Inside PBS Blog

"Eat healthy foods's [sic] or get fat and when you get older you might die. so eat healthy and play."

This is 9-year-old Christina's prescription for a healthier America. It's one of over 1,500 ideas that kids have submitted so far via the Speak Out website on PBS KIDS since the site's launch on November 14.  Produced in collaboration with the New Media Institute, Speak Out invites kids to submit their ideas on what President Obama should do about the issues most important to children - which, as the producers determined via a survey, are schools, being healthy and the environment. In addition to submitting their own ideas, kids can vote on ideas submitted by others; collectively, the site offers a snapshot of a young generation ripe with ideas for changing their nation and the world.

Nina Walia, Associate Director of PBS KIDS, says, "It's rare that we have the chance to do something timely with kids, and the site has gained a lot of attention because of that, (from) both kids and parents."

She adds "I didn't expect the amount of attention we'd get, and I'm thrilled about the support we've gained for the project across public media."  The site has garnered accolades from the public media sphere, particularly at the NMI conference this year .

So far, the most popular ideas on the site (again, as determined by user voting) have to do with healthier school lunches, saving the polar bears and free healthcare for people who cannot afford it on their own.  Some of the submissions are truly brilliant for their simple wisdom, such as this suggestion from Kenneth, age 5: "Do not dump garbage into the sea." 

Kids have some good ideas, don't they President Obama?

Check out the site, and encourage the kids in your life to submit their ideas.