World Happiness Report Activities?

At the beginning of the year I like to do some activities where we debunk narratives about the world and the US, sort of so that we come to the conclusion that every place on Earth is more complicated than we could ever imagine, and has good moments and bad moments and medium moments and is neither defined by it's best things or its worst things. And one of the ways we do that is to explore some ways that america is NOT number one. I'm having trouble finding the listicle I used this year haha but it was similar to these ones https://aninjusticemag.com/10-ways-that-life-is-way-better-in-other-developed-countries-a84f4ad25025 https://www.salon.com/2015/07/10/11_things_the_rest_of_the_world_does_so_much_better_than_america_partner/ but the one that I had, wherever it is, also included happiness.

At the beginning of the year I like to do some activities where we debunk narratives about the world and the US, sort of so that we come to the conclusion that every place on Earth is more complicated than we could ever imagine, and has good moments and bad moments and medium moments and is neither defined by it's best things or its worst things. And one of the ways we do that is to explore some ways that america is NOT number one. I'm having trouble finding the listicle I used this year haha but it was similar to these ones https://aninjusticemag.com/10-ways-that-life-is-way-better-in-other-developed-countries-a84f4ad25025 https://www.salon.com/2015/07/10/11_things_the_rest_of_the_world_does_so_much_better_than_america_partner/ but the one that I had, wherever it is, also included happiness.

Nice idea and a strong way to start the school year.  Do you ask students to come up with statements ("facts") that they think are true about the US/the world? 

Yes. I have to do some background first to make sure kids are writing down what "the media" says about other places in the world, that way it's not just opening the door for kids to say horrible things that they have heard and then other kids thinking that those are their actual opinions.