WHAT DO YOU THINK LIFE WOULD BE LIKE IN THE 21ST CENTURY?

These essays were written by third-graders in the spring of '99.

Jefferson Elementary

Brittany L. Kinder

What do I think life would be like in the 21st Century? Well, I think slowly everything will be run by robots. The robots will have to do all the work while the humans have all the fun! Of course, we'll have to go to school eight hours a day, seven days a week. As we start to build more robots, they will do everything we do and start to take over the world. The space craft sent us to outer space. There are huge plastic bulbs on the planet Mars. We start to build a community. Right after they melt Mars. That's how I think the future will be like. Bye!

Olivia M. Walker

When the year 2001 comes, if you want to go around, I think you would still be able to use cars but they will be littler. The clothes won't be very much unless they bring out new stuff. If they make more cars they will probably won't be that much money either.

Jennifer Nunnally

I think sports are going to change in the future. I think baseball will change like when you see the ball coming, you push a button and the bat will swing.

I think basketball will change, when you shoot the ball, it has a magnet, and will go straight to the baskets.

I think transportation will be different, when you want to go to K-Mart, you push a button that says K-Mart and you're there.

I think cooking will change. You put pizza on the stove and it will cook it.

Tiffany L. Ver Vynck

When it is the 21st Century there might be flying cars. But people say it is all going to end at the 21st Century. I am just a little scared about that. I don't think there would be good transportation. I am always scared when they say the world is going to end!!! When I am 30 years old ... There might be no teachers or schools. It might not be good clothing or good schools or good sports. It might just be nothing good. I hope I get to live my life.

Kelsie J. Snider

You will have to drive in a spaceship. You will have to use your hands for everything. When you play soccer you will have to kick it in your own goal. In basketball every time you make a goal you get 5 points. They will have a school at home. They will have robot teachers. They will have paper clothes. They will have to be strong so they won't rip.

Garrison W. Steel

I think transportation will be jets, because they go faster. Some people might live in space. You might have a robot. The sports will be different. They might play basketball. You will not have to cook. Press a button and you get your food. Vest and pants might be our clothes. You might have school in your basement taught by computers. That's what I think the future is like.

Brittany A. Wilcox

You will have clothes that are different. The clothes will probably be future clothing that are metal. The sports will have all kinds of balls and stuff. When I get married I will probably live in a big house and have a nice job. I will probably have a convertible that uses fuel to run. I will have nice future clothes. I hope they have four story houses still. Your cars go up in the air instead of down. That is how I think it will be.

Julian L. Moore

I think the 21st Century will be a good century because people might invent new things. People might like microwaves. They might invent a new microwave. It can be a cookie heater. Who knows what's going to happen in the 21st Century? I don't even know. People will sweep the floors with a new kind of broom. People will wash the dishes with rags. I will cook food with an oven. Like I said, I don't know what is going to happen in the 21st Century.

Ronald Myers

I think the future will change. I think the schools are going to be like they were back then. The buildings now are going to be new. The Mississippi Bridge is going to be new. When I grow up nothing's going to be the same. We might drive the good cars and a lot of people might still be rich.

Brandon Miles

I think the future will be like today, but a little different. In sports there are robots to watch and I think that is great, because I was a basketball star. We had a game every week so I made the robot play for me. Now cooking is easy because all you have to do is push a button. Not like the old days. It's easy for met too for getting around we have a little jet. It's cool. I have a skateboard myself. My car is red. My son, To Tall, goes downstairs for school. The clothes are the same but the belts are neat. You can teleport yourself somewhere. There are all kinds of stuff in the 2034. I like it. Well, that's all folks!

Jessica A. Pitts

I think that most of the things we use today will be used by electricity. I think that baseball bats will have buttons on them. Like say I want to bunt, so I would push the red button. The ball would be electric. The cars would be special cars that used electricity. We would have robot teachers for our kids cause they will teach them more than what us parents were taught.

Amanda L. Pitts

I will be going to school. I might be married. We might have different sports, like 2 games. We might have clothing out of animals. It might be good cooking. The cooking might be by fire. We might be good transportation. We might go by horse. We might be doing good, good sports like baseball.

