Kids` Voice

This is my favorite section because here is where I post the work samples sent in by kids and young adults. I have been quite impressed with the thoughtful answers thus far. You may see some of the same information posted in other areas of the Web site. I don’t want you to miss the important contributions kids and young adults are making. See also the Poetry page.

Note: If you use the “Send to Chris” button to send in work, and you want your first name or screen name and age to be displayed, please put that information in the answer box as well. For instance, after you type your answer, you can say, “Sent by Cooljay, age 14.” Your voice makes Let Kids Lead great.

Someone sent me this:

A hero is someone who handles life’s difficulties gracefully, with integrity, and without complaining. A hero is also individualistic with the capacity to act bravely and to help his friends. Finally, a hero is someone who finds meaning and purpose of his life in himself instead of deriving this purpose from another person or thing.

What would you do?

Question: You notice that a schoolmate is being teased. For the sake of interest, let’s assume that you do not know the kid. What peaceful measures would you take to help ensure that the teasing stops? Would you take it upon yourself to befriend the kid who is being teased? Share your thoughts and I will gladly post them.

Answer: Ask them to stop. Tell an adult

Answer: First I would say knock it off bully and stand up for the boy. Then, I would play with the boy. If the bully continued, I'd go tell a teacher or the nearest adult. ~ Sent by Cole who also said, "This is a cool website."

Answer: I would befriend the teased kid, then I would build their confidence

Answer: i would stand up on his side and tell the teacher that everyone is bugging him

Answer: tell the teacher about the problem without him or her [the kid being bullied] knowing that you are the one who told it

Answer: id walk up to the person doing the teasing and see if the would stop if they do not listen then i would litterally get into the middle of the fighting and make sure that the guy/girl who is being teased doesnt hear. if the person teasing is using words then i would block the words and make sure the other cant hear, if its phisical teasing then i would try and stop the person from hitting the other one.

Answer: I would tell the bullies not to pick on them anymore and if it keeps up I'd tell a teacher.

Answer: i would tell a teacher!

Answer: I would listen for a minute, to see what was going on, then I would go over and ask what is going on. If they say something offensive, I would say to the person who is being teased: "Hey, why don't we go and do something together / find someone for you to stay or play with? Ignore them." Then I would do just that.

Answer: I would tell the teacher that the kid is being teased. And from on there, I hope the teacher will solve the problem.

Answer: i would stand up for the schoolmate and get to know him and be his friend. id also talk to the person thats teasing him and ask him questions like why is he doing this.

Answer: I would give the kid advice. I would try to be friends with the kid, but not force friendship.

Answer: I think you could go over to the person and be their friend. Tell the teacher! Try to stop it - telling the person not to do it. Be their friend and play with them. Say 'stop' to the people picking on them, and go over and be their friend. ~ Year 4, Birmingham, UK  

Answer: Tell the teacher Confront him and be nice be his friend stand up to bully  

Answer: Try to be a good friend

Answer: I would help the kid out by becoming his mate and stand up to the [other] kid

Answer: I would tell a nearby teacher or adult. Afterwards, I would befriend the kid who was being teased.

Question: Someone is spreading rumors about you that are not true. You find out that a former friend of yours is the culprit. Understandably, you want the rumors to stop immediately. How would you handle the situation? What measures would you take so that a peaceful resolution is met?

Answer: 1. I would ask them to stop. 2. Sit down with the kid and their parents.

Answer: I would completely shun them. I would feel down, depressed, stressed, and hurt but I would keep the emotions to myself, and never let anyone see me down

Answer: i would tell them to stop. if they dont then me and one of my best friends will tell an adult

Answer: I would ask my friend why they are spreading rumors and I would tell everyone else they are not true and try to reason. If it keeps up, I probably wouldn't be their friend anymore.

Answer: I would take them away quietly from everyone else, and ask them why they did it. I would try not to start an argument, but if they insulted me, I wouldn't just let them walk all over me. I would say, slightly more dangerous sounding now; "I don't UNDERSTAND why you did this, so I'm going to ask you politely to stop." If they didn't clear up the rumors, I would tell someone about it and ask for help.

