YOUTH STRATEGIES:
First Steps

For more successful strategies, check out our
action book, "Youth! The 26% Solution."

JOINING A TEAM OR CREATING YOUR OWN

OPTION 1 - Times are changing. More adults are growing comfortable with the idea of working with youth as partners. They realize the value of your input and want to channel your energy and benefit from your willingness to contribute. An increasing number of community-based agencies and organizations are including youth, even on their boards of directors. Some may even have a staff person whose main job is to recruit students to work with them.

To get involved, all you have to do is let a group know you're interested. A well-established organization can mean more resources, opportunities, and allies. Adults can often "open doors" because they have personal contacts with politicians and other community leaders. One potential drawback, however, is that adults may outnumber the students, and you may be expected to do what they want. An organization's goals and rules may limit the range of activities and actions you can pursue.

OPTION 2 - Explore is whether a club at your school or the student council/government is already involved with some of the same issues you are concerned about. If not, find out about the goals of some of the organizations in your community. By doing so, you'll probably discover several groups that are active and want to cooperate. Take the time to learn about the group and what it is trying to accomplish. See if its members are interested in what you are trying to do and want to work with you.

If the group already is well-known and has community support, it can provide a major headstart for your campaign. Also, there is strength in numbers. As a warning though, it can be a real challenge when joining with another organization to reach agreement on what should be done. You may disagree about what is needed to solve a problem or how best to approach a situation. Be on the lookout for other leaders who might have strong egos or who do not share the same goals or values.

OPTION 3 - This approach gives you the freedom to pursue your vision of how to make a difference without having a group of adults or a national organization calling the shots. Even though an independent student-run group may stand out because of its uniqueness, one disadvantage is that you will have to work harder in order to be taken seriously and win recognition. There's fun and also challenge in figuring out everything on your own -- with the help of other concerned youth, of course.

The more you publicize, the more other students and adults will take notice and want to get involved. Ideally, you will want to attract a lot of attention, but try to keep your team small and diverse. You will also want to keep things manageable, so watch out for things like:

It is easiest to work with a core group numbering between five and fifteen.

Try to broaden your group to include people from various ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds.

People who have different strengths and skills can help build and maintain momentum.

Decide whether you will function as a team of co-chairs and committees or if you need to create a hierarchical structure with elected officers. Adults can still play an important role as allies, without stealing your thunder or controlling what happens.

As you think more about what you'd like to do, you may find established groups pursuing the same or similar cause. Joining a team or building your own can be a major decision, and there are plenty of advantages and disadvantages of each that you should investigate before you decide.

Once you have your team, make it official. Create a name for your group or project. Make it easy to remember, understandable and catchy. Avoid abbreviations, for example, our international campaign called SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE is not shortened to SGU.


SPREAD THE WORD: PUBLICITY TIPS

Make sure to publicize your efforts beyond your own school audience (student newspaper, school radio station or television news program, etc.) in order to reach key community leaders and decision-makers. Besides sending out an eye-catching news release or staging some event, participate in radio talk shows either as a caller or as a guest.

Reporters and decision-makers often tune out when they hear the same statistics and familiar slogans like "Just Say No" over and over again. A fresh, hard-hitting message can capture their attention and make them remember you and your campaign. This 20-second "sound bite" has a good chance of getting broadcast on the evening news or being the quote that appears in newspaper articles.

A news release, often called a press release or news advisory, is simply a one- or two-page statement that describes an event or makes an annnouncement. It's usually sent by snail mail, e-mail, or fax to individual news media outlets and community leaders to increase interest in an issue or to request their attendance at a news conference, rally or some other activity.

Here are just a few news media outlets:

ABC TELEVISION NETWORK
77 W. 66th Street
New York NY 10023-6201
212-456-7777 News Fax: 212-456-2795
e-mail: abc@aol.com

ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) Wire Service
2021 K Street NW #600
Washington DC 20006
202-776-9400 Fax: 202-776-9570
http://www.wireap.org

ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) BROADCAST NEWS
1825 K Street NW #710
Washington DC 20500
800-821-4747 News Fax: 202-736-1199

BLUE JEAN Magazine
PO Box 67111
Chestnut Hill, MA 02132
877-FOR-BLUE
editors@bluejeanonline.com

CBS TELEVISION NETWORK
524 W. 57th Street
New York NY 10019-2902
212-975-4114 News Fax: 212-975-1893
e-mail: realitycheck@cbsnews.com

CHANNEL ONE TV
PO Box 74911
Los Angeles CA 90004
213-860-1200 News Fax: 213-860-1450
http://www.channelone.com

CNN/CABLE NEWS NETWORK
PO Box 105366
Atlanta GA 30348
404-827-1511 News Fax: 404-681-3578
http://www.cnn.com

FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY
10201 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90064-2606
310-369-1000 Fax: 310-369-1433
e-mail: foxnet@delphi.com

IN THE MIX/PBS TV
102 E. 30th Street
New York NY 10016-7369
212-684-3940 Fax: 212-684-4015
e-mail: inthemix@aol.com

LISTEN UP!
Youth Media Network
http://www.pbs.org/merrow/listenup/

MTV/MUSIC TELEVISION
1515 Broadway 23rd Floor
New York NY 10036-8901
212-258-8736 Fax: 212-258-8844
http://www.mtv.com/news

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (NPR)
625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-414-2000 Fax: 202-414-3329
e-mail: "Morning Edition" morning@npr.org
e-mail: "All Things Considered" atc@npr.org
e-mail: "Talk of the Nation" totn@npr.org
http://www.npr.org

NBC TELEVISION NETWORK
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York NY 10112-0002
212-664-4691 News Fax: 212-583-5453
e-mail: nbc@aol.com

NEW MOON PUBLISHING
PO Box 3620
Duluth MN 55803
http://www.newmoon.org

NEWSWEEK
251 West 57th Street
New York NY 10019
212-445-4000 Fax: 212-445-5068
http://www.newsweek.com

NICK NEWS/Nickelodeon
96 Morton Street
New York NY 10014-3326
212-463-0029 News Fax: 212-463-7049

Email:i nfo@ nicknews.com

 

OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
Harpo Productions
110 North Carpenter
Chicago IL 60607
Fax: 312-633-1976
e-mail: oprah@aol.com

PBS/PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria VA 22314-1649
703-739-5000 Fax: 703-739-5295
e-mail: viewer@pbs.org

PEOPLE Magazine
1271 Sixth Avenue
New York NY 10020
212-522-1212 Fax: 212-522-0331
http://www.people.com

PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL (PRI)
100 N. 6th Street #900A
Minneapolis MN 55403
612-338-5000 Fax: 612-330-9222
http://www.pri.org

SCHOLASTIC UPDATE Magazine
555 Broadway
New York NY 10012
212-343-6271 Fax: 212-343-6619
http://www.scholastic.com

TIME Magazine

Rockefeller Center
New York NY 10020
212-522-1212 Fax: 212-522-2815
http://www.time.com

USA TODAY
1000 Wilson Blvd
Arlington VA 22229
703-276-6536
http://www.usatoday.com

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
2400 N Street NW
Washington DC 20037
202-955-2000 Fax: 202-955-2049
http://www.usnews.com

WE INTERRUPT THIS MESSAGE
2588 Mission St. #212
San Francisco CA 94110
415-621-3302
http://www.interrupt.org

YOUTH COMMUNICATIONS
224 W. 29th St.
New York, NY 10001
212-279-0708
http://www.youthcomm.org