Ben Walters
The Kidlink Photo Exchange Project

The KIDS-94 Newsletter
A Global Dialog for Children 10-15 Years

Issue number 2. November 10, 1993

Note: Throughout this newsletter, references are made to various KIDLINK archive files. An index of files, as well as instructions about how to get them, are given in Section 9: "New Documents and Files."

1. "I would like to stop the war!"

The goal of KIDS-94 is to involve as many 10-to-15-year-old youth as possible in a GLOBAL dialog continuing until May 7th 1994. On May 8th, 1994, we will start the KIDS-95 project.
All participating children are required to answer these questions: 1) Who am I? 2) What do I want to be when I grow up? 3) How do I want the world to be better when I grow up? 4) What can I do now to make this happen?
KIDLINK has now received answers to these questions from 56 countries around the world. Here are some recent responses:

** From Paris, France **
Je m'appelle Olivier Castel, J'habite a Paris et je suis Francais. J'ai 11 ans et je suis en 6eme.
Qu'est que je veux faire quand je serai grand ? VETERINAIRE. J'aimerai bien qu'il n'y ait plus de pollution.
Qu'est ce que je peux faire pour que ca arrive ? Recycler les dechets.

** From Zagrep, Croatia **
My name is Jana. I am 11 years old. I have the brother. His name is Matija and he is 9 yers old. I go in 6th class of elementary shoole `
`Izidor Krsnjavi``, Zagreb. I am learning english, german, french and latin. I love animals, nature and movies. I have a dog. His name is Ari. I also like to play tennis and do mountaineering.
When I grow up I will like to be a lawyer. When I grw up I will like that all people love each other and to be in peace. I would like to stop the war in my conntry.

** From Coimbra, Portugal **
Eu chamo-me Ines Silva, tenho 11 anos, ando no 7o ano na escola C+S Martim de Freitas e moro em Coimbra, Portugal. Gosto de escrever poemas, de conviver com os amigos, ouvir musica "country", tocar piano e falar linguas estrangeiras. Adoro os animais e tudo o mais da Natureza.
Primeiro queria ser feliz mas quanto a profissao queria ser actriz, cantora, escritora e professora de matematica, Mas e' demais, nao e'?
Queria que nao se matassem mais arvores e plantas e se plantassem algumas; queria que as pessoas tratassem melhor os animais; queria que nao destruissem a camada de ozono; queria que nao houvessem mais guerras nem mais fome e pobreza; queria que as pessoas nao se maltratassem; queria que nao houvessem vicios, bem, que houvesse um mundo civilizado.
Posso plantar arvores, colaborar em campanhas, tratar os animais que posso, colaborar nos projectos de dar comida aos necessitados, evitar brigas e acidentes, evitar utilizar sprays anti-camada de ozono, nao apanhar vicios e evitar que os outros apanhem, enfim, existem uma serie de coisas que nos, criancas, futuros homens e mulheres, podemos fazer AGORA,e' so' preciso boa vontade.

** From Athens, Greece **
I am Nadia Karkatsouli. My age is eleven. I am student at Merchant- Valaris school of English in Athens. When I grow up I want to be a doctor. My hobies are football and tennis. I want peace in the world. I would like to know what the other kids think.

2. KIDCAFE is bustling with activity

Now that the school year in the northern hemisphere is in full swing, the volume of messages has increased. This place is Busy! During the month of October, KIDCAFE averaged over 50 messages per day.
As usual, many messages were from newcomers seeking key-pals. Here is a sample from South Africa:

My name is Yolo Jongilhati and I am a black 13 year old girl. I am looking for a penpal who isn't racist and loves to write. I like doing anything fun and if you would like to write to me please do. Any sex and colour is welcome to write.

Music and movies are a common ground for kids all over the world. This is what Trine in Denmark said to Caro in Argentina:

Hi, how are you? Thank you very much for your letter. Its just great, I love it !!!!!!! . . .
I think its very funny that we like the same movies, dont you? I also like all movies with Kevin Costner. He is sooooo hansom, dont you think? I also like Whitney Houston. She is the greatest femail singer, I know. She have just been to Denmark. So I was to her concert, it was great, but I was only standing outside.

Ben Walter in England wrote to Laura in the U.S. about a book he read:

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintence . . . has really freaked me out now. The guy spends most of the first part talking about this other guy, Phaedrus, who was some kind of philosopher, but was committed for being insane. Then you find out that the writer of the book *used* to by Phraedrus, before his personality was changed. Wow! It's all meant to be true, I think.