Lynsea P. Casey

I believe the 21st Century will be a little similar to now. They will have new cooking things like new recipes. We will probably still have cars, only some will be run by computers. I think that will be really neat. But for school, some could be home schooled with computers. No matter what you're going to use computers. We will probably have new sports like in your gym time when you play games. Our clothing will be different, like having new materials. We may even have new houses like four story ones. That's what I think of the future.

Cassanda A. Popp

In the future, I think technology will be very useful. We might have robots playing sports. All we have to do is use remote controls. The cooking will be easy. At school, if kids have computers they'll probably be smart. They'll learn from the computer. I like this opportunity. Like I said, I like this idea. I like to explain my ideas.

Bryce T. Max

When I am in the 21st Century, they will have lots of different things. When you clean house, robots will do it. They will have all kinds of different clothing too. I will probably live to be 500. I will be pretty old. They will have different kinds of clocks. I will have grandkids. They will have lots of new things. They will be cool.

Whitney L. Williams

I think that instead of walking, they might be flying with Fly Belts. They might just have to tell a machine what you want to eat and it pops right out -- already cooked. The school might be right downstairs in your cellar. You might have a computer teacher, plus you might not have books. Maybe you will have computer books. In the front, a story and there might be a computer in the back you can play games on that are just like the story. But the story will be on CD-rom. And on your sports the robots might play all of them.

Tim M. Brown

I think in the 21st Century people will drive solar energy cars. They'll have new things. People won't like Furbys very much. There's be a new king of Furby. Robots will do chores. the schools will be taught by robots. Computers will have new information.

Aleta Musgrave

Oh Glory Money in the Year 2000

Pages of books are made out of money and this is why. Maybe it rains so hard that the Mississippi floods. And the machines are not working so it gets over the walls and it floods the town.

And everyone has to buy a boat from the pages of the books. And that is what I think the year 2000 is going to be like.

Olivia L. Jenkins

In the 21st Century, TVs could be twice as big with twice as many stations. Cars will probably be solar powered. People might even just use bicycles. Computers might even be TVs, phones, or more. We will have more healthy food than unhealthy foods. There might be bigger homes. There might not be as much pollution. We might have bigger and better hospitals with better medicine. There will probably be more electronics. There might be bigger schools. All I know for sure is that future is up to us! We will make it BETTER.

Jordan Qualls

I think that kids will have school at home on a computer. I also think we will have more safe drivers to where you want to go. Maybe people will stop cutting down a lot of animal homes. Also people may help keep the earth clean. Sometimes I think people will not throw trash on the ground. Maybe people will pitch in and help keep our community clean. Or maybe we will have less buildings and more schools. I don't know. I'm just predicting the future. Don't call me a psychic if I'm right. It was just a lucky guess.

Erich Arvidson

In the 21st Century you could run to school in no time at all. You could wear your TV. You would be able to jump higher than ever before. You wouldn't have to do anything because your robot would do it for you. Life in the 21st Century will be easy.

Tiffany Heck

This is what I think life will be like. There will be a robot and a time machine and I think a robot will go back in time and the school will run by computer. And one day it's a year and a night is a day's time. I think a year you go to school and a year you get off.

Amanda Petty

There may be robots as teachers. And every time you want to eat you just think about what you want and it comes right to you. And the Mississippi River will be a lot cleaner. And you'll never get sick. And you will always have robot to do your chores. And it will be like this century but not much. And we will never, ever litter.

Haley Pilsner

Maybe we will have a computer teacher in our school and if someone needed help they would go up to the computer and type in their question and their teacher would show them the answer. Maybe food and toys and other objects will be cheaper so more people will buy them. Or if it were an emergency, medical help would be free.

Joe Wrinkle

I think people will live in space. I think we will discover life on Mars and the cures for cancer, diabetes and pneumonia. People will have automatic cars. Computers will be built in cars.

