Tuff Pupil: A Hip Hop Series about Global STEM Issues

CS Profs. John Kubiatowicz and Ken Goldberg, along with Berkeley’s Director of Research IT, Ken Lutz, have collaborated with the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) and the Lawrence Berkeley Lab (LBL) to create an animated series called “Tuff Pupil” which teaches children, ages 7 to 10,  about important cyber security concepts and other global STEM issues. Familiarizing children with these topics has become even more critical since the full-scale adoption of computers for remote learning in response to the pandemic.  Tuff Pupil has so far launched three 5-minute animated video episodes featuring “high school hip hop duo” Taye and Flori (Tommy Soulati Shepherd and Kaitlin McGaw of Grammy-nominated Alphabet Rock) who rap about data privacy in catchy ways that evoke the Schoolhouse Rock shorts of the 1970s and 80s. Parents, educators, librarians and community leaders are encouraged to share these videos with children in their “homes, schools and youth organizations to support conversations about how to safely and smartly use the internet.”  New episodes are planned for 2022 which will demystify everyday phenomena related to “data science, climate disruption, contagion, clean energy, and artificial intelligence.”