Ireland. After he moved in 2000 to the United States, when he was in his 20s, he gained 30 pounds in two years. He began to wonder if the American diet has some kind of strange effect on our brains and our cravings, so he designed an experiment to test it. He and his colleague Paul Johnson raised a group of rats in a cage and gave them an abundant supply of healthy, balanced rat chow made out of the kind of food rats had been eating for a very long time. The rats would eat it when they were hungry, and then they seemed to feel sated and stopped. They did not become fat.

But then Dr. Kenny and his colleague exposed the rats to an American diet: fried bacon, Snickers bars, cheesecake and other treats. They went crazy for it. The rats would hurl themselves into the cheesecake, gorge themselves and emerge with their faces and whiskers totally slicked with it. They quickly lost almost all interest in the healthy food, and the restraint they used to show around healthy food disappeared. Within six weeks, their obesity rates soared.

After this change, Dr. Kenny and his colleague tweaked the experiment again (in a way that seems cruel to me, a former KFC addict). They took all the processed food away and gave the rats their old healthy diet. Dr. Kenny was confident that they would eat more of it, proving that processed food had expanded their appetites. But something stranger happened. It was as though the rats no longer recognized healthy food as food at all, and they barely ate it. Only when they were starving did they reluctantly start to consume it again.

Though Dr. Kenny’s study was in rats, we can see forms of this behavior everywhere. We are all living in Cheesecake Park — and the satiety-stealing effect of industrially assembled food is evidently what has created the need for these medications. Drugs like Ozempic work precisely by making us feel full. Carel le Roux, a scientist whose research was important to the development of these drugs, says they boost what he and others once called “satiety hormones.”

Once you understand this context, it becomes clear that processed and ultraprocessed food create a raging hole of hunger, and these treatments can repair that hole. Michael Lowe, a professor of psychology at Drexel University who has studied hunger for 40 years, told me the drugs are “an artificial solution to an artificial problem.”

Yet we have reacted to this crisis largely caused by the food industry as if it were caused only by individual moral dereliction. I felt like a failure for being fat and was furious with myself for it. Why do we turn our anger inward and not outward at the main cause of the crisis? And by extension, why do we seek to shame people taking Ozempic but not those who, say, take drugs to lower their blood pressure?

The answer, I think, lies in two very old notions. The first is the belief that obesity is a sin. When Pope Gregory I laid out the seven deadly sins in the sixth century, one of them was gluttony, usually illustrated with grotesque-seeming images of overweight people. Sin requires punishment before you can get to redemption. Think about the competition show “The Biggest Loser,” on which obese people starve and perform extreme forms of exercise in visible agony in order to demonstrate their repentance.

The second idea is that we are all in a competition when it comes to weight. Ours is a society full of people fighting against the forces in our food that are making us fatter. It is often painful to do this: You have to tolerate hunger or engage in extreme forms of exercise. It feels like a contest in which each thin person creates additional pressure on others to do the same. Looked at in this way, people on Ozempic can resemble athletes like the cyclist Lance Armstrong who used performance-enhancing drugs. Those who manage their weight without drugs might think, “I worked hard for this, and you get it for as little as a weekly jab?”

We can’t find our way to a sane, nontoxic conversation about obesity or Ozempic until we bring these rarely spoken thoughts into the open and reckon with them. You’re not a sinner for gaining weight. You’re a typical product of a dysfunctional environment that makes it very hard to feel full. If you are angry about these drugs, remember the competition isn’t between you and your neighbor who’s on weight-loss drugs. It’s between you and a food industry constantly designing new ways to undermine your satiety. If anyone is the cheat here, it’s that industry. We should be united in a struggle against it and its products, not against desperate people trying to find a way out of this trap.

There are extraordinary benefits as well as disturbing risks associated with weight-loss drugs. Reducing or reversing obesity hugely boosts health, on average: We know from years of studying bariatric surgery that it slashes the risks of cancer, heart disease and diabetes-related death. Early indications are that the new anti-obesity drugs are moving people in a similar radically healthier direction, massively reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke. But these drugs may increase the risk for thyroid cancer. I am worried they diminish muscle mass and fear they may supercharge eating disorders. This is a complex picture in which the evidence has to be weighed very carefully.

But we can’t do that if we remain lost in stories inherited from premodern popes or in a senseless competition that leaves us all, in the end, losers. Do we want these weight loss drugs to be another opportunity to tear one another down? Or do we want to realize that the food industry has profoundly altered the appetites of us all — leaving us trapped in the same cage, scrambling to find a way out?

Johann Hari is a British journalist and the author of “Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits — and Disturbing Risks — of the New Weight Loss Drugs,” among other books.