3. The Photo Exchange

It is common for the students in KIDCAFE to exchange photographs by snail mail. Kids want to know what their keypals look like. Ben Walter (14) thought that there must be a better way, and now he is organizing an electronic exchange of photographs.
The scanned photographs are stored as UUEncoded GIF files in the KIDART archive at NoDak. The first picture (of Ben, of course) is already there. To see his face, and get more information about the exchange, send these commands to: LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU

    GET KIDART PXBENWAL
    GET KIDART PX-INFO

For a copy of Ben's original invitation letter to KIDCAFE, add the following command to the list above:

/SHIP KIDLINK 00388

4. KIDFORUM's "Travelling In the World"

KIDFORUM is set up to promote exchanges between classroom groups of students on topics related to the KIDLINK themes (the four KIDLINK questions). Through this forum, it is easier for teachers to have whole classes participate in KIDLINK.
In September and October, the topic was "Travelling In the World - a virtual vacation". Mary Esborn from Baldwin and Adams Middle Schools, Guilford, CT, USA, was the moderator.
Boy, was this a popular topic! Students from Tasmania, Denmark, England, Finland, Iceland, Kamchatka in Russia, Uruguay, Slovenija, Germany, and 17 states in USA participated.
Nearly 550 messages came in from 800 kids in 55 schools. They exchanged exciting information about where they lived:
The Slovenija kids invited the others to visit the old city of Ljubljana. Jon and Heimir in Iceland tempted with a "Jeep tour around glaciers and hotsprings". Serg (jr), Serg, Sed and Ivan in Kamchatka wrote the following to friends in New Jersey (USA):

Hello Jeff Goett and Jordan Ryan!
Your letter is fine.
We want to had an excursion to New Jersey very much.
Now we tell to you about our Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Our town is among hills and vulcanos.
We often go hiking to long distance.
If you go to hiking with us, you will can see big hills and mountains, beatiful waterfalls,big lakes and rivers, and many many interesting.
Let's good bye.

Bye- bye!!!!!!!!!!!

In the final phase, the kids made "virtual visits" to places of their choice. These paragraps are from a trip report written by two young Stafford students (USA) after a "visit" to Slovenija:
"Slovenians speak their own unique language called Slovene. On our vacation we heard people speaking this language all of the time. At restaurants the menus where impossible to read. We had our friend translate. With our dinner we had bread which is "kruh". For dessert we had "sladoled" or ice cream. We also learned the phrase "dobro jutro" which means good morning.
Slovenija has many sights and attractions for us to see. First, we went to Portoroz, which is the biggest place for tourists visit to by the sea. We also went to the Zoo which has many animals like bears, deer, wolves, and snakes. But perhaps the most thrilling part of the trip was when we went to Kranjska Gora where we skied and ate nut roll cake. The beautiful country sight amazed us both."
The Travel topic has now been moved to KIDPROJ for those interested in continuing. For a copy of Mary's "*Travel: Project description", send a message to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu containing the following command: /SHIP KIDPROJ 00521

5. WAR & PEACE

is the title of the current topic in KIDFORUM. It is moderated by Joann E. Wilson from Nebraska (USA). Schools in Argentina, Slovenia, USA, UK, Australia, Iceland, and New Zealand have already announced participation.
The topic will run through Dec 21. to initiate dialogue, the students will be invited (but not required) to post a short essay to KIDFORUM about "What causes war" or "What cause peace." The purpose is to bring focus to the topic so that thoughtful, meaningful dialogue can follow.
Lara Stefansdottir, the KIDFORUM coordinator, said the following in her announcement: "I think that it is a great task to participate in this topic, and that you all will learn a lot about both war and peace. I hope it will help you all to establish peace around you in the future."
Joann's email address is: jew@nde.unl.edu

6. UNICEF in KIDPROJ

Will Parks of UNICEF are presenting UNICEF-developed curriculum materials in KIDPROJ. The project provides weekly educational topics under the broad subject of the United Nation's Rights of the Child 1989 Convention.
The students are encouraged to express their ideas and opinions either in the form of email letters and stories, or by using IRC (Internet Relay Chat) to debate the topics with other children around the world.
Kids from as far apart as Slovenia, Finland, UK, USA, Canada and Greece are combining their efforts to discuss the problems that children throughout the world face in everyday life.
On the IRC, the UNICEF project meets with KIDCLUB, another interesting KIDPROJ initiative. The primary purpose is to be a place where young people can meet to discuss what they are doing in their own communities in response to the KIDLINK fourth question (What Can I Do Now To Make This Happen?).
The groups are attempting to collaborate and support one another's efforts with activities which demonstrate that young people can really: * THINK GLOBAL - ACT LOCAL *
Participants from Maryland (USA) have already set the lead by gaining the support of a local newspaper editor who has given young Ann Lawrence a bi-weekly column called 'KIDS ON-LINE'. In teacher Patti Weeg's words:
"The kids realize that their global connections via IRC and e- mail make them more aware of the world community, its realities and needs. They also know that to make their world a better place right now they must act on their local level."
Each Saturday at 1700 GMT they meet on KIDLINK IRC's #kidclub channel to discuss various issues which affect kids today.
Write Rob Sherman at rsherman@cap.gwu.EDU for more about KIDCLUB. Contact W.J.Parks@Durham.ac.uk about the UNICEF project.
Ham coordinator Peter Daly reports that the October Ham Happening was a success. About 30 UK schools were running at odd times through the week. There were also participants in the USA and Brazil.