Brittney Thomas

I think that ... school would be closed because too many people were coming to the United States. Instead of having school everyday, we could play on computers. Instead of doing paper work, do computer work! But of course, I would go to school everyday!

Don't want to pollute the air? Don't have to! Get a Solar Energy Car! If you don't want to breathe in polluted oxygen, get a solar energy car.

If you want money, get a job! You heard me, a job! Get a job. If you have kids you want to buy them neat clothes, don't you? You wouldn't want them looking like a bum. Yes, you heard me a b.u.m.! Get some money!

I've told you everything I know so don't bother to ask me where I've gotten these ideas from. I've gotten them from things around me. I've had fun telling you things I've come up with! Thank you, Southeast Missourian.

Chris Ide

I think we will be driving cars that have jet packs. Maybe we will have microwaves that you push a button and you get any food you desire. Maybe we will have shoes that make you run 90 miles per hour. I wish teachers were computers so I could unplug them. Then I would go play on my hyper bike. A hyper bike is a bike that talks to you and tells you where you are.

Max William Morgan

There will be cars that take you where you want to go and the person pushes in where they want to go and there will be no workers. There will be robots that bring your food to you instead of you getting your food. There will be robots that take care of you until the doctors comes in.

Kasey Ogborn

Maybe our principal, Mr. Cook, will tell all of the teachers in Jefferson School that the teachers cannot wear slacks anymore. Maybe we can work on school work by computers.

Maybe we can drive cars that work by themselves. Maybe we can have wheels on our shoes, such like skates but we can make them change. We could have robots that can do our homework for us.

We could drive a plane to school instead of riding a bus. Maybe they will shut down the TV and we won't be able to watch TV.

But there's one thing I want them to change ... Let kids drive cars!

Jessica Eason

If I lived in the 21st century, I would think there would be space stations. I would live in one. I would control the space station. There would probably be robots there. I would love it.

Rhyan Doan

There might be more buildings. And life might be easier. You might be able to read faster. There might be computer watches. There might be new ways to get places faster. And there might be less buildings. You might be able to keep your school lunches warm or cool.

There might be new houses and new cars, trucks and vans and a faster way to ride in a car. They might make a new board game.

Orchard Drive Elementary

Tyler Eggimann

I hope they will make the first flying car in the 21st century. And the first flying house in it. I want a smellophone. It will be fun. There will be the first flying restaurant, school and chairs.

Megan Ulrich

I think that in the 21st century cars can fly and houses, buildings, and companies will all be on top of a cloud and not the ground. I say that vegetables will become extinct. Kids won't come with parents so they can do what they want. And you can drive when you're six! Cats and dogs will probably be able to fly too! And they will have a cure for the common cold! Those are the things I think will happen in the 21st century.

Kelci Keith

I think it will be like living on earth but it would be very weird and I would invent the flying machine so that everyone could fly where they wanted to. And your TV will have 150 more channels. I will invent a smellophone so that when you call somebody you can smell their house or wherever they are. I think that animals can talk to people. And that's the life in the 21st century!

Chelsea Dale

I think life in the 21st century will be about the same only they might have some new inventions such as they change some sports or invent some ones like basketball bowling or soccer tennis or football swimming. They might invent weird names like Pocolala, Furbia, Cookdoe or Burpafry. They could invent a moving TV, wherever you go, you can watch it. Or the morphing machine. You could morph into anything anytime you want. And you can drive when your 9!

Heather Proffer

I think in the 21st century there will be a lot more people and lot more buildings. I think there will be bigger schools in the 21st century. I think there will be a robot that can do you homework for you. I think there will be schools with libraries with movies that you can check out. I think there will be bathrooms in the classrooms. I think the school will give you computers that you can keep.

Maggie Baugh

I think that living in the 21st century would be really weird because one person told me that the world was going to end, someone told me that we would not have computers anymore and someone said it would be cool to live in the 21st century. I think it would be cool and weird to live in the 21st century. I think kids will not have parents and drive when the are one month old or higher. I think there will be slime phones and car with swimming pools in them too. I think horses, cows, pigs and sheep will be extinct. The bicycles could peddle without you doing it. so you could eat and ride in the sky too.

