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Show Kidspeak; A Project 2000 Forum "We are living in a time ofp8rent/JesisJ t/Je time between eres... We nave not q1.11/e left bellind t/Je e1t/Jer/or of t/JeAmerican past- - -centralized, indvstr ialized andeconomically self-contained... 81.1/ we heve not embraced the fvtvre either. We have ctJne tile llvman t/Jing: We are clinging to tlie /mown past in fear of /lie v11kr1own fvtvre. "John Naisb itt Project 2000, Inc. is a non-profit organization committed to informing trie citizens of Ut3h about the social, political, environmental, educational and economic changes we ariticipate t.·111 take p1ac.e by the year 2000. They outline the problems and opportunities those changes will create and propose solutions for promoting tr,e quality of life for all our citizens. lts board is made up of 1eaders throughout the state, who meet on a regular basis to discuss specific problems they see facing Utah and suggest various forums or educational materials that might be developed to encourage more open dialogue within the community and/or state. The League is fortunate to have Di Allison, past President of LWVU, sitting on their board. Kidspeak is one of Project 2000's special projects. Di and I are the co-choirs. This program was designed to give young people on opportunity to talk about their community now and te11 us what they want it to be in trie future. It also will give students the U;)ique opportunity to be r,eard. After a pilot program in Salt Lake City School District, a state-wide survey was administered this fall, thanks to the Utah PTA, to 1O,000 students across the State, in grades 4, 7, and 1 1. This survey asked questions dealing with how our youth felt about their schools, families, jobs, and community and what they hoped for the future in each of these areas. Teacr,ers were given sample community projects that their students could become invo1ved in. The results of this survey were com piled by the University of Utah on the basis of grade, gender, race, and urban/rural. The results were than compiled by sub-tit1es and an eva1uation was prepared for publication. Following are the sub-titles and authors with a sampling from each of their cr,apters. The Family by Gerald Adams, Department of Family and Consumer Studies, Utah State: 1 Ma,7,v findings snow that w1t/J matvrity cliildren s/Jow !ewer fears andgreater vnoarstana'ing or tlielr prob lams. To fllvstratel older t,,"'/1 /idren are more a:.,1,,""eptkJ§ ofa f.Jmi!y ofa ,iilferent rae& living l76)d to t/Jem, older cliildre.r; see it more a:;pr()pr fate to have e personal 1r lend ofa d1!Yerent race, tl1ey worry· less ":.u(JLJ/ 11v(:/ear war, etc. Hew, 2n?r, w/tl1 greater matvr /ty and &).per 1er1c& its:.,::1°6te:f w.1tl13..oe, olo'8r 1.,,"!Jil:..i,"'811 /-1dk:ste tl1~v .Jre more worried abovt /if'."Plt' c'3nt1_0 to:) mvc,r; aoovt matenal t/Jir;_o..,.,~. tl?&y s&e tne rrorld less pt;,silive/y ,"P_O,.Jrding a ,orom,'s1;r;_tl lvtvre, tl7e,v rec()g,11~-:-e gre;5/er levels ofdrug S:'?d slc,.1/10/ ,1~.'.';8 (.i770l?{l t/"/efr peers., etc Educot ion, by Dave Ns lson, State Office 0f Educ~t ion: 5:Jm&w!lat ovar two-tl!frds (,if alI studants ie!t rli&.V wovlo' artemi collt:?ge 1/r;mediately vpon compietJL"J/7 of /Jiy/J sc'l1ot1I.Al10tl1er I 0% lelt t/Jf'y w{lu/dget a j~i!J at tliat point, wtl!/e/c,,1sl an.Jar 7$ ,'e/t t/Jey wovld enter tri11/;/7g for 8/0!J alter t;fg/J scliool .... Iorty-five per1.,.---ent ofall stvdents 1n t/Je stvdy ieit tliey wovld llkely stay 1n utall for e1tlier 1.,."'0/lege or /o/J tra1n1ng. SaltLakeVoter -7- March 1988 |
