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

Issue number 3. November 23, 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'm a Muslim"

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 64 countries around the world.
Here are some recent responses:

** From Kuwait **
(1) My name is Fawaz Aslam Mohammed. I am 136 cm tall. I'm nearly 12 years old and a male. I have 5 brothers and 1 sister. My father works in the trading company "35 Code".
My house is in Salwa in Kuwait and has three rooms 2 bathrooms 1 dining room 1 kitchen. I'm muslim and my hobby is benchball and badminton. I study in Gulf English School with mrs Buxton in year 7 Dasman. My nationality is Pakistani.
(2) When grow up maybe I'm going to get married and have children. I wish to get 1st degree in education. when I grow to be a man I will study about art history and be an artist and I'm interested in discoveries in the future.
(3/4) If I ruled the world I like the world to be friends when I grow up and also I will care about the environment.

** From Slovenia **
(1) My name is Simon Kau~i~ and I'm fifteen years old. I have blue - grey eyes and light - brown hairs. I attend firs class off PTT-high school. I live in a capital city of Slovenia - Ljubljana.
(2) When I grown up, I want to be Lawyer on University of Law.
(3) I want justice for all, no more weapons and no racial discrimination. And black people must have the same rules as white people
(4) I can help with that to became a member of some organizations who work on this, to send the apels to that countrys who are doing wrong things regarding human rights.

** From Alaska, U.S.A. **
My name is Brendan Colin Manion.
I am a 10 year old boy.
I live in the city of Juneau, in the state of Alaska in the United States of America.
I attend Glacier Valley Elementary School.
I am interested in Origami,model rocketry, snowboarding,and computers.I am concerned about political activities in Alaska, such as our capital moving. My family would have to move,(not being able to afford it)and my parents would have to find new jobs.
I would like to be a clown when I grow up.
I like to make people laugh. In order to achieve this goal I would attend clown college.
Peace, solar powered cars and higher fines for littering and polluting would make the world a better place to live.
If I wanted to achieve this goal I would start with actually producing a solar powered car (If it would work here in Juneau it would work in any other place in the world). I could start a litter program to clean up our environment.

2. Keypals in KIDCAFE

Keypals in KIDCAFE certainly help their distant friends understand geography. This is what Joachim Bugge Forde in Northern Norway wrote to Alex Saxton in New Zealand:
If you draw a diameter through the Globe from you then you are almost going to hit me. Norway is at the opposite side of the Globe of New Zealand, so when you have winter we have summer. Just now we are having snow.
I guess you are celebrating christmas in the summer. How do you do that? We celebrate christmas in the winter. It is so dark then we do not see the sun at all, because I live north off the Arctic Circle.
In another KIDCAFE message that same day, Michelle McCarthy in Australia wrote to her keypal Jolene: "It is very hot here, i might be able to go for a swim later on. what is it like there?"
It is also nice to see students reaching out across traditional boundaries. This is what Casey McKinney in Virginia, USA said to Ayako Oguro in Japan:
How are you? I'm your key pal I guess. I read your description. You sound nice. I'm from an asian country too. I'm from Korea. I know that in the past our countries haven't been the been the best of friends.If you don't know what I'm talking about, I' talking about the war we had. I hope you know what I'm talking about now because I don't want to hurt your feelings. Anyway, I'm an 10 1\2 year old female. I like to write children's books, ride bikes, act, sing, and write to special people like you.
In the ABOUT: category of messages, KIDCAFE has taken a poetic turn with contributions from several schools. Kaisa Clark from Massachusetts, USA wrote:

My poems are usually not very serius. Take the following...

Rex the Turkey runs around,
Trying to tell everyone in town,
That the farmers are coming,
And to run,run,run!
Just before ther lives will be done.....