Answer: I would tell her to stop telling things that are untrue about me. Unfortunately I would have to wait for the rumors to die down because I do not owe explanations to anybody.

Question: You have just enough money to buy the latest issue of your favorite comic book. On your way to the comic book store, you encounter a person who is seeking donations for a worthy cause. Do you buy the comic or donate to the charity?

Answer: I would donate to charity. Sent by Jewel, 15 years old.

Answer: I buy the comic, but as I get money I save some for the cause

Answer: i would not buy the comic book and give half of the money to the charity and then keep the other half and save it for the next half of when i want to get my comic book  

Answer: donate half to charity and buy another comic with rest of the money   

Answer: donate, i dont like comics 

Answer: I would donate some of it to charity then start saving up to buy the comic book again.

Answer: charity

Answer: I usually (note the usually!) donate things like that and buy the mag / comic another time.

Answer: Comic book 

Answer: Charity

Answer: I would donate the money and save what i have left and buy it next week   

Question: You are babysitting your sister when your friend calls. She says that she holds in her hand the last two tickets to tonight’s rock concert. She wants you to go, but you tell her that you can’t because you are babysitting. She insists that you accompany her and will be upset if you don’t. What would you do knowing full well that you are responsible for your sister?

Answer: I would tell them no and stay home and babysit my sister.

Answer: i will call my mom or dad asking about this if they say no then i will insist on getting paid a 115 dollars

Answer: I would tell her I cannot go but if she won't let up I might ask my parents or someone else to watch over her for a little while and promise to do double baby-sitting when I get back.

Answer: Unfortunately, I would probably ring my mum and ask if I could go, haha!

Answer: I would call my mom and try to work something out. If not, I would stay home.

Answer: No. never.

Question: You are invited to two birthday parties, but each is occurring on the same day and will begin and end at the same time. What would you do to make both of your friends happy?

Answer: I could go to one for the first hour and the other for the next hours.

Answer: i would stay half and half

Answer: I might go to the more distant friend's party first, say hi, drop off a present, and apologize for not being able to stay then get to my other friend's a little late.

Answer: I would go to one, and then invite the other one round to my house and still give them a present / money and a birthday card.

Answer: I would divide the time in half and spend time at each party

Question: You find a wallet on the street that’s full of money and nothing else (e.g., no identification). Would you keep the money or turn it in to the police? Be sure to offer reasons for your decision.

Answer: I would give it to the police so I wouldn't get into trouble.  

Answer: turn it into the police so maybe i might gettt m oney for turnig them in 

Answer: If there was hardly any money, like $10 or something I think it'd be more trouble to give it to the police and have them try to get it back to the owner so I'd probably keep it. But it there was a lot I'd try to get it back to the owner.

Answer: well. i think there's no point on giving it to the police, i mean, they would keep it anyway cuz there's no way to find the owner, so ... i'd keep it and spend it in the owner's honor :)

Answer: I'm going to imagine there is 50 pounds or so in the wallet.I would check what is inside, then ring my mum on my mobile to tell her. Then I would probably go home, or go to wherever my mum is, and she'd take me to the police station. Once I found a tenner outside the shop, and I handed it in. I came back one week later and they gave it to me because no one collected it! Lucky!

Answer: I would take all the money out and put it in a mailbox nearby

Question: You are babysitting your brother when you hear a knock at the door. The person says, “Is anyone home? I’m a friend of the family and I need to talk to you!” You’re not expecting anyone and you do not recognize the person's voice. Two-minutes have passed and this person still hasn’t left, insisting that he/she must come in to talk to you. Your parents have left you a phone number where they can be reached, as well as the number to your next-door neighbor. What would you do?

Answer: I would quietly call my parents and ask them if they knew anyone that might be coming over today and then keep the phone in my hand as I opened the door.

Answer: I would say "I'm sorry, I do not recognize you, would you like to leave a message?" If they told me they needed to come in, I would close the door a little more and say I'm really sorry, but I really can't let you in. My parents say I can't let people I dont know in. Leave a message if you want, or you'll have to leave. Sorry.

Question: You bought groceries at the supermarket and later realize that you have been undercharged. What would you do in such a situation? Give reasons to support your argument.

