Streetsblog New York City

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."

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.