Special newspaper needs a few pennies for kids' thoughts
/The Boston Herald
Beverly Beckham
The 21st Century is not a typical newspaper. It isn't full of murders, thefts, fires, scandals, betrayals, bankruptcies and national and international conflicts.
It is instead a kind of journal, an introspective and reflective compilation of essays, stories,letters, poems, reviews, photos and cartoons written and captured by teen-agers throughout New England.
Each month when the paper arrives, I look through it and think: This stuff is good. These kids can write. They can take pictures. They're aware. They think. They worry. They care.
And each month I'm stunned because it isn't a select few doing all this. Each month different kids are published, kids who've never met each other. Kids for whom writing is new, who write because, for the first time ever, they have a forum for their thoughts. An important forum. A newspaper. A newspaper that's distributed in high schools throughout New England. A newspaper specifically for and about them.
Plus they get paid. Ten dollars for every item published. The money in their pocket tells them they've done a good job, tells them their work is valued. They feel like real artists because they ARE real artists.
In the May issue of The 21st Century, Augusta ood of Weston wrote this poem called "Thirteen."
"Thirteen is a worn-out fairytale book.
An understanding of reality,
Yet still not understanding.
Cinderella
Without the prince;
Only Dreams.
Waiting for the glass slipper
That may never come.
Never enough time,
Racing away
when the clock strikes midnight.
The story continues,
unfinished.
The happy ending is eagerly,
But secretively,
Awaited.
But many pages lie ahead
How did she know not to put a period at the end?
Where did she learn such economy of words? How good she must feel to see this in print. How inspired to do more.
The 21st Century is three years old. It's published in Newton and provided free to any high school that requests it.
It can be mailed directly to a home if a contribution to the paper is made.
John and Stephanie Meyer, the paper's publishers, gave up secure jobs to begin this paper for kids. It hasn't been easy. They've only just recently stopped losing money.
But they've never lost faith, not in their idea or in the hundreds of kids who send in book, movie, restaurant, video and concert reviews, essays, opinions, short stories, poems, drawings, letters and even plays, every month. The Meyers began the paper because they believed kids needed a place to express themselves. This belief is corroborated daily when they pick up the mail.
"If I could I would add another 12 pages of the kids' writing," John Meyer says. The problem is, of course, money.
The 21st Century is supported solely through advertising.
The paper needs a sponsor and though Meyer has approached banks and businesses that say they're interested in education, they don't seem to be THAT interested.
"Everyone says wonderful things about the paper, but we haven't been able to get one dime of financial help," Meyer says.
With or without help, the paper will continue. But oh how it could grow with a little support.
