As Americans, sometimes we think we don't need to know about global events unless the United States is directly involved in a conflict. Some kids, however, think it is extremely important for everyone to know about the world around us -- America is just one of many countries around the globe, and increased globalization makes us rely on other countries now more than ever.

Says Danielle Machlouf , a sixth-grader at Edward Devotion School in Brookline, Mass., "It's very important for your teachers to teach you because you are in a place where you need to learn about people and other places."

Shana Burg , Danielle's social studies teacher, explained that she initiated an exercise to widen the perspectives of her sixth-grade students.

"I wanted kids to understand how the political process works, and how people make change. If they could understand the big problems like racism and human rights abuses don't have to happen, they might begin to feel more hopeful about the world. I wanted them to see that there are human beings who did things that led to these kinds of problems," she explained in a phone interview.

"Once they've realized that it's human beings that caused these kinds of problems, they can begin to understand that there are human beings like themselves who can undo these problems.

"And I hope that they might figure out how to become one of those people who can help make their neighborhoods or their world a better place," she added.

The sixth-graders started their study of current events after winter break. They had a choice of working together or by themselves to cover a "beat" surrounding a global conflict, then write a report about the events going on in their area and discuss their findings with the rest of the class every couple of weeks.

Some students were enthusiastic about the assignment. Danielle explained that knowledge of the world is necessary in the information age because countries are interconnected technologically and economically.

"It gets you into world life. You know more and you understand what's going on around you," she said.

Other students were less eager.

"Some people wouldn't want to (participate) because they don't feel like facing it. And I don't think you can hide from it. It's a fact, and it's what's going on in the world, and I don't think you can just hide your face and pretend you don't know," said Shelley Etkin , another class member.

But overall, the students enjoyed doing their research.

"It was fun to find out stuff and go on the Internet and look for information," said sixth-grader Monica Souza .

Danielle took a more personal approach. "I mostly just surveyed people, and I thought it was very fun to get to meet people and get to report about a different subject," she said.

Beats included problem areas around the world, but the most controversial for the class was the Middle East conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Brookline is a largely Jewish suburb of Boston.

In fact, that "beat" had an impact on a personal relationship.

Sara Faisal and Shelley are good friends who chose to work together covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There was just one problem: Shelley's family is from Israel, and Sara has relatives living in the Palestinian sections of Israel.

They realized early in the project that working together might be detrimental to their friendship.

"When we were just talking about how we were going to do it, we started getting into fights," Shelley said.

Neither was willing to risk their friendship.

"I think my decision not to work together was based on the fact that although we have different sides, we respect each other's perspective," said Shelley.

Sara explained that the conflict is a painful subject for her family. "It's the fact that we have relatives living in Palestine and we know different people, Palestinians. It's kind of hurtful because you never know what's next for them. It's kind of war," she said.

Burg issued guidelines for all class discussion, which required the stating of opinion separate from fact, the coverage of different viewpoints, and the allowance that students uncomfortable with a discussion could leave the room.

All of the students said they learned from the discussions.

Shelley explained, "I think it really helped me to see other points of view, and my family really got into it. And my mom really likes this kind of stuff. She likes discussing global conflict."

Danielle felt the same way. "What I thought at the beginning of the year and what I feel now is pretty different because you get more into it . . . even though you think it's going to be boring because you're just listening to the news. But you get into the story and you're feeling pain because you're more interested in it than you were before."

Burg feels her exercise may have long-term effects on her students.

"I think a lot of them will be more open to talking about current events and less afraid of stating their point of view if it's different from the majority within a classroom setting," she said. "I think many of them will continue to read the newspaper, at least I hope they will."

More importantly, she believes some students may be driven to action. "I think some of them may have begun to understand that they can make a difference in what happens in current events, that they can become the newsmakers," she said.

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Emma Hulse, 14.

REPORTERS: Kristin Drouin, 11; Joe Morgan, 12.