The two artists were 12 years old. USA.

The KIDS-95 Newsletter
A Global Dialog for Youth 10-15 Years

Issue number 1. June 2, 1994

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 the section New Documents and Files" below.

1. "I would write to all presidents in the world"

The goal of KIDS-95 is to involve as many 10-to-15-year-old youth as possible in a GLOBAL dialog continuing until May 6th 1995. On May 7th, 1995, we will start the KIDS-96 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 received answers to these questions from over 23,000 kids living in 60 countries around the world.
Here are some recent responses:

** From Uruguay **
(1) Me llamo Juan Pablo Aguilera, tengo 10 an~os y me gusta jugar a PADDLE y al FUTBOL. Vivo en Montevideo - Uruguay, voy al Colegio Nacional Jose' Pedro Varela.
(2) Cuando sea grande me gustari'a ser jugador de PADDLE profesional, en PRIMERA categori'a. Quiero tener una familia no muy numerosa y si' muy feliz.
(3) El mundo cuando sea grande me gustari'a que sea limpio y mejor.
(4) Podri'a colaborar con las Instituciones que colaboran con el medio ambiente.

** From South Africa **
(1) My name is Mahlasti Movundlela. I live in South Africa, in a town named Pieterburg. I'm 14 years old. I'm in std 6. I go to St Andrews College in Grahamstown. My hobbies are playing rugby,cricket,basketball and soccer. I also like to read novels. Shaq O'Neal is my favourite basketball player.
(2) I want to be a doctor when I grow up and I'm planning to be a proffeser after that.
(3) I think peace is what we need and I hope we live peacefully in the future.I think we can only achieve this by communicating with one another.
(4) I want to be involved in one political parties so I can try and make peace in our country.

** From Stockholm, Sweden **
(1) My name is Felipe Barra. I ccome from Chile and live in a little village south of Stockholm. I'm thirteen. I like aeroplanes and plying the violin. My school is Botkyrka Friskola. I speak swedish,spanish and english.
(2) A pilot and a computer expert becouse i,m very fascinated by these things.
(3) I am not sure ,but talking to each other is a good thing.
(4) I would send a letter to all the presidents in the world asking them to comunicate more often.

** From West Siberia, Russia **
(1) My full name is Oksana Gebuadze.I'm 14 years old. I'm in the 8-th form of the private school "Revival". I'm from Russia and live in Omsk. I'm interested in different computers and the English language. My hobbies are photography and reading, my favorite sports are tennis and swimming.
(2) First of all I'like to get a good higher education. Of course my dream is to study in the USA. As for my future profession I want to became a businessman and wirer in Russia.
(3) I wish to live in the world without wars. I'm anxious about the questions of nationality and the problems connected with this in the world. I'm also anxious about out environment and ecology.
(4) I think that in order to gain my object I must study very hard and have a good knowledge.

2. KIDCAFE is not just KIDCAFE any more!

If you did not already know, KIDCAFE is now five forums. The original KIDCAFE is still there, and its main language is English. In addition, we have

KIDCAFEP	for discussions in Portuguese language
KIDCAFES	for discussions in Spanish
KIDCAFEJ	for discussions in Japanese
KIDCAFEN	for discussions in Scandinavian languages like Icelandic, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and Danish.

Eduardo Tornaria, who is coordinating the Spanish language activities from Montevideo, Uruguay, reports that "Se han recibido muchos mensajes de nin~os de Guatemala, Espan~a, Rusia, Argentina, Uruguay y Estados Unidos."
We experience the same in the other special language forums. Kids join in from countries, where the given language is not generally spoken. For example, the following message came from the Moscow Children Computer Club in Russia:

Subject: ! Hola, amigos! Hi, folks! Moscow, Russia here!

Yo soy una chica rusa, vivo en Moscu y a mi me gusta logica y las computadoras. Yo quero tener correspondencia en espanol y ingles con alguien. quien puede comprender mis pensamientos y a quien le gusta leer, pensar y estudiar lenguas extranjeras (ruso, espanol, ingles o aleman). ! Hasta la vista, amigos!