Jamie Schumacher

I think in the 21st century there will be smellaphones so you can smell weird things and talk at once. I hope there will be jet-propelled backpacks so you can fly to school instead of riding the bus and it will also be faster. I think that bears will be extinct. I think there will be flying bikes, cars, houses, buses, and trains.

Ben Douglass

In the 21st century I think cars will go faster and will be safer. I think that robots will work for people. Children will go to school 5 hours and every 3 days. The pencils will write for you. The shoes will make you float in the air.

I also think that people will live on the moon. They will build houses of space rocks. People will live on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. But I would live on Earth.

Emily Hoffman

When I'm in the 21st century we will have jet propelled machines we will fly in the sky instead of airplanes and in the road instead of cars. Anybody can get them because we will not use any money. So we can take and eat anything we want. We will have a lot of spaceships but we won't need them because we will have a jet propelled backpacks that sends air into us. We will have a place up in the clouds called no-school where only kids can go. Up there we will have whatever we will want. So sometimes when we will come home we will have a TV-phone. It is a phone with a TV on it. We will have a popcorn and soda machine that pours the soda into your mouth and pushes the popcorn in too!

Kasey Kight

In the 21st century cars will drive people and if you want something you would just have to push a button. And people will live in square things that move and that turn into anything you want. And the pools wouldn't have any water in it.

People wouldn't have to walk, they would have jet propelled bookbags that would carry all their books and them.

Morgan Wessel

When it is the 21st century, things will be different. Instead of people driving cars, the cars will drive the people to where they want to go. They push a button and the cars says "Where do you want to go?" And the person says "the mall." And the cars goes there.

And you're in the house and you want something to drink, so you push a button and it says "What do you want?" And you say "a drink" and it says "Okay, but what kind of drink?" and you say "Mr. Pibb." And it says wait 10 seconds and you will get your Mr. Pibb. And he gets it. And that's how things go in the 21st century.

Levi Lewis

I think the 21st century will be like a new world in some ways. Most people in my class think that someone will invent something called a smellaphone. I hope somebody will try to improve computers. I really wonder if someone will invent a flying car.

There are some things I hope will be the same. I hope bikes, Nintendo and school do not change.

Stephen Oliver

When it is the 21st century I think that kids should be president cause kids are more responsible. There will be more cars that run without wheels. I think the price of shoes will go down a lot. Wrestling pay-for-view will cost less. There will be a robot that does homework for you. I wish that you could talk to animals. That P.E. class will be all day. Dogs and cats will wear shoes. Mice could read stories to you every night. I wish that limos could drive you to school.

Katie Francis

It would be very different from now. When you would drive a vehicle or an aircraft, you might use a computer instead of steering wheel. The computer will have all the signals on like left, right, straight, and backwards. Telephones will be really different. There will be numbers on the wall where there is a phone. The numbers will be big and at night they will light up when the lights haven't went out. The ring will be loud but not so loud it will hurt your ears. There will be two speakers. One will be to talk in the other one will be to hear with. The numbers will be high enough babies and toddlers can't reach them.

Kacey Schultz

In the 21st century I think there will be more things to live on. There might be some more buildings in Jackson, Mo. And there may be some more stuff that is invented in our town. And there will be some less people that get sick and die. There might be some more caring medicine. And when people die if they were poor, we need to give the family money or help them. And have more things living on our earth and to keep it clean so when other things live here they can help keeping our earth clean. This is what I think it will be like in the 21st century.

Jessica Humphries

I believe that people will have telephones that people could see the other person in a 3-D way. They will see what they smell like too. There will be glass that people could see people and go through anything and all is what you would have to do is type in their name and you could see them anywhere.

People would have a license for pets, and pets would be people. We would make a bridge that people could go from continent to continent by car, but a meteor might hit in the year 2004.

