ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996             TAG: 9610280026
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER

THEY CAN'T VOTE, BUT THEY CAN BE HEARD

If these students had one piece of advice to give the future president, they know one change they'd like to see: Kids who are 9 years and older should be allowed to vote.

Convenient, because this particular group of fourth- and fifth-graders at the Blacksburg New School are, in fact, 9 and older.

But even though it might not officially count, children do have two ways they can give their 2 cents worth in this year's presidential election:

*Students from around the country will vote in a mock election Wednesday and results will be announced on national television.

Several schools in the New River valley will participate in the election, which is funded by several groups including Time magazine and the National Bar Association.

Jane Collins, who teaches fourth grade at Falling Branch Elementary in Christiansburg, said she's even going to register her students to give them a sense of the voting process.

"I'm always anxious to engage them in a debate of any kind," she said, "and some of my students are already aware of the issues."

Television viewers can see how Virginia students voted by watching C-SPAN 2 from 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesday. CNN will provide updates throughout the night.

*KidsNet, a World Wide Web page established by an Ohio father who "decided to prove" there were safe, valuable Internet sites for kids, is running it's own cyberspace election.

Almost 10,000 kids have voted so far; about 70 percent of them cast their electronic ballot in the last 60 days. John Guinn, the creator, said President Clinton took a large lead early in the race, but Bob Dole has been gaining lately.

As of noon Thursday, Clinton was still leading by about 450 votes. Ross Perot is trailing behind both main party candidates, but ahead of the "None of the Above" choice, which has garnered 186 votes.

Guinn said teachers are using his page to teach about the presidential election. Some children living overseas have even voted. Although he wrote to the White House and the Democratic and the Republican national committees, no one ever took much notice of his page.

"I do believe, however, that if the president was actually informed about the site he would take notice," Guinn said in an e-mail message.

Bill Clinton, or any child under the age of 18, can reach Guinn's page at this address: http://www.dayton.com/kidsnet.

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