Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Summit 2022
The Panasonic Group held the Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Summit 2022 on December 3 at a studio in Nihombashi, Tokyo as the key station, connecting online to Panasonic Group sites overseas and to some schools.
KWN is a program that helps children create their own videos by loaning them professional Panasonic video equipment, as part of our activities supporting the development (and learning) of future generations. Creating the videos raises the children's creativity, communication skills, and their ability to work in a team. In the 33 years since its beginning in the US in 1989, over 180,000 children and teachers worldwidehave taken part in the program. The videos produced on themes such as communication, sports, and the environment have shared a message for problemーsolving from the children's point of view.
Since FY2020 the previous contest format was replaced with the KWN Global Summit as a better way to enhance children's growth. It offers a place to learn about other cultures, deepen the interaction, and increase understanding of global social issues.
This year's global summit was attended by 53 kids, teachers, and other people involved with the event from 20 schools in six countries: The US, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, and Vietnam. Lee Weibin, a graduate of the Panasonic Scholarship, served as the master of ceremonies.
Together they watched the videos made by the children from each country using toy drones as a special challenge in the workshop before the summit. A discussion on an action plan for the SDGs led to a joint declaration being adopted for the proposals from each country on what they intended to do.
For the Kids Award, which is decided by votes by the children themselves on the videos from each country, two schools were chosen: Dich Vong Hau Secondary School from Vietnam for the primary category, and the School of Thinking from Brazil for the secondary category.
Wish Dad Stop Smoking, the video from Dich Vong Hau Secondary School featured a boy with a terribly sore throat because of his father's cigarettes. The boy's father is treated at hospital for smoking-caused lung damage, and the story shows the harm caused by smokers to other people and the environment.
In My Parents are Different, the video from the School of Thinking, a boy recollects his growth through his experiences, showing how parents are powerful support for children, but at the same time that kids must sometimes find their own solutions.
The approximately 2,000 votes for the KWN Fans Award, with participation from people worldwide who can vote through Facebook, chose entries from Vietnam for both the primary and secondary categories. (The videos were viewed 730,000 times.)
The Panasonic Award, a new addition from this year decided by votes from Panasonic employees, was won by the Sumbangsih Duren Bangka Elementary School from Indonesia.
The global summit was streamed live on Facebook and YouTube, with over 10,000 viewers including those on subsequent days.
You can view the works that won the Kids Awards and KWN Fan Awards, along with other information, from the following sites.
YouTube website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2n9636a3iE