Chase Jamieson

Hi, my name is Chase Jamieson. I'm in the third grade of 1999. I think they will invent a way for kids to learn and play sports at the same time. One of the things I would invent would be a box that has no gravity in it and you could stretch it so you can fit different things inside. And a remote control so you could control it. That's what I think of the 21st century.

Blake Friedrich

We will have jet packs so we can fly to school. The grown-ups will have cars and trucks that will fly in the air. We will travel to far-way universes and galaxies.

They might have ships that can fly in space and people can live on it. I think they might have a medicine that will keep you alive forever.

Brian Davidson

I think it will be real nice living in the 21st century. It will be 2000 years since Jesus was born. They might even create lots of new stuff like smell-o-phones like you can talk and smell their house at the same time! And if they created a thing that you can pass a tube with a letter in it to a certain house. I hope they build this house and car that could fly. I wish they could have a jet-pack like in space but you can fly around with it on earth. I wish there were chairs that could fly and you know the movie "Flubber," I wish they could create flubber.

Cody Lee Frohock

I think the 21st century cars will use electric instead of gas. They could make a microchip that you could put behind your ear and if you pushed it you could talk to somebody.

The 21st century wil be filled with surprises. Stuff like where you wear a microphone and what ever you said went on your computer.

May Greene Elementary

Crystal Youngblood

It will be no dogs, plants, people, not that much grass, no cars, no butterflies, and I will be mad because it will not be fun. It will not have swimming pools. It will be hot. Some food not that much food but it will be some. We will not go to the park. I not go to school and if I go to school I will bring a water bottle if I get hot.

Shauntel L. Roberts

We would go to Lone Star and they could blow up the guns. A space suit that has just a breathing mask and not the helmet. If there were something that you wanted and you had a special watch and the thing that you wanted cost a lot of money, you can get it.

Chase Johnson

Once upon a time there was a little boy. His name was Dexter. He made a special swimming suit. When he wear it he could breathe under water and when he get out he would dry quick and it will get off the salt and sand and chlorine and he would get first place in the science program and get $1,000,000 to make a laboratory or a robot that can fight, a flying car, a flying house, a giant cookies and new planes.

I think houses would be flying. There would be no guns and no bombs. The cars would be different too and books would be on bikes. Trains are going to be different. We would have to eat different too.

Chasidy Johnson

Life will not be good in the year 2000. Cars will be different. We will have robots doing our work or swimming pools that when you get in and get out you will be wet in the pool but when you get out you will be dry. And the car will be part car and part plane. Sometimes we can fly and sometimes we can ride. And our car and people will look different and look younger and stronger than you are today. And we will be living in space and have robots doing our work like wash the car and doing the spring cleaning.

Melanie Whitehead

1. There will be more houses, crowds, people, flowers, and new plants. There will probably be car planes, pollution reduced, more animals extinct, and robots do work for you. There will be different styles in cars. There might be a new way to get salt out of ocean water.

2. Use sun (solar energy) to power more things, computerized cars, new soap, a new kind of window.

Brian Williams

I think the world would change a lot. There might not be as much violence. There might be more people. And a lot of different machines to do things like lawn mowers, microwave and so on. There might be more houses, complexes, and apartments for the new people born to this world. In the future the endangered species might become extinct if people keep on and keep on polluting this earth. The world would be a beautiful and calm place if people would stop polluting. And if the gangs would stop getting together and destroying this beautiful world. Because I know that they know that it is not good to do this to our home. People might just make a flier and people might just clean up the world. Until then, keep on hoping.

Autry Robinson

In the 21st century, it would be different from now. It would have flying cars and a special swimming suit and yo could have a watch that could take you anywhere you want to go. You could press the button and you could be there in just a second. And you could wash your clothes in a swimming pool and come out dry.

Roxanne Jackson

In the 21st century it might be a better place. Might be different diseases. More animals might die. Robot might work for us. Different cars, less oil, and a computer car. The places might look different than they are now. This place will look better. The end of the 21st century.

