[nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment

[Tina Hansen]

This is an excellent discussion, and it explains why I'm wanting to see more 
of our stuff made available as mp3 downloads: young people are so dialed in 
with their iPods, and if we can give them some meaningful content, they 
might be able to gain a better understanding as to why we're here. The 
Kernel Books are a perfect example of this, especially since they're 
designed to be read as individual stories that state a common theme and are 
packaged up in these books.

All this has had me thinking about the impact of the media on our culture. 
Our culture is so used to things coming in 30-second sound bites, thus 
causing one to ask for immediate results. I must admit that I struggle with 
this myself, since my digital conversion project is taking longer than I 
want, partly because I don't have the funds to pay a studio. But I digress.

I see two schools of thought on how to package our information and ideas: 
one relying on what has worked for us in the past, including our literature 
and speeches. These are valuable, and if some of these young people are able 
to read or listen to and think about the ideas, they can understand our 
message. These should not be discarded just because they're too long in the 
eyes of young people used to sound bites. They need to have a chance to sit 
and reflect.

The other school of thought argues that the only way to attract attention to 
your issues is through an event with a lot of flash, spectacle and fanfare. 
Because young people are used to MTV, X-box, video games and the like, you 
absolutely have to ppunctuate your remarks with loud music and flashy 
visuals just to keep them interested. Without the extra spectacle, they 
won't stay interested.

They're used to being entertained, and if you present your message in a 
Music Video format, this view argues, they'll listen. Otherwise, they'll get 
bored. They won't sit and read a speech, but they will sit and watch a 
5-minute video. Thus, anything belonging to the past should be thrown out 
the window.

The danger, though, is that you have to make certain you don't compromise 
your message just to draw in numbers. Thus, I believe we need to work with 
both schools of thought and try to find a way to meet them in the middle. I, 
for one, can see both sides and want to draw both on the past and the 
present. We need to use our literature, but we also need to find creative 
ways to reach out to our young people in language they can understand.

The science academies and the upcoming Youth Slam are steps in the right 
direction, but I also believe we can find other creative ways to reach our 
youth. It may involve a DVD where youth are the focal point, and we might 
want to find ways to explain our philosophy in language youth can 
understand. It may involve some of our members writing songs that can 
communicate to youth, or it may involve ideas I just can't think of right 
now.

There are also those who argue that the only way to draw a crowd is if you 
hire a big celebrity to be a part of your event, and I fear that our culture 
is heading down that path. While I hope we haven't gone past the point of no 
return, I sometimes fear for the worst.

As I think about this, I'd encourage anyone interested to read an article by 
Dr. Jernigan on The Future of Education Innovation: Panacea or Pandemonium. 
I have this article as a Word Document, which I can send to anyone 
interested. I also have it as an mp3 file, but if I sent it, it would take 
forever. So, if anyone is interested, they can ask and I can send the Word 
file to them. Otherwise, you can find it in our chronicle, Walking Alone and 
Marching Together. That is not on our new web site as of yet, but I hope it 
will be. Although this piece was written in 1969, I believe it's still 
timely in the main, and I believe it should make anyone think. It certainly 
has made me think, and if anyone wants to read it, I think you'd be stunned.

Any thoughts? Thanks.