GARDEN GROVE : Children Broaden World Views With Internet Chat

Pecking slowly at a laptop computer keyboard, Christopher Cramer entered a friendly greeting to unseen friends across the globe.

Moments later on a big-screen monitor above the desk, replies of “Hi, Chris” from youngsters in Iceland, Uruguay, Israel and several U.S. cities scrolled by.

The real-time interchange via the Internet was part of a three-day annual event called “Kidlink,” which encourages children worldwide to correspond with one another and consider what they can do to make the world a better place.

With formalities out of the way, Chris, 11, and several fifth-grade classmates at Clinton-Mendenhall Elementary School began typing in questions to learn more about their peers abroad. Topics included whether Green Day is a cool band and whether “Beavis and Butt-head” is a good show.

“It’s cool because you can talk to people around the world. I talked to kids in (places) like Florida, Iceland and Hawaii,” said Rene Amador, 11. “I asked them, ‘Do you play Super Nintendo?’ ”

Vonnie Phillips, who coordinates the program at Clinton-Mendenhall, said children were learning more than they realized by chatting with children from around the globe. After chatting via computer, they often study atlases and geographic texts to learn about where their new friends live.

“I just think this is the future for our kids. They’re getting away from the textbook and into the world where it’s just so much more real,” she said. Phillips said the whole point “is for them to get to know each other, to be aware of other cultures and (understand) that kids everywhere are kids.”