Ahh, America, land of baseball, country music and Gettin’ Stuff! Wait, that doesn’t seem right. All right, I’ll just flat out say what I’m going to. The little mini-article on the toy-buying guide (Oct. 5 Backtalk) kinda had me steamed. “When it comes to asking for holiday toys, it’s no time to be subtle.” So, instead, we should all be like “Gimme this and this and this and etc…”?
It’s been done before, but I’m throwing in my 2 cents on holiday commercialism. The holiday season didn’t used to be about getting presents. It used to be about celebrating the kindness and goodness in humanity, as well as religious holidays. So, instead of doing an article on how kids can get stuff, howsabout an article on service projects that need volunteers during the holiday season? I’d like that quite a bit more.
— Niles E., 15
Taking a back seat to Backstreet?
When I saw a review on the Backstreet Boys concert (Oct. 12 Backtalk), I have to admit that I was pretty upset. When ‘N Sync had their concert here, you guys had nothing at all on them. I went to the ‘N Sync concert, and it was totally awesome. It’s totally unfair to have a review of one band and not another. Please think next time when you review concerts because some people like ‘N Sync (like me) and other people like BSB.
— Jenny K., 14
P.S. Did all you BSB fans know that ‘N Sync started the flying thing?
KidNews note: We’re sorry you were disappointed, Jenny. The thing is, whenever we review a concert, we get letters from kids complaining about concerts we DIDN’T review. But if we reviewed every concert our readers were into, we wouldn’t have room for anything else! So we balance things the best we can. In this case, we overheard that Tribune reporter Maureen Ryan was going to see BSB, and we asked if she’d be nice enough to write a review for us –and she was! (Oh, by the way, she agrees that ‘N Sync did the flying thing before BSB.)
MUSIC MOVES US
This is in response to Jennifer C. (Sept. 21 Backtalk). I agree that music does have an effect on us. When the music is depressing, it makes us depressed. When the music is exciting, it makes us want to dance. I love music, but some people think music like rap and rock is the cause of violence. Some songs might have some swear words, but that does not make you go out and kill or hurt somebody. People are responsible for their own actions.
— Monica U., 13
`FREAK’ SHOW
I have a question to ask you, KidNews. What were you thinking when you printed that letter from Joe S. calling girls “fashion freaks” (Oct. 5 Backtalk)? I always respected your choices of what to print, but that was an awful letter from a cynical 11-year-old boy. It didn’t even make sense. He was just basing his opinions on the stereotype that all girls like fashion and makeup, instead of dragging himself away from his precious video games to talk to a girl and see what she’s really like. You’d be surprised, Joe, to learn that few, if any, girls are totally focused on that stuff. I knew as well as you did that this would cause a huge debate, and I can already tell who’s going to lose.
— Julianne E., 14
KidNews note: Yo, Julianne, thanks for speaking your mind. We figured Joe had the right to speak his mind, too, whether or not we agreed with him. That’s what Backtalk is all about. We also knew our offended readers would know just how to handle things –by writing Backtalk letters in reply!
FLOYD’S FURY
I think the fury and flurry of Hurricane Floyd (Sept. 28 Tough News) was devastating to the eastern United States. I feel sorry for the people who had family members who died in the horrible storm. It had to be scary for all those people. People had to think they would never be safe again.
I feel sorry for children who had to suffer the wrath of Hurricane Floyd. I know that if I lived in North Carolina, I would have been scared. I don’t think anyone could have gone untouched by the storm Hurricane Floyd caused.
— Ryan O.
I would like to talk about what happened in North Carolina. I think we should help them out by collecting money and giving it to the mayor to rebuild everything that was destroyed during the hurricane. I think we also should collect food for all the people who don’t have homes and live in a shelter. My sister is in South Carolina in the Army. My parents were worried about her the whole time. I was too. So I think we should lend a hand and help them out.
— Adam K., 13
KidNews note: That’s a really generous idea, Adam. Why not organize a school drive to raise money for the hurricane victims? You could donate it to the American Red Cross, which is the major group handling relief efforts for Hurricane Floyd. You could send donations (send checks, not cash) to American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. For more info, call the Red Cross at 1-800-HELP NOW or check out the Web site www.redcross.org.
CAN’T WE GET ALONG?
I want to say something that’s been bothering me for a long time. What concerns me is the kind of world we live in today. I watch the news almost every day, and you know what I’ve noticed? That almost every time they say or show something bad like murder, rape, arrest, explosion and racism. I sometimes wonder how people could have the heart to do something bad like that to another person. I mean, nobody gets along with each other anymore. Even little kids are thinking of doing things like that too. I ask myself, where did their innocence go?
— Cindy N., 14
VENTING ABOUT VENDING MACHINES
I think the students at my school should get to go to the pop and candy machines. It’s not fair when the teachers are allowed to go to the machines. At lunch, we should be able to get a chance to go to the machines. If there’s a problem with too many people going to the machines, then they should call us up by tables like they do when they call us to get our lunch in the cafeteria. That is what Ithink would be fair.
The school administration thinks we would not eat our good, nutritious lunch. If we eat our lunch, then we should be able to go to the pop and candy machines.
— Jennifer P., 13
LESS DRESS STRESS
I think all public schools should have uniforms. It would help with today’s clothing problems. I also think it might help raise kids’ self-esteem.
If uniforms were to be used, kids would have a lot less discrimination against what people wear.
— Katie M., 13
Our school has a strict dress code. Personally, I could care less what people wear or not. The reason our school has a dress code is because some girls wear shirts that show too much of their body.
I’m kind of glad that we have a dress code, because girls should not pay attention to what they wear to school. It’s whether you get good grades in school that’s what counts.
— Nicole M., 13
A LITTLE HEAVY ON THE HOMEWORK, HUH?
I think school is good for us, but they give us too much work! Every day, we have homework for almost every single class. School makes me worry too much for my grades and homework. I also think they shouldn’t give us that much homework, because we have work to do at home. All I get to do when I’m at home is homework, eat and sleep.
— Angelica D., 14
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Write letters or send editorial cartoons to Backtalk, 5th Floor, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. We won’t use your last name, but you must include your full name, age and phone number (we may call to make sure you wrote it). You can also send us letters by e-mail (ctc-kidnews@tribune. com).
