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STUDENTS: Internet Publishing (r)

(written by iearn@iearn.org, 03/25/1996)

>From   Sat Mar 23 16:29:36 1996

For the past two years, I've been active in the production
of a global news and views magazine called The Contemporary, a
publication that uses e- mail and teleconferencing to involve
students in an exploration of national and world issues as a
means of preparing teens to be contributing members of a global
community as adults.  Working on an international publication
that uses telecommunications to gather input has been a terrific
experience, far different from writing for a school newspaper
in many respects.    When you write for an international
publication, you deal with vital global issues and the views of
teens from various cultures, so you have to be very concerned about
what you print.  This is different from writing about whether or
not the football team should get new uniforms; we must be careful
about the ethnic and cultural sensitivities of the students involved
with The Contemporary as well as those who read it.

The Contemporary tries to have students who live in troubled
areas of the world write about their feelings and experiences.  We
have had Russian teens write about Chechnya, Mexican students
write about Chiapas, and Japanese students write about their
feelings on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Getting input straight from "the horse's mouth" has been a
fascinating experience, but sometimes, however, this does not
yield the results intended.  For instance, we had a little problem
with The Contemporary when we printed the views of Palestinian and
Israeli students on the peace process in the Middle East.  We were a
bit naive in thinking that by getting students from both sides of
to write to each other through our teleconference, we could bring them
closer together. We were wrong in that regard as we failed to take into
account how deep the gulf is that separates the two.  The dialogue we
set up became very heated and not prone to promote peace, but we at
least were able to have Palestinian and Israeli students on-line
together, stormy as it was.    I also think that writing for a
publication gives on-line communication focus by encouraging
students to express themselves clearly and thoughtfully about
important issues of the day.  Since they know their words will be
read by their peers all over the world, most of the teens involved
with The Contemporary take their work very seriously.  Over the past
two years, I've spent hundreds of hours on-line discussing global
issues with teens from countries I can only dream of visiting, and
while this has been a lot of work, the time spent has opened my eyes
in many respects.

Tami Thompson
Grade 11
Cold Spring Harbor HS, NY