7. KIDLINK in Japanese

Over the past months, four gentlemen have been working hard on starting up our new Japanese language forums. This is Richard's report about their work:
"Until now, there has been no way for students who speak Japanese as their native language, or who study Japanese as a foreign language, to be able to telecommunicate globally by using Japanese characters. Our task has therefore been very challenging.
Isamu Shimazaki is a teacher at Rinkan Elementary School He has been involved in international telecommunications for a number of years, and is especially interested in communicating by fax. He has been a great help in spreading the word about Kidlink Japan's progress to other teachers in Japan. Through his efforts, we can expect to see a lot of participation from Japanese schools. Mr. Shimazaki is in charge of KIDLEADJ, which serves the same purpose as the original KIDLEADR. (Email: isamu@apic.or.jp).
Nobuo Hasumi is also an elementary school teacher. He has been an active member of KIDLINK since its conception. His students are regular participants in KIDCAFE. I'm sure they are happy to know they are now able to use their native language to talk to kids all over the world, and that their teacher will be in charge of taking care of KIDCAFEJ. (Email: hasumi@apic.or.jp)
Nobutoshi Kohara is not a teacher but a "salaryman". In his free time, he studies Russian and translates copious volumes of KIDLINK documents into Japanese. We are very grateful for his willingness to sacrifice a great deal of his free time to help spread the word about KIDLINK to Japanese teachers and students.
The work has been a very challenging and rewarding experience for all of us. I am a junior high school Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture. Although I have been living in Japan for over three years, I began using the Internet only last March.
I soon realized what a wonderful resource it would be for my students to use to learn about other cultures and to acquire English at the same time. Although many Japanese students would love to exchange ideas with kids in other countries, it became obvious to me that the language barrier would be too great for quite a few, especially elementary school students, who do not study English. I decided to take on the responsability of establishing KIDLINK JAPAN with not only students from Koga in mind, but all Japanese elementary and junior high school students and their teachers. I am very happy to be able to make this small contribution to global education in Japan. At the same time, I hope that KIDLINK JAPAN will a valuble tool for teachers and students abroad who study Japanese as a foreign language."
For more information, write Richard at richard@apic.or.jp .

8. Around KIDLINK

KIDFORUM has recently got a new assistant coordinator, Alenka Makuc from Slovenia. It is a great support for KIDFORUM to get an assistant, and we look forward to see what Alenka will bring into KIDFORUM.
The latest of four monthly reports on the KIDLINK Gopher use is now available from, you guessed it, our Gopher. It highlights an ever-increasing amount of use by current and hopefully potential KIDLINK participants. Here's a quick comparison on the last three month's activity:

	Aug	Sep	Oct
Files Viewed	4374	7027	6762
Clients Served	524	674	714
Events Logged	9652	14771	16177

To reach the KIDLINK Gopher, enter GOPHER KIDS.CCIT.DUQ.EDU or TELNET KIDS.CCIT.DUQ.EDU and login as 'gopher'.
If you only have email to the Internet, there is also a way. Send a message to gophermail@Calvin.EDU . In your message's Subject line write: kids.ccit.duq.edu . Leave the text empty and send the message. After a while, the KIDLINK Gopher's main menu will be returned to you with detailed instructions on how to read more. Easy!
Odd de Presno visited Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil to spread information about KIDLINK. Besides giving a presentation at a large international conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he met with many KIDLINKers, including Pedro Falcao Goncalves (of KIDLEADP/KIDCAFEP fame), and Eduardo Tornaria in Uruguay. Eduardo is working hard on getting our new Spanish language forums established. If you want to get involved, write him at etornaria@VARELA.EDU.UY .

9. New Documents and Files

These are new or updated files available by e-mail from our various archives.
The files are also made available through the KIDLINK Gopher. TELNET 165.190.8.35 login: gopher, or use your own Gopher with the command: gopher kids.ccit.duq.edu 70 . Browse through the menus to find the information below, stored by subject.

