>>Narrator: Whether they are meeting with foreign ambassadors.
>>Did that sort of brutality affect any of your personal relationships?
>>Narrator: Or creating international forums in Second Life,
members of Global Kids are plugged in to the world.
>>Carole: I was meeting young people and asking them if they would
like to learn about world affairs.
And they said "Oh yes, please.
You know we never get this in school.
We'd like to know about the cultures of the people in our classrooms
and no one is ever really giving us the opportunity to do that."
>>You know because getting some education,
telling us about the world and stuff-
>>Narrator: Created in 1989, Global Kids conducts a variety of in-school
and after-school programs at several locations around New York City.
Activities include the arts.
>>Somebody pass me a blue marker.
>>Narrator: Digital media.
>>Computer program: Return to school after a week
but don't bother coming back if you don't have the tuition fees.
>>Narrator: And leadership classes
that promote civic participation and global awareness.
>>Teacher: Can you think of one global issue like a human rights
or social justice issue and write it on your Post-It.
>>Narrator: In the Online Leadership program students learn
to use new media forms like gaming and virtual environments
to explore a larger world.
>>Barry: We actually have a class where the youth go into Second Life,
it's a virtual world, and learn about global sustainability issues,
and then demonstrate what they know within that same space.
We still have a teacher here in Brooklyn, but we also have a teacher
in Scotland who being there in Second Life co-teaches the class.
And in that space for example, youth aren't just using a virtual world.
They're using a virtual world as part of the larger Internet ecology.
>>Student: Currently I'm working on trying to put the scenes together-
>>Narrator: The virtual video class also takes place in Teen Second Life.
>>Computer program: Did you get a book?
>>Computer program: Oh only the Chinese students get those for free.
>>Tabitha: Now the exciting part
about their filmmaking is they're not using real-life cameras.
They're using everything virtual.
So they're using Second Life which is a virtual community as a platform.
They're learning to work with each other on coming up with a storyboard,
everything from the preproduction all the way to post-production,
all the little steps in making a film.
>>...was basically the classroom.
>>Tabitha: Okay.
>>The first semester they're working
on improving their digital media delivery skills,
and then in their second half then they talk
about what's the global issue they want to raise awareness on.
>>And then after he notices so many injustices going
on in China he decides to leave with his mother
through the Himalayan Mountains and into India.
>>Barry: One of the exciting things about using digital media as a form
of youth media is that not only are the tools fascinating
to work with for young people.
They're very engaged around it and they can learn important skills,
but it means that their potential audience is so much bigger.
I mean the game that we released three years ago,
The Cost of Life has been played in the past year and one-half
about over one and one-half million times.
To have youth know that their work can be heard
by that many people can make a difference,
and if that many people can just enjoy what they've done is a
tremendously powerful experience to move from being a consumer
to being a critical creator.
And when you become a critical creator you then view yourself
as a leader, one who can make a difference in the world.
>>We also visited the U.N.
>>Carole: If young people have the opportunity to learn
about things they care about they will be more motivated to read books.
They'll be more motivated to take action on things they care about,
and they will see themselves as players on the world stage
and they'll understand that in order to do that,
they'll have to work harder in school.
So my approach to dropout prevention was to turn young people on to things
that they really cared about.
And it actually has worked.
>>For more information on what works
in public education go to edutopia.org