Using the adage that children represent 20 percent of the
world's population but 100 percent of its future, the film opens
by examining differences between growing up today, with all its
inherent obstacles and temptations, and childhood as it was
lived 50 years ago. To understand today’s children more acutely,
the film team first visited Beaver Island where there are no
McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Targets or Walmarts. There, children
congregate by bike in the downtown area to play. All 85 students
in grades one to twelve attend the only school on the island.
Most use the computer as a tool for homework, but not for
communication. And while they miss a lot of what their
counterparts have on the mainland, Beaver Island children are
keenly aware of nature and its importance to their lives and
their well-being. Second, the film looked at suburbs today,
which have the greatest problems. Explosive growth patterns,
massive highways, distant malls, create an isolated environment
lacking in sidewalks or places to ride b