It's lunchtime. A group of 100 kids sit chatting and chomping on cheeseburgers. A typical cafeteria scene? Not quite. Their chatter is flavored with dozens of accents, including Chinese, Australian and Kenyan. And they are talking about how to form an online "country" just for kids. They are part of the annual Junior Summit, held last month at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
The kids from 54 countries were chosen for their ideas on using computers to improve the world. "Technology brought us together," says Arpita Nepal, 16, who traveled 31 hours from the Asian country of Nepal. The kids came up with plans to start a bank that would lend money to children's projects. Says Janys May, a 16-year-old Canadian: "This is a chance to offer our ideas and make something of them."