She was answered by a fifth grade class in Colorado, USA. They sent a batch of poems, including these on a winter theme:

The snow is soft and cold.
I love the snow--it is so brisk
But if I play too long
My toes become numb--brrrr
Tony Clemenger

There must be a reason
To play in the winter
Skiing, sledding, and having fun
Always there is a reason for the season
Chris Schaeffer

Winter
Cold, Snow
Freezing, playing, sliding
Christmas, present, sun, flowers
Raining, swimming, scorching
Hot, fun
Summer
Lindsey Wadsworth

My frosty friend
In the snow
Freezing, standing, melting
My snowman
Sarah Call

3. "My Own School" in KIDFORUM

Most KIDLINK participants go to school, though a few get their schooling at home. In the KIDFORUM project for October 12 to November 20, students are thinking and writing about the kind of school in which they would like to learn. They are thinking about teaching and learning, designing their own ideal schools, and sharing some of their actual school (or home-school) experiences. Along the way they also consider the costs of their schooling and who pays those costs.
Six moderators direct the project: Brendan Desilets teaches English and reading in grades seven and eight, Marcia Marlow sixth grade English and social studies, Marilyn Bemis sixth grade English and mathematics, and Michael Rinaldi is a computer specialist. All four work at the John Glenn Middle School, in Bedford, Massachusetts, USA. Stephen Loosley is a high school teacher of English and computers in Melbourne, Australia; and Steven Toleikis teaches sixth grade in Victoria, Canada.
On of the project's more popular activities has been the writing of similes about schools and learning. Jonathan and Ian, of Natalie Barman's fifth grade class, write, "School is like and endless road. You never know what could be around the bend." Their classmate, Graham S. adds, "School is like training wheels. Once you conquer it, you can move on to greater things."
Eighth grader Paula Alonzo-Recarte offers, "Learning is like skydiving. Sometimes you've got to take a chance." Classmate Greg Haynes adds two images: "Learning is like a collection. You can just keep adding to it. Learning is like climbing mountains. You have your ups and downs, but you get places."
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.
The topic for Febrary-March 1995 is "The Great KIDLINK Hunt of KIDS-95." If you missed the project announcement on the KIDLINK list, you can send a message to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU and say: /SHIP KIDLINK 605

4. Progress Report: KIDPROJ

The KIDPROJ list is where projects representing every subject in what we would like to call an 'International Curriculum' are conducted.
Projects vary in duration, some are designed to extend over one year, but most are intended to be developed through interaction of the participants over an extended period.
Please note that KEYWORDS prefix the descriptors on the KIDPROJ subject line, and that they show the project to which the message relates.

Multi-Cultural Calendar

Mike Burleigh and Patti Weeg began the Multi-Cultural Calendar in January. Since then, they have received wonderful text, graphic and sound files describing cultural events from around the globe showing that KIDLINK does indeed represent a multi-cultural society.
These countries have contributed to the Calendar so far: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay.
If your country is not on the list, please write Mike Burleigh <UBJVM6Q@CCS.BBK.AC.UK>, or Patti Weeg <pweeg@SOURCE.ASSET.COM>.

Desert and Desertification project

is run by Hannah Sivan and David Lloyd in Israel <boker@zeus.datasrv.co.il>). This is their report:
"We feel that last week was the turning point of this project. There are 45 addresses on our mailing list, about 30 of them are classes. Some of the participants are home schools, some are single students.
The participants are from the cold desert of Alaska, the hot deserts of southern USA and the Middle east (Israel), the South-American plains (Argentina, Brazil). Some do not live in deserts at all, like the participants from Guatemala, France, Slovenia and Tasmania.
We all learned that we have *SO MUCH* to learn from each other! Just some examples:
We learned that the climate in the "Transitional season" is Israel is similar to the climate in New-Mexico.
We learned that there are no oasis in Australia.
Students from Alaska can compare the stories of creation from their part of the world to the creation stories of the Aboriginals of Australia. Our students are in direct contacts withe three traditional Nomadic populations: the Bedouins, Indians and the Inupiat Eskimos.
As the input from our classes is coming in, we hope to learn more. We are planning to "match" students to learn together and to teach few of the subjects in remote teaching, using the KIDLINK IRC."

KIDZINE and FLAGS

We are especially proud of these projects as they are entirely the work of KIDLINK kids. KIDZINE is a magazine for children by children. Flags from eight countries have been 'drawn' by kids and sent to Robbert Uittenbroek and Andraz Tancek, the moderators.
KIDZINE's young editor writes: "KIDZINE is a project aiming to help develop writing and research skills by publishing a monthly online magazine for KIDLINK, produced by kids, for kids. The first issue has recently been released. To get it, write to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU with the following in your message text
GET KIDPROJ KIDZIN01
The first issue of this esteemed publication will then wing its way swiftly to your emailbox.
PLEASE, please, please tell us what you think of it: and, of course, see if you can contribute something to the next great issue!
Yours, Jaron Ghani <jaz@ghani.demon.co.uk>

The 'NAMES' project

Din Ghani is moderating this project. It aims to help young people focus on the meaning and nature of names throughout our multicultural society.

