Three Hundred Youths Explore Self-Expression and Critique of Media.

By Claire Chen, The World Journal, June 10, 2006.

About three hundred youth leaders from New York City high schools attended the Youth Summit 2006 on June 9^th. The theme of the year is Youth & Media. Victor Wong, a member of The YouthBridge-NY, the organizing group, said that media’s portrayal of youth often contains a lot of stereotypes. They hope to get a better understanding of how news is presented in the media through open discussion. They also wanted to remind youth not to rely on one single medium as their news source and to use their own knowledge to analyze news coverage.

YouthBridge-NY was founded by the Jewish Community Relations Council of NY ten years ago. It is a one-year training, attended by selected high school students of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, to develop their understanding and respect for different cultures and experience.

Victor Wong, a Stuyvesant High School 11^th graders, was encouraged to attend the Youth Bridge program by his mother. Wong said he now has “more confidence and self-respect since joining the program. I am no longer afraid to express myself and I believe that I can change the world for the better,” said Wong.

Wong said that he was quite shy and afraid of public speech at the beginning. After a year’s training, he can now eloquently articulate himself in front of the public. He has also become more conscious of the differences among cultures and races. He has not decided on a definite career plan except that he wants to go to Harvard University and is leaning towards a science major.

The Youth Bridge has 25 members with three Chinese students. Wong said they usually meet once a month but met much more frequently to prepare for the Summit. They also visited a CBS-affiliated TV station and the Independent Press Association. Anyone who is interested can visit their website at www.youthbridgeny.org.

The Summit was held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Invited speakers included Dominic Carter, a NY1 political reporter and Sade Baderinwa, anchorwoman of WABC. Virginia Kee, a founding member of the Chinese-American Planning Council, with four other people who helped the Youth Bridge, were interviewed and honored by students.