Global Kids has developed an extensive track record utilizing youth-led online dialogues to stimulate informed, substantive discussions about social issues and current events among youth around the world. Central to this is GK’s Youth Circles approach, which was developed, refined and tested to create an online environment in which participants can develop personal relationships and engage in focused and respectful dialogues.

Youth Circles are an effective vehicle for empowering youth with the information and skills they need to utilize the Internet as a tool for effective civic engagement. In the process, Youth Circles help youth to develop digital and media literacy and master the critical thinking and communication skills required for shaping our world and succeeding professionally.

• Restricted membership : A small number of participants are allowed into each group.
• Short, shared timeframe : Groups begin and end at specified times, so that participants share the same experience.
• Agreement to maintain civil behavior : Participants must agree to abide by a clear set of expectations.
• Youth involvement : Teenagers in a Global Kids program are involved in developing and monitoring the dialogues.
• Indirect facilitation : The dialogues are guided gently to instill a sense of ownership and leadership in participants.

Global Kids' major Youth Circle projects include:

Newz Crew: Newz Crew  (NewzCrew.org), a three-year-old collaboration with PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, combines GK’s unique approach to youth leadership development with the NewsHour’s leading public affairs content to train high school students to lead online dialogues for thousands of peers around the world. Since its inception, over 2,000,000 youth have visited the site, more than 6,000 young people from every state and 120 foreign countries have actively participated in the dialogues, and over 1,900 teachers have involved their students in Newz Crew or used its innovative lesson plans.

The high school students who monitor the dialogues have spoken about their work at the studios of Channel Thirteen/WNET, CNN, and the NewsHour, where they met with Jim Leher, Ray Suarez, and Gwen Ifill. Individual students have also presented Newz Crew at the United Nations, the University of Wisconsin, and the National Educational Computing Conference.

The site has been recommended for use by the National Education Association, and an independent evaluator, Arlene Goldbard, found Newz Crew to be an effective vehicle for “expanding [participants’] knowledge, tolerance for diversity and understanding of critical social issues.”

FOCUS: A core component of Global Kids’ Digital Media Initiative, FOCUS: Youth Voices on Digital Media and Society is taking place over the course of three years. The dialogues will create a unique forum in which up to 200 high school-aged young people per year can express their views about the role of digital media in their day-to-day lives. These focus groups will be driven by cutting edge content about youth and media and raise new issues and perspectives that will inform the work being done in the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative.

Everything After 9.11 (E.A.9.11): In 2002, Global Kids launched Everything After: a 9.11 Youth Circle (ea911.org) to address the needs of youth following the September 11th attacks. E.A.9.11 provided 350 young people from forty-two states and nineteen countries with an opportunity to discuss the ongoing emotional, social, and political impact of the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

Consulting Projects for Motorola and the New York City Council: Global Kids has worked with leading institutions to create online discussions modeled on our Youth Circles approach. GK worked with the City Council to provide an opportunity for New York City residents to voice their concerns about the City’s public schools and helped Motorola create a process for thousands of its employees worldwide to provide feedback about the corporation’s new value statements.