Everything After: A 9.11 Youth Circle - United States

E.A.9.11 involved the creation of a website to enable small group dialogues (SGDs) on the part of young people between the ages of 14 and 19. SGD is a discussion technique designed to create an intimate online space for high-quality conversations characterised by the give and take of a real, in-person conversation. Project partner Web Lab structured the SGD approach as follows:

• Limited group size - SGD assigns people to smaller groups, each with a limited number of members (between 25-45 active participants). Despite the fact that they begin as strangers, participants get to know and trust each other, hopefully making for a better conversation.
• Discussions unfold over time - unlike chat, where everyone must be online at the same time, SGD is an "asynchronous" dialogue, which means that every posting is available for reading at any time, and members can take as long as they need to write a response.
• Limited life span - participants in a SGD start together and come to closure together after 3 weeks, unless members vote to extend the life of the group. The idea is that the limited time frame makes for a more lively discussion - members are more likely to go ahead and post instead of "lurking" for weeks. This also makes for a more intense group experience - there are no latecomers, so the discussion does not need to be repeated or "rehashed".
• Less anonymity - by limiting group size, using member biographies, and beginning each group with self-introductions, SGDs lower the level of anonymity to raise the level of accountability, while still preserving safety and privacy. The idea here is that every member has an identity - a person is an individual who will be missed if he or she drops out; comments are less likely to be taken out of context. Some element of anonymity is preserved, though; SGDs are based on the idea that people are often more willing to say what they think or feel online than they are in person.
• Youth-led - instead of dialogues in which moderators or facilitators define what is appropriate for discussion, SGDs put the group members in charge. The quality of the discussion rests on the action and initiative of group members; the idea is that self-moderated groups will take ownership of their own conversations instead of being led by administrators. Groups are allowed to explore topics that are most meaningful to their members. Some of the topics included Homeland Security, President Bush's "Axis of Evil", the war in Afghanistan, and discrimination and violence against Muslim and Arab peoples. To foster discussion, GK "Youth Monitors" sent out periodic newsletters with suggested topics - sometimes highlighting issues that other circles have been talking about.
• Outstanding discussions are highlighted - to spotlight in-depth exchanges between people who respect each other's perspectives, SGD includes a "Featured Discussions" area that includes some sample exchanges that participants chose to highlight. Sample discussion titles from E.A.9.11 include "Can War End Terrorism?" and "Is Patriotism Patriotic?". These discussions are archived, and may be viewed on the dedicated E.A.911 website. (In addition, all of the dialogues may be viewed in "raw form" by clicking here).

Concretely, each Youth Circle was provided with its own password-protected home page. This page listed the topics created by circle members, who could then select the topics that interested them and use a form at the bottom of the page to add their own thoughts. Or, to begin a new line of discussion, members simply clicked on an icon to "start a new topic." Members could also select the name of a fellow circle member and read his or her "bio" (biography). To encourage participation, youth who registered and posted at least one message were entered into a contest to win either one of an assortment of videos from partner Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) or a Sony PlayStation.

A list of online resources was - and still is - available to participants or anyone interested in conflict-related issues. The page is divided into these sections "for youth, by youth", "for youth, by adults" and "for adults, by adults".

Youth, Conflict.

During the 2-month period in which this programme was active, 350 youth from 20 countries created 221 threads to post 1775 messages.

Global Kids is an educational organisation dedicated to supporting urban youth's development as community leaders and global citizens.