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Sunday Morning News

America's Kids Get Civics Lesson of a Lifetime

Aired November 19, 2000 - 7:47 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, what could be a better civics class than this election?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's true.

O'BRIEN: We're all learning stuff about the Constitution, aren't we?

PHILLIPS: Aren't we all. Right now, I wish I had a law degree, I'll tell you that.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well...

O'BRIEN: Well, then you wouldn't be sitting here though.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's a good point.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right, we're going to go to CNN parenting correspondent Pat Etheridge, because she listened in to some classroom discussions and brings us this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAT ETHERIDGE, CNN PARENTING CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Recount fever is spreading through classrooms across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Legal wrangling intensifies...

ETHERIDGE: Who would have thought politics could be so captivating to kids?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I woke up in the morning, I was like, who is the president, who is the president? And my mom was like, they haven't decided yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like now I really care about who is the president and the stuff that is going on.

ETHERIDGE: An election stranger than fiction is proving to be a golden opportunity to bring current events to life; take it from Sharon Brownlee, a teacher of 15 years.

SHARON BROWNLEE, AVONDALE ELEMENTARY: To see the election unfold and then all of the peculiar things that have happened has kept them interested and kept them talking.

ETHERIDGE (on camera): The news of the day brings new meaning to a wide range of classroom concepts, everything from counting correctly to understanding the intricacies of the law.

(voice-over): Claudia Wallis is managing editor of the news magazine "Time for Kids."

CLAUDIA WALLIS, "TIME FOR KIDS" MAGAZINE: I think that we're going to have a generation that's going to understand what the Electoral College means and what our election rules are better than maybe any generation in a century.

ETHERIDGE: This 6th-grade class is fired up enough to fire off a series of e-mails to lawmakers in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're sending ours to Senator Max Cleland.

ETHERIDGE: The message: get organized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I grow up, it will be right to the point, they won't have to do any recounting, and they will know the president the day after the election.

ETHERIDGE: Until that day, they watch, wait, and debate -- the civics lesson of a lifetime.

Pat Etheridge, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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