Kids online

@RANDOM

Think children's spaces on the web, and what usually comes to mind is either the playground (gaming sites, music forums et cetera) or the schoolroom (educational websites, online libraries). Here's a look at some of the alternative spaces and more interesting child-centred projects online:

Gobar Times
(www.gobartimes.org):

Down to Earth started this children's magazine several years ago, and it became an instant hit "" chiefly because it didn't preach to kids or talk down to them.

The website is unusual among Indian sites because it's aimed squarely at children "" most of the other NGO sites are written and designed for adults. But Gobar Times offers a space where kids can read articles, write their own pieces and find interesting (and eco-friendly!) projects to do.

National Centre for Missing Children
(www.missingindiankids.com/index.htm):

This is a simple idea, neatly executed: build a database of missing Indian children, link parents, families, children, police stations and children's NGOs.

It has an especially useful section for parents, telling them exactly what to do if their child has run away or got lost. They really need to add a photo gallery section that is more easily searched, but otherwise Missing Indian Kids is a great idea.

CRY Buddies
(http://www.cry.org/home/crybuddies/homepage.htm):

Child Rights and You is often seen as India's pioneering NGO for children. As with other organizations "" Hole in the Wall (www.hole-in-the-wall.com), an interesting experiment in learning techniques, and Apne Aap (www.apneaap.org), which works in red light areas with sex workers and their children "" most of the website is geared for the adult reader.

But CRY also has a beautifully designed activity centre where children can play and become CRY Buddies. Ask your kid to drop by.

Cybermohalla (Sarai):
(http://www.sarai.net/cybermohalla/cybermohalla.htm)

One of the most beautiful spaces I've seen on the web is Sarai's Cybermohalla, which does far more than put up decent content and a few games. I saved this site for last, because it's such a good example of how the web can be more than a brochure, a book, or even an activity centre.

The "Cybermohalla" idea is a collaboration between Sarai and Ankur, a Delhi NGO that began some three-and-a-half years ago. It brings together young adults between the ages of 15 and 25 from two different Delhi slums, who interact in spaces that have been dubbed "Compughars".

Over this time, they have written diaries about their lives, learned computer and animation skills, and built on these to create a kind of virtual neighbourhood where their lives are reflected "" not by outsiders, but by themselves.

If you drop by Sarai's Cybermohalla, spend some time looking around. There's a Scratch Book which is always evolving, there are wall magazines and a multimedia installation called "Before Coming Here Had You Ever Thought Of A Place Like This".

What I like about the Cybermohalla is that it eliminates the need for explanation, and that it has the potential to pull in young adults from all backgrounds as participants, not passive spectators.

"We say what we want to, ask what we wish to ask," wrote one of the participants. "Here, there isn't any kind of tension. No competition to overtake others."

With just a little more imagination, more spaces for children in India could be like this online: places where they could freely speak their minds, build a project the way they would like it to be, and not have to compete.