Math Pen Pal

Thanks to the wonderful efforts of Leisa Winrich the very popular MATH PEN PALS:COMMUNICATION THROUGH NUMBERS has just completed its first month. At this time, 36 schools from places including Finland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, and 19 of the United States have joined.
Teachers/students participate at different levels as some contribute weekly, others submit data/activities per certain topics, while some watch the list for activity suggestions.
This month schools ranked populations, determined each other's school day length, and located participants via latitude/longitude coordinates. Daily high/low temperatures were exchanged, compared and graphed. Our M and M pricing survey has just begun.
Registration is on-going as schools and students may join/leave at any time.

SSCA

Jamie Wilkerson, who brought us the shuttle launch sessions on the IRC, has attracted many interested groups with her current project and reports. In her own words:
"The SS Central America project has shared much excitement since its beginning on September 12. The project is centered around the wreck of steamship Central America in 1857.
Participants were invited to take part in experiments, writing activities, and chats featuring members of the crew recovering the wreck, a television weatherman discussing hurricanes, a scuba diver explaining the problems and fun of diving around shipwrecks, and our own science fiction writer (John Ost, Writer's Corner) working with kids to create their own story of the shipwreck.
Currently, we are sharing some of the stories of the survivors of the wreck. As we move into the next module of the project, we will begin to look at the passengers and cargo aboard the ship and what happened to everything at the time of the wreck and in the years since. This includes the shipment of gold that was being carried aboard the ship at the time of the wreck.
We would like to invite you to join us as we "sail along" into the year- long project."
Jamie Wilkerson is at <wilkerson@sunbelt.net>.

KIDCLUB

The International Youth Club was set up to help KIDLINK kids put into practice the ideal 'Think Global - Act Local'. Amongst our successes we now have KIDLINK Mentors in London and Maryland USA collaborating on the writing of weekly articles for a local newspaper in Maryland.
A recent development has been the extension of the Saturday KIDCLUB IRC conference into e-mail during the following week. It has given us a series of lovely exchanges that seem to shape the subject for the subsequent IRC Youth Club.
John Ost has moderated "The Writers' Corner" on KIDCLUB, and has guided our KIDLINK kids into writing some fantastic stories together online.

FAMILY FOCUS

1994 has been appointed as the International Year of the Family. Julie Hooper in Tasmania is moderating the project which focuses on the importance of family life.

5. KIDLINK Interactive

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. Now, if you want to use it for any length of time (more than 15 minutes), you will have to register specifically for KIDLINK IRC. The registration templates are in the KIDLINK IRCHELP2 file.
Once registered, you will be able to connect using telnet or using your own client (the preferred method). There are over 120 registered users so far, and now you can see who they are on the KIDLINK Gopher. Look under the 'KIDLINK People' menu and then select 'Registered KIDLINK IRC Users.' At the top of this menu, there is even an option to see who is using KIDLINK IRC at that very moment: 'Who is on KIDLINK IRC *right now*?'
In the past few months, the configuration of the KIDLINK IRC network has changed. A complete description of the network can be found in the freshly updated KIDLINK IRCHELP1 file.
The online 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 it to order ANY file from the KIDLINK archives. This is done without ever leaving IRC. The full instructions, which will be expanded upon soon to include new features, can be obtained on KIDLINK IRC by typing: /msg help send

6. The World Wide Web comes to KIDLINK

For those of you who are enjoying the latest fashion in networking, KIDLINK now has an experimental World Wide Web (WWW) page based on the ever-popular KIDLINK GENERAL file.
To fully access this service, you will need a direct Internet connection (or a "Pseudo-SLIP" connection to a Unix Shell account), and a WWW browser program like Lynx, Mosaic, or Netscape. Then, give the following Web address (URL) to your WWW browser: http://kidlink.ccit.duq.edu:70/0/kidlink-general.html
There is also a less elegant solution for those unable to use the World Wide Web interactively. WWW pages can be requested by email to listproc@mail.w3.org
Put your retrieval commands in the BODY of the mail, like this
send http://kidlink.ccit.duq.edu:70/0/kidlink-general.html
That's all. Lean back and wait. KIDLINK's WWW page will be returned to you by email.
We are looking into the possibility of expanding this method of providing information. For example, we want youth to be able to answer the four KIDLINK questions by filling out a form. We are also looking at creating a WWW version of KIDLINK MASTER that contains links to all our Gopher files. There are also some folks working on ideas to help kids actually produce their own WWW pages. Stay tuned!