Masha Temchina

Do you remember the very popular KIDFORUM Travel topic? It is now the focus of attention in KIDCAFEP under the name "Viagem Virtual." By the end of May, it had participants from Portugal, Brazil, and the United States. The Scandinavians are planning a similar treat for later this year.
Finally, our English language KIDCAFE. Here are a few glimpses from the action:
The new guidelines we recently adopted for this forum have expanded the possibilities for kinds of messages in KIDCAFE. On Friday, April 22, Beth Lowenfeld from Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada used the new QUERY: category to post this message:
Hi, we are 2 students from Christmas Park Elementary School. We want to know what is you favorite chocolate bar. We will be posting the results soon so please answer quickly. My favorite chocolate bar is Wonderbar.
Soon the first answer came from Binalong, NSW, Australia:
My name is Rebecca Arundel, and I live in Australia my favourite chocolate bars are CHERRY RIPE, MARS and SNICKERS. Do you have these in Canada?
Lots more answers arrived soon after, including surveys from classes in Stafford, Texas and Lexington, Massachusetts, USA. Not every one had a favorite chocolate bar. Bridget Sumser from San Francisco, USA said "I hate choclate!" Soon she got this reply: "this is Kerry Mulligan from Boston Mass and everyone I am with wants to know why you hate chocolate. Are you crazy?!!!!"
The QUERY: and ABOUT: categories in KIDCAFE are intended to promote discussions among groups of kids. Teachers should find that these categories enable their students to participate in KIDCAFE without the burden of individual messages for each student in the class. Teachers can also coordinate their activities so that they will be sure that the messages will be answered.
KIDCAFE continues to be the place for students to form keypal friendships. The new guidelines make it easier for kids to find their messages by requiring the subject line to contain to and from addresses like the front of a regular mail envelope. For instance, Masha and Kaitlyn exchange messages with this subject line: KEYPALS: Kaitlyn Dodds (Iowa) :: Masha Latuhina (Russia). Masha said:
I live in Chelyabinsk with about 1000000 people. But I like more nature - wood, lake. There are many lakes on Ural. Here I have classes in classic piano music, jazz improvisation and choreography.
And how big is Montrose? Maybe do you live on the farm? You pets is fine! Do you like music and country music?
Kaitlyn replied: I loved your letter! Did you say there are 1000000 people in your city? I live in a town. There is only a little over a thousand people in our town. . . . Yes, I do kind of live on a farm, even if there are some neighbors nearby. I say that because of the sheep. Yes, I do like music, but my favorite is rock or jazz. I like oldies too. What's your favorite country music?
The big-city girl from Russia found common interests with a small-town girl in the midwestern USA.

3. KIDFORUM's "Shelter under the sun"

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.
"Shelter under the sun" was the last KIDFORUM topic during KIDS-94. It lasted until May 12th. The kids focused on two separate issues: Architecture and Eclipse. The latter was prompted by the May 10th 1994 eclipse that could be viewed in several parts of the world.
The moderator for the architecture part was Sister Dianne Mollica from Somerville, New Jersey, USA. She reports that about 100 students sent descriptions of architectural styles in their areas. About 120 students wrote about original designs, other students negotiated for alterations and reduced prices, and there where several real estate closings.
Several students created GIF graphics of house designs, architecture, and some of the space designs. About 320 students participated in the 18 surveys that were sent to Kidforum, from USA, Germany, Finland, Slovenia, Italy and Norway.
On the 10th of May, there was an IRC chat about the eclipse. Jim Kuhl, science teacher at Central Square Middle School in upstate New York (USA), was the moderator. After the event, he wrote:
"My class had a great time sharing their impressions of the eclipse with those who stopped by. As we discussed the IRC afterwards, many students were surprised to find out that everyone did not experience the eclipse at the same time and that some of the people who joined us would not see the eclipse at all.
The eclipse IRC added yet another layer of understanding of this event for many of my students. Thanks again!!"