Answer: I would tell them that the stuff was not charged enough.

Answer: Maybe next time I go to the store I would show them the receipt and offer to pay what I had not last time

Answer: Being me, I would probably walk away. I know it's wrong... but as long I was away from the shop, and I wouldn't have spent very much... To be honest I'd probably walk away...But then I'd feel bad...

Question: You hear a person cry for help. What actions would you take? Would you assume that someone else is going to provide assistance or would you treat the situation as if you were the only one who had heard the person’s cry?

Answer: I would definitely go see what's going on and try to help them if I could.

Answer: I would run over and do whatever is necessary, as long as they are genuinely crying.

Question: Your parents went away on an overnight business trip. Before they left, they said that you were allowed to go out with your friends, but you had to be home by 11:00 p.m. You agreed. You and some buddies went to the movies and then to an all-night diner. While eating, another group of friends entered the restaurant and joined your table. A kid from that group mentioned that he was going to a party and invited everyone to come. The time was 10:30 p.m. There was no way you could go to the party and be home by curfew. You also reasoned that if you went to the party, your parents would never find out. What would you do? 

Answer: Go on home and mention to my parents when they got back that I didn't go to a special party in order to obey them. Then I would ask that if something like that happened again if I would be allowed to go. 

Answer: Go to a bit of the party, then leave.

Mnemonics

Here is a neat math trick. It only works with numbers ending in 5, and the number has to be squared (meaning that the number must be multiplied by itself). This has been tested for numbers as high as 5 digits.

For example, 45 x 45.

Take the first digit, 4, and multiply it by the number that is one higher; in this case, 5. 

4 x 5 = 20. Now simply add 25 to the 20 and you have your answer (2025).

Do this with 115 x 115.

Take 11 x 12 = 132. Put 25 on the end and you get 13225.  

99995 x 99995.

Take 9999 x 10000 = 99990000. Put 25 on the end and you get 9999000025. Test it with a calculator.

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally is a mnemonic for remembering the order of operations when solving an equation.  P = Parentheses, E = Exponents, M = Multiplication, D = Division, A = Addition, S = Subtraction

Please note: You don’t always add first, where addition and subtraction are involved. Take for instance, 10 – 4 + 2. The correct answer is 8. If you added first, it would be 10 – 6 = 4 and this is incorrect. Think of it as 10 + (– 4) + 2 = 8. It may be helpful to remember the following: 1) Calculate what’s inside parentheses first. 2) Perform all multiplication and division, working from left to right. So if given, 15 x 36/4, working left to right means you multiply 15 by 36 = 540/4 = 135. However, it might be easier to work from right to left. That is, divide first then multiply: 36/4 = 9 x 15 = 135. 3) Perform all addition and subtraction, working from left to right. So if given, 10 – 3 + 4, working left to right means you subtract 3 from 10 = 7 + 4 = 11. ~ Both sent by Mokeo

A mnemonic for remembering the order of the planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—is: My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets ~ Sent by Carolyn 

Jokes and Brainteasers

What is pink and yellow and has a B on it? ~ Sent by Mokeo

See "Jokes and Brainteasers" for the answer.

Take the roman numerals IX. What can you add to make 6? ~ Sent by Shany

See "Jokes and Brainteasers" for the answer.

Alliteration

Olivia obsessed over others' Oreos.

Sally swam silently in the sea. ~ Both sent by Mokeo

Seashells, seashells down by the seashore, There she sells seashells. Sent by Akshitha, 12

Condense the sentence

Question: It is really important to review all your work before you hand it in for a grade because you may have made some errors and you want to catch them as much as possible before the teacher does.

Answer: It is important to check your work for errors before handing it in to the teacher.  

Answer: You should proofread your work before [you] hand [it] in because your grade depends on it.

Answer: It is important to proofread your work before handing it in for a grade.

Answer: You should check your work for errors before you hand it in for grading

Question: I couldn’t believe my own two eyes when my mom unexpectedly surprised me by giving me her most prized family heirloom that has been in the family for years and years.  

Answer: I couldn't believe my own eyes when my mum unexpectedly surprised me by giving me her most prized herloom that has been in the family for many years! ~ Sent by Salman D  

Answer: I couldn't believe my eyes when my mom surprised me with a prized family heirloom.

