"Everything After: a 9.11 Youth Circle" is a place where high school students can connect with each other in small Youth Circles and explore the after effects of September 11: what has changed, what hasn't, and what does the new climate mean for young people in the United States.
This guide offers some basic explanations of the E.A 9.11 Youth Circle experience and how to get started. The Youth Circle is all about action and initiative from its members (that'd be you). Whether your Circle is great or lame is up to you. We encourage you to start new topics, respond to other members' questions and comments, and return often.
This is the first discussion circle of its kind that's for youth only. You should feel privileged to be part of an exciting experiment! Although this type of discussion has been ridiculously successful in the past, we can't always predict what's going to happen. We're eager to hear your comments, suggestions, and feedback. Links to alert us to technical trouble ("bugs") are available throughout the site. We will be disappointed if we don't receive comments at questions@ea911.org. Please investigate, experiment, and keep us posted!
4. Finding Help ______________________________________________
1. Topic Ideas While it's up to you and your fellow members to start topics in your discussion circle, we'll send out periodic newsletters with suggested topics - sometimes highlighting issues that other circles have been talking about.
Here are some suggestions for starting out:
1) Introductions are in order! Self-introductions are critical to a good start. Without them, you're talking to a bunch of strangers! Look for a topic called Introductions in your group, or create one if you don't see it when you first sign on. Now, tell a little about yourself: What kinds of experiences have shaped your feelings about September 11th? Write a little about what you'd like to see happen in your circle.
2) What has changed for you since September 11th? Your attitudes toward school, family, friends, the future? Your ideas about war and peace? Politics? What are your thoughts on school safety, national security, civil liberties? Have you changed your study habits, sleep schedule, TV watching, travel plans, college and career choices? And, by the way, what hasn't changed? What do you think should change?
Want to hear what other members of your circle have to say about those issues? Create a new topic and start it off with your own thoughts. Or if you're feeling shy, add to a topic that someone else has posted until you're more comfortable. This is your group, so make it what you want it should be.
2. Getting to the Dialogues
Your Youth Circle has its own home page. We suggest you bookmark it or add it to your "favorites" the first time you go there. You will be asked to enter the screen name and password you entered when you first registered.
Topics - Your Youth Circle's home lists the topics created by you or other members of your circle. Select the topics you're interested in and use the form at the bottom of the page to add your own thoughts. Or if you want to begin a new line of discussion, click on "start a new topic."
Bios - You can select the name of a Circle Member to read their bio. (Your bio will not appear until you create your first post). You can select Control Preferences to change your own bio or e-mail address, and to customize the system to work the way you prefer.
Featured Discussions - If you see exchanges you think are really juicy, find particularly insightful, or you just like a lot, vote to make them Featured Discussions. New selections will be published regularly in the Featured Discussions area. You can also check in on other circles and see what they are talking about. You can't post to them, but it'll give you an idea of what types of discussions you can have with your circle.
3. Facilitation and Monitoring
Each of the E.A 9.11 Youth Circles is totally self-facilitated. That means you're running it all by yourselves. Getting a discussion going, keeping it active, and keeping it civil are up to you and the other members of your circle.
We trust you, of course, but we're still really interested in what you have to say. So, every circle has been assigned a Youth Circle monitor who will be hanging around keeping track of the issues under discussion, making sure the system is working properly, and looking for interesting dialogues to highlight as Featured Dialogue. These monitors do not participate in discussions; they're just there to observe.
If you notice that things are getting out of hand -- like disruptive conflicts/comments in your circle, technical problems, or if you just want to highlight exchanges, you can send us a heads-up. By using the three buttons at the top of your screen, you can send us an alert and we'll check it out. We may not reply to you directly, but someone will read your submission (we promise!) and respond as necessary.
4. Finding Help
While we know this is going to be an amazing experience, we don't exactly know everything that's going to happen. Little glitches are bound to surface. As the same questions and issues keep cropping up (and they will, we know!), we will collect and post them in a Frequently Asked Questions page. You can always reach the E.A 9.11 Youth Circle team by e-mailing any questions you have to questions@ea911.org. We'll reply as soon as possible. We are really psyched to hear your comments and that you're taking the time to participate in this new method of online dialogue.
Hi! I'm Youth Monitor Esther and I'm here to talk to you about 