KIDLINK GENERAL		What is KIDS-94?
KIDLINK GENERALP		O que e' o KIDLINK / KIDS-94? (Portuguese)
KIDLINK GENERALJ		What is KIDS-94 (Japanese)
KIDLINK GENERALS		Que es KIDLINK / KIDS-94? (Spanish)
KIDLINK MASTER		List of the most important files
KIDLINK CONTACTS		People to contact about KIDS-93
KIDLINK TIPSJ		Practical tips about using KIDLINK (Japanese)
KIDLINK INDEXHLP		How to use INDEX, /SHIP, and DIGEST
KIDLINK SOCIETY		Organization Overview
KIDLINK NATIONS		Countries participating in KIDLINK
KIDLINK PROJINFO		Approval of KIDPROJ projects
KIDLINK NEW-LIST		About setting up special language KIDLINK forums
KIDPLAN GOPHER		The KIDS Gopher Server
KIDLINK GRADES		Age vs. US grades explained
KIDLINK HELPJ1		About KIDLINK (Japanese GIF-file)
KIDLINK HELPJ2		About KIDLINK (Japanese GIF-file)
KIDLINK HOKAIDOJ		Japanese version of HOKAIDO
KIDLINK KANJI		How to send/receive Kanji text
KIDLINK NEWS194		The KIDS-94 Newsletter #1
KIDLINK NEWS194J		KIDS-94 Newsletter #1 (JIS Code)
KIDLINK NORWAY		Internet for Norwegian schools
KIDLINK ILL294		Illustration to this newsletter (uuencoded GIF file. Japanese.)

To retrieve files from the list above, send an email message to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU (or LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET). The TEXT portion of your message should include the GET command for the file(s) you want to receive. It will look like this:

GET KIDLINK GENERAL
GET KIDLINK MASTER
GET KIDPLAN GOPHER

A number of new art creations has been made available through the KIDART archive, the KIDLINK Gallery of Computer Art. The library contains over 140 files. For a list of current offerings, send a message to the LISTSERV containing the following line: INDEX KIDART
These pictures are also available from the KIDLINK Gopher.

10. KIDS-94

is a project run by a non-profit organization called the KIDLINK Society. It will continue until May 7 1994. Most of the dialog between the kids is based on electronic mail.
KIDLINK is impartial as to what methods are being used to solve the problems of the world today. KIDLINK does not promote specific solutions to problems or political points-of-view.
While the KIDLINK mailing list is an announcement service, the KIDLEADR, KIDLEADP, KIDLEADJ, KIDLEADS, KIDPROJ, and KIDPLAN forums are meeting places for teachers, parents and other persons involved with the KIDS-94 project.
KIDS-94 operates the following forums for 10 - 15 year old youngsters:
KIDS-94 operates the following forums for 10 - 15 year old youngsters:

RESPONSE		where the children send their personal introductions (their responses to the four introductory questions)
KIDCAFE		where they can 'talk' about anything they like
KIDCAFEP		Portuguese language KIDCAFE.
KIDCAFEJ		Japanese language KIDCAFE (currently testing)
KIDFORUM		for exchanges between classroom groups of students.

To join KIDLINK through the Internet, send the command SUB KIDLINK Yourname to LISTSERV@vm1.NoDak.EDU. (Replace "Yourname" with your real name.) Put the command in the BODY of the text.
Our discussion forums are also available through conferencing system and mail exploders around the world. Write us for more information.
All forums are open for everybody, but only kids between 10 - 15 may write messages in KIDCAFE, KIDCAFEP, KIDCAFEJ, and KIDFORUM.
A 130+ picture slide show about KIDS-94 is available (for MS- DOS computers with VGA color display). To get a copy, send a formated 1.4MB diskette, an envelope carrying your return address, plus US$10.00 to KIDLINK, 4815 Saltrod, Norway.
You can also retrieve the slide show by Anonymous FTP. For details, send a message to the LISTSERV containing the following command: GET KIDLINK KIDSHOW
The KIDS-94 newsletter is an information bulletin for teachers, participants, sponsors, mediators, promoters, and others. Suggestions and contributions are invited.
The newsletters are distributed through the KIDNEWS mailing list, and the KIDLINK announcement service. Subscribe to KIDNEWS by sending email to the LISTSERV with the command "SUB KIDNEWS Your-full-name" in the text of your mail. (Please use your real name instead of "Your-full-name".)

Editor/Project director:		Odd de Presno, Saltrod, Norway.
Mail address: Telefax:		Saltrod, Norway (Europe). +47 41 27111
Internet email address: Saltrød Horror Show BBS:		opresno@ulrik.uio.no Send to SYSOP (Phone: +47 41 31378)

f you want to help out with KIDS-94, or participate, contact the editor, or write to kidlink-info@vm1.nodak.edu
You can also contact one of our local contact persons around the world for information. For a list of contact persons, retrieve the file KIDLINK CONTACTS.
KIDS-94 has local representatives in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States.
You can also write to KIDLINK, 4815 Saltrod, Norway or just sign up ...