4. Random Act of Kindness

The current KIDFORUM topic is called Random Act of Kindness, and the moderator is Madeleine Friedman from Davie, Florida USA. She describes the topic plan in these words:

1. The students are to discuss the idea of a "random act of kindness" (an act of kindness that is unsolicited and that is performed at the spur of the moment and without any expectation of reward).
2. The students are then to gather and record stories of "random acts of kindness" by (a) recounting stories they have heard locally; (b) interviewing parents and other respected adults to uncover these stories; or (c) interviewing their peers -- or even recounting their own impulsive acts of kindness toward other human beings.
3. Finally, the students are to share their stories on the KIDLINK network. They also respond to each others' stories, thereby encouraging an optimistic dialogue of hope and caring among all participants.

There has been a lot of interest in this topic. The coordinators therefore expect a lot of participation although many schools have holidays at this time of the year.
The letters have started to come in. This is what David Maduff from Chicago Junior School (USA) wrote in his entry:

I saw Charles put the Cox dorm table together
so the dorm did not have to do it and have more time.

5. KIDLINK's Fourth Birthday Celebration

Wow! What an experience!
The purpose of the Celebration is to bring the children closer to each other on our "Birthday", to play with modern communication technologies (to learn), and to tell the other kids out there about our projects. We sure achieved that!
With 73 pre-registered sites signed up and others joining in along the way, well over 3,100 youth age 10-15 from 18 countries took part in this year's annual celebration on May 5-7, 1994.
"People are more like us than I thought they were," an 11 year old boy from Prescott Arizona USA told his teacher after the event.
The Danes invited old KIDLINK friends from Protvino, Russia. Young Kirill Lugovsky promptly sent the following to KIDCAFE under the subject title:

"About: KIDLINK & Hobbits."

Dear Kidlinkers
and to whom it may concirn.
It's been 3 years that Protvino takes part in the global project called Kidlink, and though we can't participate in it this year becaurse of the Russia's economical problems, we still consider ourselves as kidlinkers.
Many students have got involved in the project and some of them were very active, and got about 300 e-mails, we had contacts in different countries- in Norway, in Denmark and Florida, and everywhere we was welcomed and friendly responsed.
We live in Russia,- in a small town Protvino, but now we're staying here; in Denmark- for few days, and writening from here. So we can see a difference from Russia here. I think that this difference is the fact, that everybody is most kindly and less hungry. So I think that it's fine to be a citizen in Denmark. Now we can look at all the years of our participating on Kidlink project from a fourth Kidlink's birthday and see the result --- It is a great, global project, that makes people more kindly, and I think it's more like a hobbit.

* * *

So what is about me - I like it. It's cool project, I can get a pleasure and knowledge semoltaniously -- chat with Kidlink very much. !

Kirill Lugovsky

Some of the highest quality communication during the celebration takes place via email on various KIDLINK lists and directly between sites.
The reports from the sites are now coming in. So far, over over half of the sites have reported on their activities. The index for the post-event reports is in the file KIDPLAN SITE94RP. The pre-event planning file index is in the KIDPLAN SITE94DX file.

6. The KIDLINK IRC

The KIDLINK IRC is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting network. It allows kids all over the world to "talk" to one another in real-time.
Our private chatting network has undergone a substantial upgrade since the last newsletter. In preparation for the KIDS-94 Annual Celebration, new servers were added, KIDLINK IRCHELP files were updated, and fine tuning of the system was effected. A complete description of the network can be found in the KIDLINK IRCHELP1 file.
Some recent enhancements are the newly refurbished KidBot and a new feature to the on-line KIDLINK IRC Help Service:

