Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

Our first groups of D.I.D.I. Venturers are successfully launching!!

Supported by Global Kids and Youth Venture, the following teams are beginning to launch successful ventures to benefit their communities in Teen Second Life and bring change to the world around them.

Body Rider
Youth from Ohio, USA, age 15
Body Rider plans to use Teen Second Life to create a virtual tour through parts the human body. As visitors ride through the body, they will learn how our bodies are affected by smoking, using drugs, and engaging in other unhealthy habits. For example, the ride will show what the lungs of a smoker look like compared to those of a nonsmoker. The purpose of Body Rider is to teach teens about health in a fun and interesting way. The team believes that learning without boring books is the best way to learn.

KLASS
Four Youth from Ramapo Middle School in New York
KLASS plans to address problems faced by teens including stress, self-mutilation, suicide, drug abuse, and underage drinking. The team will work within Teen Second life to raise awareness about these issues, and to create a peer support group to help teens around the world who are dealing with these issues. They plan to establish an online group to hold weekly meetings for teens in Second Life to help them cope with problems they are facing and to help foster relationships between teens around the world who are dealing with similar issues. KLASS will be a place where teens can discuss their problems and share ideas. The team also plans to host meetings and conferences in Second Life to raise awareness for the prevention and/or treatment of teens affected by these problems. In order to sustain the venture, KLASS will create and sell products in Second Life such as bracelets and t-shirts with inspirational phrases that reflect the mission of KLASS.

Jump Start Park
Two youth from Florida and Kentucky ages 13 and 15
The primary purpose of Jump Start Park is to provide support for new members of Teen Second Life. The team observed that new residents in Second Life usually wander around not knowing how to do things or where to go. Jump Start Park will address this problem by welcoming new members into the community and providing free classes on building, scripting on other Second Life skills, giving away freebies, and answering newbies’ questions. Jump Start Park will combine learning with fun by creating an educational amusement park with rides for both new and old members. The team believes that if new residents know more about the Second Life and its community, they will enjoy Second Life more, will become better Second Life residents, and will contribute to a better community in Second Life. Jump Start Park also aims to raise awareness of and knowledge about health issues that affect teens. Within the park, they will post flyers and have kiosks with information on a variety of health issues.

Dark Matter
Two youth from New York and Nevada, ages 14 and 15
The Dark Matter team is creating a venture that will provide computer programming resources to both novice and advanced developers. Dark Matter aims to support young people who want to enter the field of programming, but are unsure how to get started. They will provide all the resources young people need to advance easily through learning programming and implementing their marketable knowledge in the real world. Dark Matter will have a headquarters in Teen Second Life as well as an online presence, enabling it to serve as a resource for anyone trying to create content within or outside of Second Life. The team will offer classes, tutorials, meeting areas, software, database storage, directories, etc. that will allow novice developers to get into the field easily, and allow advanced developers to move to the next level.

Preparing for an upcoming Selection Panel:

A New Tomorrow
Youth ages 15 and 13 from California
A New Tomorrow aims to raise awareness among Teen Second Life residents about cancer and other major health problems. The team is constructing a facility where teens will be able to gather, learn about health issues, and participate in fundraisers to raise money for the American Cancer Society. A New Tomorrow also plans to facilitate group discussions for teens who have friends or family who have died or are suffering from disease to discuss their feelings and receive support from one another.