Digital Natives: Teens talk politics
The Digital Natives Reporters in the Field series may be taking a breather, but with the US election only three weeks away and the final presidential debate tonight, the conversation on youth activism hardly has time to pause.
Today, on the Digital Natives blog, we are introduced to a crop of budding radio reporters and activists from Generation PRX and KUOW's new program, "Our Time: Teens and Politics."
From the Digital Natives blog:
“Now is the time to either step up, or sit out.” This is the recurring theme of a compelling new youth radio program entitled, “Our Time: Teens and Politics,” the third collaboration between Generation PRX, a social network for youth radio producers, and KUOW. In this “One whole hour of radio stories made by teenagers,” teens candidly discuss a diverse range of topics including the Iraq war, global warming, and meetings with prominent politicians. The following excerpts by teen radio reporters serve as excellent examples of this compelling new youth special:
Lena tries to make sense of the relationship between the Iraq War and her personal beliefs on the value of protesting through an interview with a committed protester:
“Personal connections, friendships, loss… are often what galvanize people into taking action… But is that what it’s going to take? Do we have to wait for everyone to have a friend step on a landmine before we really organize or mobilize against war? Or will I, or will we all, continue to sleep in on Saturday mornings and rely on (protestors like) Alan Wolf to do it for us?”
For more on youth civic engagement, be sure to check out the penultimate chapter of John Palfrey and Urs Gasser's Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives.