• An earlier version of KidBot was used during the KIDS-93 Celebration and was successful enough that it was revived and upgraded slightly for the KIDS-94 Celebration. The jury is still out on how we want to use this "language police" thing and post-celebration discussions in KIDPLAN will help determine the future uses of KidBot, if any.
• The on-line KIDLINK IRC Help Service (available on KIDLINK IRC by typing /msg help help) has been enhanced to provide a new service. Any KIDLINK IRC user can now use the KIDLINK IRC Help Service to order ANY file from the KIDLINK archives. This is done without ever leaving IRC. The full instructions can be obtained on KIDLINK IRC by typing: /msg help send

7. Searching on the KIDLINK Gopher

The Gopher is a subject-oriented menu system that allows for easy access to key KIDLINK information, such as guidelines, art and music files. It is a finding and fetching capability in one tool. (Access information is given in the "New Documents and Files" section below.)
Those interested in finding out more about KIDLINK via the KIDLINK Gopher now have a new tool to use. Two search engines have been added to the Gopher. They can be found as menu choices on the top menu.
Users can search both the menu titles and the actual file contents. Searching the menu titles is pretty fast, while the full text search can take up to five minutes since it searches all the resident files for the search term.
The search term you give is not case sensitive. You can search for 'russia' and it will also find 'Russia.' However, it will NOT find anything if searching for 'Russia or France' as it will only look for the EXACT string of characters that you input. Unless the words 'Russia or France' appear in a menu or file in that exact order, it will likely not give you the desired results.
Think about your search terms to ensure they are generic enough to get results (i.e. 'Russia' will find 'Russia' and 'Russian') but not so generic as to cause an impossibly huge menu to be generated (i.e. 'kids' which will match just about every file on the system!).
Since the feature was made available, over 2,200 searches have been done. In addition, there has been a continual increase in Gopher use with a record setting 43,240 events recorded in April 1994.
Specific instructions for using the new search tool can be found in the KIDLINK GOPHER1 file. Comprehensive reports on all the activity at the KIDLINK Gopher are available from the "Research, Reports, Papers, and Newsletters" menu.

8. KIDART and KIDFORUM join forces

The KIDFORUM topic on architecture and astronomy provided a rich opportunity for students to submit artworks. Sr. Dianne Mollica's students at the Immaculate Conception School in Somerville, New Jersey, USA sent one group of architectural drawings (files KIDART SNJ01 to KIDART SNJ11) and another group of astronomical illustrations (files KIDART SNJ12 to KIDART SNJ34).
Steve Croker's students at the Sandford Primary School (UK) took us back to ancient architecture with drawings of Worlebury by Nick Threasher and Stonhenge by Thomas Johns. These are files KIDART SUK01 and KIDART SUK02.
During the KIDLINK Celebration, two of the early contributors to the KIDART Gallery from Protvino, Russia were honored guests of the KIDLINKers in Copenhagen, Denmark. This made it possible to add two of their more recent works to the collection: Blaahaj by Denis Pchelkin and Protva River by Kirill Lugovsky. These are files KIDART PVN01 and KIDART PVN02.
For those of you who have not figured out how old Odd de Presno is, you can find out by looking at the birthday card drawn for him by Ida Berg Meyer in Copenhagen, Denmark. (File KIDART CDK07)

9. Around KIDLINK

Long-time KIDLINKer Knut Braatane (Norway) has been appointed moderator of KIDPLAN. He can be reached at <kbraatane@BBB.NO>. Sonia Fernandez of Montevideo, Uruguay, has been appointed temporary moderator of KIDCAFES, our Spanish language KIDCAFE. Her address is <varelaks@varela.edu.uy>.
The following message recently appeared in KIDLEADR:

Date: Wed, 4 May 1994
From: John Gwinn
Subject: Re: HELP ME!

Dear town councilmen & women,

My name is John Gwinn and I live in Vancouver, Washington state. I go to Alki middle school and I'm twelve years of age.
I think you should get KIDlink because it gives your kids friends across the world.
I have a keypal in Greece. The girl who's doing KIDlink with me has keypals in Germany, Iceland, and Argentina.
It's educational and fun! It enhances children's learning!
If students ask "How does the Health Plan in the U.S. differ from ours?" Tell them, "Why don't you use KIDlink to find out?"
That's just a minor taste of what KIDlink can be used for.