Answer: I couldn't believe my eyes when my mom surprised me by giving me her prized heirloom

Answer: I was surprised when my mom gave me her most prized family heirloom.

Answer: I was shocked when my mum gave me a family heirloom

Answer: My mom unexpectedly surprised me by giving me most prized family heirloom.

Answer: I was surprised when my mom gave me her heirloom that had been in the family for years

Answer: I was surprised when my mom gave me her prized family heirloom unexpectedly.

Answer: I was taken by surprise when my mom decided to give me her most prized family heirloom.

Answer: I couldn't believe my eyes when my mom unexpectedly gave me her most prized family heirloom that has been there for years.

Question: Because it is fun, I like to exercise four times a week, if not more. It helps to get rid of all my stress so I feel better and it also keeps me looking good.  

Answer: I like to exercise because it makes me relax and good looking.

Question: It is a good thing to write down every single thing you want to do in the form of a list and once you’ve done that, to check off each item on the list once you have completed the stuff on the list.

Answer: It is good to make a list of what you want to do and [to] cross out [each item on said list] when you have done it.

Answer: Write down everything you want to in a list then check if you have completed it.

Question: I hope, I mean really, really hope that you found this section helpful and that your writing skills have been enhanced.

Answer: I really hope that this section helped you enhance your writing skills.

Question: I like this strategy because it's kind of good for me and is what I do when I am brainstorming. When I write something down for the first time I make it a point to first write down my thoughts. I do not consume myself with making everything perfect immediately because if I did I would forget what I was trying to say. Instead, I write everything down that I can and then go back and organize the information later.

Answer: When I am writing I write whatever comes to mind rather than worrying about it being perfect.

Answer: When brainstorming the strategy I use is simple, write down all my thoughts and later organize the information. 

Words within words

Question: Lifestyle

Answer: life style steel feisty yes yell fly flies tile tiles tell tells tie ties yet fee feel feels if is lie lies lye stifle self felt feet sty yeti file files still fill fills till lee lei  

Answer: life style feisty yell sly still fly flies tie ties lie lies lye tile tiles file files yells tell tells sell Lee see fee lei feel felt feels list is it its   

Answer: life style

Answer: Life style if

Answer: Style

Answer: Life style feel still if file silly

Question: Lifework

Answer: Life work or

Question: Lifesaving

Answer: Life saving

Create a story

Question: Pick the ONE word that best describes you and explain why.  

Answer: I'm gonna pick three, haha!!!Blunt, because I basically say what I mean and mean what I say.Sarcastic (hopefully in a good way!!!), because I say sarcastic things quite a lot...Goofy and good sense of humour, because I'm always messing, chatting, laughing and smiling, or just pretty much goofing around and joking.

Answer: Wise I am a grade A student     

Answer: the 1 word that describes me is mysterious because I like finding and solving mysteries

Question: Of all the places you've visited, which is your favorite and why? Is it located on or near water? Do the restaurants serve a wide array of delicious foods? Are some of these foods difficult to find at your local restaurants? Are there activities or events that are available only at your favorite place? Have you ever taken a friend along so that he/she could share all these experiences with you?

Answer: I have visited worlds of fun and that's my favorite because I liked riding all of the cool different rides.Yes its located by water and that is the water park which is called oceans of fun.yes they have one restaurant that has a roof over a whol bunch of picnic tables and u get to get any type of food for free.no because they already have delicious foods.there is a whole bunch of activities u can walk by and either play for free or for money.yes I have took my cuzin makenzie and shes older than me and we got on a tall ride and we could see over the streets by worlds of fun and it just spun and got faster and faster and then dropped...

Question: Who is your best friend or the ONE person you confide in the most? How long have you known this person? Are you on the same sports teams and/or do you attend classes together? Is this person a teacher, parent, or relative?

Answer: my best friend is ana cope shes 10 years old and I like her cause she shares everything with me I have known her since 3rd grade and we are in 5th grade now and we are both 10 and my name is kayleigh we play on the same basketball team our tem went 6-1 we are in the same class this person is my best friend forever

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