Source photographs by seamartini, The Washington Post, and Zana Munteanu via Getty Images.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

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Navigating New Outlook

This is more so an observation than a question. However I welcome any solutions to all of the problems that have come with this "New" version.

First of all I've been forced to switch to this new version by Microsoft because they've basically discontinued Office 365.

There is no auto-cap of the 1st letter when starting a new sentence.

I'm alerted when I misspell a word, but the selection for the correct word not longer appears.

Creating a group for texting is like pulling teeth.

I was told months ago that this is a Beta version, but this process is taking WAY too long.

In my opinion, when there is an upgrade to a product, it should make it work more smoothly, easier to use and navigate, and the former features of the older version more enhanced with less effort to execute these tasks. I find none of this with this new version.

There is one new feature that I do enjoy, and that's the ability to "Schedule" an email to be sent.

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  • Microsoft Agent |

Dear DAVIDFELDER2 ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community and sharing your observations, concerns about the New Outlook for Windows. I regret to hear that you are experiencing challenges with adjusting to a new version, but I'm here to assist you with any issues you may be experiencing.

Unfortunately, I regret to inform you that the auto-cap feature is not available in the new Outlook at this time.

To create a group for texting, you can navigate to the "Groups" section, click on the "New Group" button, then provide the group name and description, and select the contacts you wish to add to the group.

I acknowledge that you were informed that this is a Beta version, but it has been officially released and is no longer in Beta. Please note that the New Outlook is continuously evolving, and new features and settings may be added in future updates. Keep an eye out for any announcements or changes that might address this issue directly.

Reference:  Things to look forward to in the new Outlook for Windows - Microsoft Community Hub  

We acknowledge your concern and how it can improve your experience. However, as it is related to Outlook product design, we suggest submitting your valuable feedback directly to the Microsoft product development team. You can do this by going to Help from your dedicated App > submit Feedback or by posting on  Ideas · Community (microsoft.com) . This is necessary because we, as the community team, can only assist you in troubleshooting the query and providing you with information on the feature’s availability status. 

This community team and Microsoft product development team are separate. So, for feature’s suggestion or by design query, user need to submit feedback from their side to Microsoft product team. Once user send feedback via above mentioned way, it’s sent to Microsoft directly and it's routed to the relevant product teams who can review it. 

  

To check more details about how to submit feedback, kindly refer this article  Learn about how to provide feedback to Microsoft - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn    

I hope this information helps, and please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. Thank you for your time and cooperation.  

Sincerely  

Feroz Mahmud | Microsoft Community Moderator 

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  1. 100 Problem Solution Essay Topics with Sample Essays

    After you have chosen your topic, you can find instructions about how to develop your ideas, find a unique solution to the problem, and organize your essay in "How to Write Your Problem Solution Paper." 4 Parts of Problem Solution. Describe a problem vividly. Propose a solution. Argue that the solution is practical, feasible, cost-effective ...

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    10 Community Problems and 10 Solutions. We present here 10 community problems and 10 solutions. They cover food, energy, housing, social, education, economics, transportation, and more. We all live and interact in communities of various sizes. Our towns and cities are the communities most people think of, but we also work in communities, go to ...

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    Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions » Section 3. Defining and Analyzing the Problem » Main Section. Chapter 17. ... The Hispanic Health Coalition, has come up with the problem statement "Teen pregnancy is a problem in our community." That seems pretty clear, doesn't it? But let's examine the word "community" for a moment.

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    Problems are a fact of life at home, at play, and at work. Unfortunately, problems aren't always isolated cases. They tend to be like onions - you peel away one problem only to find another, and then another, and you can't solve the problem you were first interested in until you solve a variety of related problems.

  9. Problem-Solution Essays: Definition and Examples

    A problem-solution essay is a type of argument. "This sort of essay involves argumentation in that the writer seeks to convince the reader to take a particular course of action. In explaining the problem, it may also need to persuade the reader concerning specific causes" (Dave Kemper et al., "Fusion: Integrated Reading and Writing," 2016).

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    Provide context to help readers understand the significance of the problem. You can do it using the following approaches: a) Provide a true-life story illustrating the issue. b) Share your personal experience. c) Present a scenario highlighting the urgency of the issue. d) Use statistics to depict the severity.

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    Identifying genuine solutions to a problem means knowing what the real causes of the problem are. Taking action without identifying what factors contribute to the problem can result in misdirected efforts, and that wastes time and resources. ... The working group should then examine a community problem, such as substance use or violence, by ...

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    In summation, the solution to this particular community problem lies in. Bibliography: Allen, Joseph P., et al. 'Programmatic prevention of adolescent problem behaviors: the role of autonomy, relatedness, and volunteer service in the teen outreach program.' American Journal of Community Psychology 22.5 (1994): 617+. Questia. 6 Oct. 2003 .

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