Dontay King

It will be different. The lights will be different colors, the car lights will be on the top and it will fly. Airplanes will drive on the ground. There will be trains that can drive off a railroad, bears will hop like rabbits. There will be two termites that can wrap and unwrap presents for Christmas. There will be buildings bigger than the Empire State Building with rooms like smaller than the Empire State Building but is bigger than the houses. The birds will be free inside the houses, and mice will be pets and animals will be used for guards in front of gates and signs that will say beware of dog.

Tony Cook

In the 21st century, cars will be different styles. They are car planes, computerized cars, cars powered by the sun. There will be more people, crowds, stores, new plants, remote controlled machines, robots that do work for us. There will be new ways to get salt out of ocean water and swimsuits to help you breathe in water. More animals will be extinct, recycling more, pollution reduced. And all of cops can smash guns. People will have better jobs. There can be some apartment cars that go any where all of the people want to go and some cures for diseases.

Kyresha Davis

I think there will be a lot of things different. There will be a lot more houses because there will be a lot more people and it will be crowded. And I think there will be different, more cars, carts that don't need gas and oil probably and the animals that are extinct will die out and there will be more fish and dogs and puppies and kittens and rats because they will be having more and more kids.

A lot more people will be making inventions and machines and there will be more stores and new plants will be grown and more or less trees.

Daniel Williams

We could find new ways to get salt out of water and you can use more solar energy to power more things like cars, trucks, limousines

You can have a time watch that can take you through the future, like put it on 6000 and you will be where dinosaurs are and you have to get a car plane to get there.

Sena Campbell

If there were something that you want and you had a special watch, you can use the special watch to get what you want.

A space suit that has just a breathing mask and not the helmet. We could go to Lone Star and they could blow up the guns.

Jimmy White

When you are tired in the morning you can have a remote control to get your clothes. And if you had a store you can have a robot and can have a camera and if a robber is in your house, it would be a camera gun you can see it when you get up in the morning.

Leah Colyott

A swimsuit can help you breathe under water. Recycling more. Pollution reduced. More animals extinct. Cars different styles. More people. More stores. Car planes. Cures for diseases. New way to get salt out of ocean waters. Robots with remote control so it will mow your lawn and will do your work. A car that has a computer so you don't have to drive a car. A gun that when you have two robbers, dress the same and all you got to do is pull the trigger and the built will go right to the robber and hut him but not kill him. A pencil sharpener all got to do is put 10 pencils in it and you will have 10 pencils sharpened. And an automatic fishing pole.

Jennifer Hunt

Our houses might be a little different. They might be bigger or smaller. Cars and trucks will be different. Our clothes may be changed. If we have computers, they might be different. Our flag might have another pattern or shape.

Christin Jones

Do you know what it would be like in the life of the 21st century? It might be so scary you won't be able to go to school. It might be like a happy place to go or everybody might be mad. But now I will get started with the story.

They might have really big shoes like a clown. Who knows, they might even have big heads. You might meet nice people. They might not have meat. They might not have Tommy Hilfigers. Maybe you might not have the flag like we used to.

Michael England

Cars will have bigger motors inside of the car. The car will go 1,000 miles per hour.

Bobby Hastings

The cars and trucks will be flying in the air and they will be running off light and they will fly in the air and they will go fast in the air. The stores will have flying food in the air and people will be smarter. They will know more about stuff and it will be fun.

Brittany Rogers

Do you want to know what life will be like in the 21st century? Well, now you will. The 21st century is different from the 20th century. It has different cars, food, and people. You can see the 21st century in your imagination. The 21st century is cool. You can drive cars, eat good foods, and meet friends and meet nice people. You can stop along the way and see things you never have seen before. A century is a hundred years, and a millennium is 1,000 years.

Dominique Clark

I think that cars will have three doors, two on the sides and one on the back, left side of the car. Automatic cruise control on the car. We should have a car for little kids to drive but the little kids have to have the road for kids because it is too risky.

Terra Bell

It won't be like today because it will be the year 2021 and my mom will probably 100 years old. I will probably be a mother and the Mississippi River will be so old that it will be rusty that you probably can't see the picture.

I am going to be walking at sea and I'll see you later. So long everyone, I'll see you there.