10 New Documents and Files

Important: If you are new to KIDLINK, then you must start by reading the file KIDLINK GENERAL!
The following is a selection of some new or updated files now available by e-mail from our archives:

KIDLINK MASTER	KIDLINK Document Descriptions. It tells you how to get the most _important_ files.
KIDLINK GENERAL	What is KIDS-95? A *must* for all participants!
KIDLINK TIPS	Practical tips about using KIDLINK
KIDLINK SPONSORS	KIDLINK SPONSORS
KIDLINK QUESTION	The four questions explained
KIDLINK WIZARD	KIDLINK People to ask for help
KIDLINK SOCIETY	KIDLINK Organization Overview
KIDLINK KIDSHOW	How to get a copy of KIDSHOW (version 3.0)
KIDLINK NATIONS	Countries in KIDLINK
KIDLINK FLAGS	The national flags of the countries participating in KIDLINK. Self-display file for MS-DOS, with an upgrade feature to put the current flags into KIDSHOW.
KIDLINK OSLO-94	KIDLINK presentation May 1994
KIDLINK MATRIX2	Article about KIDLINK in Matrix News
KIDLINK BIBLIOGR	KIDLINK bibliography
KIDLINK CONTACTS	People to contact about KIDS-95
KIDLINK TRANSLAT	Request for translation help
KIDLINK NEWS494	KIDS-94 Newsletter #4

In Spanish:

KIDLINK GENERALS	Que es KIDLINK / KIDS-95?
KIDLINK TIPSS	Consejos Practicos para u. KIDLINK
KIDLINK NEWS494S	NOTICIAS DE KIDS-94 - Numero 4

In Scandinavian:

KIDLINK GENERALN	Hva er KIDLINK/KIDS-95
KIDLINK NEWS494N	KIDS-94 Nyhedsbrev #4 (Dansk)

In Japanese:

KIDLINK GENERALJ

Kidlink General (Japanese)

To retrieve files from the list above, send an electronic mail 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

The files are also available through KIDLINK's Gopher:

gopher kids.ccit.duq.edu 70
-or-
telnet 165.190.8.35 login: gopher

Browse through the menus to find the information below, stored by subject.
If you only have email access to the Internet, it is still possible to use the gopher. The KIDLINK GOPHER2 file describes an easy way to use Gopher via email.
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.

11. KIDS-95

is a project run by a non-profit organization called the KIDLINK Society. 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 various coordinator forums (KIDLEADR, KIDLEADP, KIDLEADJ, KIDLEADS, KIDLEADN), KIDPROJ, and KIDPLAN are meeting places for teachers, parents and other persons involved with the KIDS-95 project.
KIDS-95 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
KIDCAFEN	Scandinavian language KIDCAFE
KIDCAFES	Spanish language KIDCAFE
KIDFORUM	for exchanges between classroom groups of students.

To join KIDLINK through the Internet, send the command SUB KIDLINK Your Name to LISTSERV@vm1.NoDak.EDU. (Replace "Your Name" 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, KIDCAFEN, KIDCAFES, and KIDFORUM.
A 130+ picture slide show about KIDS-95 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 command: GET KIDLINK KIDSHOW
The KIDS-95 newsletter is an information bulletin for teachers, parents, participants, sponsors, mediators, promoters, and others. Suggestions and contributions are invited.
The newsletters are distributed through the KIDNEWS mailing list, the KIDLINK announcement service, and the KIDLINK Gopher.
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
Mail address: Fax: Internet: email address:		Saltrod, Norway (Europe). +47 41 27111 opresno@ulrik.uio.no

If you want to help out with KIDS-95, 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 about how to join and more. For a list of contact persons, retrieve the file KIDLINK CONTACTS.
KIDS-95 has local representatives in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenija, South Africa, Thailand, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the United States.
Finally, you can also write to KIDLINK, 4815 Saltrod, Norway or just sign up ...