Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this: change the world. Here at Imagine, we believe that young bright minds are our biggest hope for making the world a better place. Each installment of our Big Problems department presents a problem in the world for which there is currently no solution. We challenge you, our readers, to propose one. Think, meditate, deliberate, mull it over. Consider this problem from all angles. Then send us your solutions. Remember that it doesn’t matter how big or how small your solution is; even the smallest step can set positive change in motion. We’ll publish the most innovative solutions in the next issue. Submit your comments below.
Just nine percent of Americans speak another language fluently. Read about the problem and offer your solution!
My solution to this problem is the Sanitary Super Straw. This is a straw with filters and bacteria and virus killers along the walls of the straw. Whenever you drink from the straw, it automatically cleans the water being drunk. It would be cheap but a life saver. The countries wouldn't even have to pay for it: people could send money and that company could fund the straws to every human being in Africa. It is a big job but if every person in America sent in 5 dollars, it would make a difference. I don't have enough knowledge to conduct the experiments myself, but scientists do. I always wanted to help people more, I just didn't know how. Now I can.
--Sasha Dolgetta, 12, Thornwood, NY
Although the Republic and Democratic parties are the most commonly talked-about parties, there are many more that some people do not acknowledge the existence of. These parties include the Green Rainbow Party, the Independent party, the Libertarian party, and so on. There are some amazing people with wonderful ideas from these parties. The problem is that the Democratic party and Republican party have much more money than those in the other parties. Nothing much can be done about this unless the media decides to support one of the smaller parties instead of the Democratic and the Republican parties.
--Andy MacGregor, 12, Littleton, MA The American political system of multiple parties, while flawed in many aspects, is still an easy way for citizens to identify what the general beliefs and principles of its members are. The problem is when people stop using it as a guideline, and start using it as the only way to identify someone. To refocus politics from parties to people, perhaps less emphasis should be placed on parties and more should be placed on the representatives' ideas. A better system would perhaps be to hold preliminary rounds (similar to the ones held within a party) with all parties included. The candidate with the smallest percentage of the vote would be eliminated. This system would force everyone to look at all candidates, and therefore give people in smaller parties a better chance at success.
--Kitty Sargent, 15, Milton, MA This is a problem that has also bothered me, especially during this past presidential election. I think one major step our country could take to bring more support to smaller parties would be to change the way our nation votes. Currently the way we vote restricts voters to choosing only one candidate. Many people who might consider voting for a smaller party end up voting for either the Republican or Democratic party. The main reason behind this is people feel as though they "waste their vote" if they don't vote for the big parties. In my opinion, the Electoral College does a poor job of representing all our citizens' votes. In most states, only the party with the most votes gets electoral representation. If our country were to do away with the Electoral College, I believe the less-known parties would gain more support because their voters would feel represented. With the technology available today, the Electoral College is glaringly out of date and detrimental to the success of some outstanding independent politicians.
--Maria Linn, 15, Excelsior, MN
Join in the conversation. | 
