The IndyKids Are Alright

IndyKids is a New York-based school newspaper distributed online and in print nationwide to students in grades four through eight. With its distinctly progressive point of view, the ad-free pub aims to counter the often commercialized infotainment that has been piped into American classrooms for decades. Say the editors: “We believe that kids understand what is happening around them and the truth does not have to be sanitized.”

Rose Saad

Judging by this letter to the editor from the current edition, they’re right. In response to the question “What Would You Be Willing to Stand Up For?,” 10-year-old Rose Saad from P.S. 88 in Queens wrote:

I realize more and more that people do not care about the air that they
breathe. I would be willing to stand up for being an advocate for
keeping the air that we breathe clean and safe. People are smoking,
fumes from cars are being spewed out, and factories are creating gases
and toxins that are also affecting the air quality. What can we do as
people? People should be more considerate about others when it comes to
smoking, thinking first about where they are and who will be affected. People should also take more public transportation and not be so
attached to their cars. Cars create a lot of air pollution and just
think about our lungs and how they are dealing with taking in dirty
fumes. And I think car manufacturing companies need to be more mindful
when it comes to the amount of cars that are being produced. These car
factories produce terrible waste into the air. People think buying a
Prius is being environmentally wise, but in the end the factory burns
so much waste and that is not good. Everyone needs to do some thinking
about the air that we breathe and how we can make it cleaner and
healthier for all.

Bravo to IndyKids, and especially to Rose, who shows a greater grasp of the perils of car dependence than many who should know better.