While waiting for a bus one noontime, a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly accosted by a group of boys and girls who, writing pads and cameras in hand, were seeking answers to a large question – “What will the world look like one hundred years from now?”

The kids, it turned out, were taking part in a summer program sponsored by an organization called “Citizen Schools.” Ranging in age from 10 to 14, these young people were based at the Garfield School in Brighton.  Led by their teacher, 24-year-old Amy Kooyoomjian, they were interviewing adults on the street and collecting the answers for a book.

Invited to meet with them some weeks after they had gathered the information, I had the pleasure of talking with the kids about their interview findings and about aging. They proved to be remarkably perceptive and eager to exchange ideas with me about what they had learned.

In recounting parts of our discussion, I have mixed together what the children report hearing from their interviewees and what they think on their own. Clearly, the two are closely related and flow into one another.

This group of eight kids shows forth the new Boston-area diversity. One speaks Arabic, another Cape Verdean, to cite only two examples of their linguistic range. The variety of family backgrounds in such a small group witnesses to dramatic changes that have taken hold in this metropolitan area in recent decades and adds spice to the views they express.

One theme that kept coming up is the place of technology in the world of the future. Rachel worries that there will be no more human interaction – everything will be done by computer. We are already too dependent on computers and telephones, she thinks. Though nothing dire actually happened, preparations for possible Y2K meltdowns showed how fragile the system is.

Giovanni, age 10, believes that “people might be lazy because they have too much technology.”

Some of the kids feel that older people get left out of technology. But Deema told everyone about the use of the computer in her family: “My grandmother emails me once a week from Saudi Arabia,” she announced. And Keith, age 12, added: “I chat with my grandfather online.”

The boys and girls also express concern about natural resources. It might help that, in the next 100 years, cars will fly and roads will be underground. But Rachel fears that the ozone layer will be depleted, too many trees will be cut down, and water resources will be scarce. After suggesting that “it may be difficult to survive 50 years from now,” she eases that prediction by saying that “maybe in 10 years a new invention will help.”

Frequent mention of city construction projects caught my attention. One fellow whom Athena interviewed told her that in the next hundred years,  construction in Brighton may actually be completed. Deema also mentioned the same issue, suggesting that urban street upheavals and demolition of buildings are getting under people’s skin.

In looking ahead, the kids mixed the predictions they heard from others with their own hopes for a better future. There will be “less poverty, disease, and war.” “People will get along better,” another says, and Amanda adds, “I hope there will be a lot less homeless people.”

“They shouldn’t sell guns,” says Athena.  Deema wants the world “to be cleaner and larger for new populations.” Kelee, age 14, was one of those reporting that “the health care system will be a lot better.”

Joshua, for his part, told me about a time capsule being assembled by the kids and their plans to bury it in the school yard.

Heightened social awareness among these kids emerges as one benefit of this educational project. That comes close to what their teacher Amy sees as the value of the experience: “having them step out of their realm of age, looking toward the future.”

In any event, it is encouraging to see such young people feeling this concern for others less well off than they. It augurs well for the future in which everyone, young and old, has a vital stake.

In response to my question, the children unanimously agreed that they cannot imagine themselves 70 years old. This answer confirmed my suspicion that a benevolent provision of nature makes that impossible for kids.

But the question led to at least one precocious observation. One of the girls said: “Aging has to do with experience.” She went on to explain that how old you feel is determined by what you are going through. If you are on vacation, you might feel ten years younger; if you are feeling stressed out, you are going to feel older than you actually are.

These children show the value of creative education. They even know how to take in stride the views of the fellow who, when interviewed, told them that, in the next 100 years, the world is going to end.

Richard Griffin