Bright and early one morning a few weeks ago, I stepped into the media academy at Fremont High School, where the walls are adorned with posters promoting Bay Area culture and groggy teenagers looked toward their teacher, Leon Sykes, as he discussed media literacy and the craft of storytelling.
I was there to guest lecture on my experience as a journalist, and to emphasize the importance of speaking out about what’s going on in your life– in your home and in your community.
As a part of my workshop, I interviewed students– asking them to tell me about the things that grind their gears, the issues that deeply bother them, the circumstances that make them upset. My question was, ‘where they got you messed up at?’
Turns out they didn’t need my advice, they knew how to use their voices, they just needed a platform and a mic. They brought up social issues, family dynamics and their sleep-to-homework ratio, as well as what can be done about these problems.
On this episode, I invite you to take a few minutes and listen to the young scholars, because they’ve got some valuable observations and a couple unique solutions.
Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on NPR One, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