7. Special language forums taking off

Our Spanish language forums, KIDCAFES and KIDLEADS, are very active these days. For example of what goes on right now, teacher Cristina Chiocci in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is moderating a project called "Revista Electro'nica". The goals of this electronic publication project are:

1. Promover la produccio'n escrita por medio de la redaccio'n de una revista electro'nica con colaboraciones de distintos pai'ses del mundo.
2. Incentivar la investigacio'n y discusio'n de temas de intere's.
3. Proveer un medio en el cual los nin~os y adolecentes puedan participar sin depender de una respuesta individual.

Si quieres recuperar mensajes donde se explicito' la informacio'n sobre este proyecto, te recomiendo que le envi'es un mensaje a LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU con el siguiente comando en el cuerpo del texto: /ship kidleads 117,118,119

Write Cristina at <cristina@cris.satlink.net> for more information.
Other project include "COMPARTIDA DE MATEMATICA," which is being moderated by Ariel Affonso in Uruguay <aaffonso@varela.edu.uy>.
In the Scandinavian language KIDCAFEN, a "Rejser i Norden" project started on November 1 to continue out December. The moderators are teachers Hanne Bentzen in Odense, Denmark, and Thorunn Traustdottir in Reykjavik, Iceland. Write Hanne at <M1817@skole-kom.uni-c.dk>, or Thorunn at <thtraust@ismennt.is> for information.

8. 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 GENERAL	What is KIDS-95? A *must* for all participants!
KIDLINK MASTER	KIDLINK Document Descriptions. It tells you how to get the most _important_ files.
KIDLINK WIZARD	KIDLINK People _you_ can ask for help!!
KIDLINK AGE	KIDLINK's Policy on Age Limits
KIDLINK TIPS	Practical tips about using KIDLINK
KIDLINK KIDSHOW	How to get a copy of the "electronic book" about KIDLINK
KIDLINK NATIONS	Countries in KIDLINK
KIDLINK CHARTGIF	KIDLINK's Organization Chart (29 Kb)
KIDLINK TRANSLAT	Help needed: Translators.
KIDLINK SPONSORS	List of KIDLINK sponsors (local and global)
KIDLINK OTHERNTS	Resources for kids outside KIDLINK's age range.
KIDLINK NEWS295	KIDS-95 Newsletter #2
KIDLINK CONTACTS	People to contact about KIDS-95
KIDLINK IRCHELP	KIDLINK IRC Help File Index
KIDLINK PEOPLE	Profiles of KIDLINK people
KIDCAFE GUIDE	Revised complete guidelines for participation.
KIDCAFE SHORT	Short version of the instructions.

In Dutch:

KIDLINK GENERALD	Wat is KIDLINK/KIDS-95?
KIDLINK TIPSD	Tips bij het werken met KIDLINK

In German:

KIDLINK GENERALG

Was ist KIDLINK/KIDS-95

In Scandinavian:

KIDLINK GENERALN

Hva er KIDLINK/KIDS-95

In Spanish:

KIDLINK NEWS295S

Noticias de KIDS-95/2

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
The files are also available on KIDLINK's interactive information server:

gopher kids.ccit.duq.edu 70
-or-
telnet 165.190.8.35 login: gopher
-or-
URL: gopher://kids.duq.edu:70/1
-or-
URL: http://kidlink.ccit.duq.edu:70/0/kidlink-general.html

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.
Several new art creations have 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.

9. 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 SUBSCRIBE 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 and Macintosh computers. For details about how to get a copy, send an email 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 "SUBSCRIBE 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, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenija, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the United States.
Finally, you can also write to KIDLINK, 4815 Saltrod, Norway or just join ...