[nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment

[Judy Jones]

Hi,

I feel so impassioned about this myself even though I'm not a "youth".

The NFB clothing and logo are much better now at veering from strictly 
primary colors, but we need to be promoting along with those the bright, 
electric colors as well. Even though we don't see them, we live in a 
colorful world and need to relate.

We need some good NFB rap written and presented, and we older ones need to 
get used to it.  The videos and tapes we put out need to have that techno 
music in the background instead of piano music--as pretty as it is.  We 
should be having Youth Slams twice a year, and not just dedicate them toward 
the sciences, but to reach youth in general--say, career promotion, or "All 
About Me" maybe as a theme.  The girls need a chance to get or give 
make-overs, discuss how to effectively wear make-up as a blind girl, pros 
and cons of certain hairstyles . . . I'm just talking off the top of my 
head, but these are things my girls are interested in. I'm admittedly weak 
on guy topics, but I think our people at national convention do a wonderful 
job with pertinent topics.

The Youth Slam should be promoted just like Meet The Blind month, and it 
should trickle down into local levels.

As important as academics are, and I'm not slamming the current "slam," 
blind youth need a chance to be teenagers and enjoy being teenagers with 
seminars on dating, party-safety such as Party Patrol organization presents, 
fashion workshops, how important is it to be popular, and as one of our 
young listers so aptly demonstrated, how to deal with blindness and relating 
to peers.

In our area, every Friday night there is Club Adrien, and also Impact, which 
are totally safe and alcohol- drug-free chaperoned places that attract teens 
with activities and food.  The YMCA also has something like this, but don't 
remember the name of that program.

Boys and Girls clubs can give us good ideas too, and maybe so could the 
DARES program.

If we start doing some of these things in a concentrated way, I believe 
youth will start to look and listen and come.

Judy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tina Hansen" <thansen at quik.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment


> 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.
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>