Spotlight MacArthur Foundation

1: Barry Joseph from Global Kids at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, October 24, 2006

I work with Lucky in Teen Second Life. I thought it would be interesting to explain why she used her Second Life screen name and avatar, instead of her real world name and photo.

Lucky has always been very aware of her visibility online and works hard to protect her privacy. That’s why she did not want to let her photo and real name be used. However, through her Second Life avatar and name, she made her views known yet still controls her anonymity and, through that, her safety.

2: Taran Rampersad from KnowProSE.com at 5:28 am on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

There is a danger, though, that a virtual world can insulate children from the realities that they are working for or against. Tracking where that money goes and how it is used is just as - perhaps more - important than raising it.

Sending money doesn’t solve problems, and that lesson can’t be learned within SecondLife. It must be learned in the real world, through empathy (instead of sympathy).

3: Rafi Santo from Global Kids at 2:28 pm on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Taran -

This is a very good point, and one we became very aware of when we began to work with teens to address real world issues in a virtual space. 

We felt it extremely important that two things happened to compensate for this:

1) That the teens knew that the money raised went to a real world organization, the Polaris Project that provides direct services to people affected by trafficking as well as advocating on the policy level for the passage of stronger laws to tackle the issue.

2)  That real world content was incorporated into the maze, including facts and suggestions for action.  While it obviously can can’t compare to the exprerience of visiting a real world brothel in Cambodia in terms of evoking empathy, this kind of multimedia immersive approach has huge potential to reach many youth that would otherwise have no idea that issues like this exist.

4: Taran at 3:05 pm on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

I agree, of course. But I think there always has to be someone around saying, “Kids, this is REAL. People are really suffering.” And even then, it lacks something.

Perhaps we wish to protect the innocence of the children who are trying to do good as well - it is natural and good practice to ‘First Do No Harm’. So it iss a matter of mixing not just virtual reality and ‘real life’, but also a matter of mixing real life with another real life.

The trick with a virtual world buffer is to make the virtual world as transparent between the two real lives as possible… the Holy Grail being completely transparent… and it’s impossible, but it is important to strive for and to let the students know it is being striven for - because that becomes part of their reality; that they can relate to.

It’s a very troublesome issue. And there’s a bit of irony - once the children around the world can all communicate with each other in a virtual world, it will mean that all of these problems will be addressed and the next divide might be the size of the internet connection used to connect.

5: Rik Panganiban from New York, NY, USA at 7:19 pm on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

I think there is a tendency to criticize small efforts done by young people as being naive or ineffectual.  It’s like critiqueing neighborhood kids for collecting money for UNICEF on halloween because the spare change they gather will not end child hunger.

That kind of misses the point, which is that young people should be empowered to use whatever means they have to act in ways that benefit the larger society and planet.  They will likely not be able to impact the underlying roots of all injustice.  But they will learn that they can be activists and organizers, not just consumers or passive audiences.

Kudos to Lucky_figtree and the rest of the Global Kids gang for pulling this off.  I wish I had such cool tools when I was a teenager.

6: Taran at 9:05 pm on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Well, if there was criticism in what I wrote it wasn’t intended Rik (and good to see you here). To clarify - sending money doesn’t solve the problem. But the human connection can, and while virtual worlds are advantageous in gathering to solve a problem - truly understanding the problem is not as possible, and yes - can be naive and ineffectual. And *knowing* that, having that in mind, is important at any stage if one wishes to actually solve the problem.

In short… criticizing and pointing out things should be seen as different things.

7: Lucky Figtree from Second Life, Camp Global Kids at 5:51 pm on Thursday, October 26, 2006

Thanks for the great intro Barry =)
I really didn’t think this would spark any comments, but I am greatful. The work that Global Kids has brought into Teen SecondLife has been nothing but amazing to me, and many others. I have been working with them for a few months in SecondLife, and ‘Real Life’ now. I can trust that the money we raised went to the Polaris Project. Camp Global Kids worked hard to promote awareness of certain issues to the campers; and eventually we went to the entire ‘grid’. We worked very hard; and learned alot on different matters. It may have been a small movement for some; but for the campers and counselors it was a tremendous effort; and I truly believe we did something to help Teen SecondLife develop as well as donating the profits we made to the Polaris Project.

8: Blue Linden at 8:23 pm on Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Lucky has worked hard and emerged as a community leader in Teen Second Life and with the Global Kids.  It’s equally impressive to me that she extends her efforts into her real life, fully bridging the gap between the virtual and the literal.  I’m thankful that Global Kids helps to encourage such dedication to progressive social issues among those who will taking over the world when we’re done with it.  Go Lucky!

9: Lucky Figtree at 9:53 am on Thursday, December 14, 2006

^_^
Thanks fer that, Blue.
It means alot, as you can probably guess. You’ve been a great help; and I can’t remember a Global Kids event in TSL that you weren’t present for. Its really great that you guys are helping out, and we’re getting far; or so I like to think.