Today’s technology allows any young person to make a piece of media and showcase it. Young people’s trends of media consumption are also a key target for big business, from MySpace to McDonalds. These trends are fostered in schooling environments. While, embracing the creation of media by young people is an important instrument for media literacy and empowerment, we ask: what are the next steps in media and how to connect media with social justice movements? How are media works by young people used effectively to connect different movements for social change? How can youth created media be used in the classroom to generate critical thought and foster community action? Are young people, educators and organizers empowered by youth created media? By thinking about audience, impact, partnerships, young people can counteract the processed versions of their views perpetuated by big media and bring their own media to the world and share their organic and unique perspectives and visions for reform. This panel will explore how young people can push the boundaries by engaging audiences to think beyond pure consumption of media. We will connect organizers, community activists, educators and youth media creators so the creation, dissemination, use, perpetuation of social justice media comes full circle.

Through this panel attendees will learn valuable tools in engaging and perpetuating youth media and media at large. Audience will understand how relevant, important and powerful youth media is in the work of social change and media literacy.

This panel, which will be presented in English, will focus not only on presenting youth media, but it will explore the importance of youth produced media by speaking with youth media producers and those who use youth media in their works. It is important to have young people sit at the same table as adult content creators and not marginalize them. It is also important to have a participant driven panel where adult and young content creators, organizers and educators speak to each other about furthering media literacy work and using media for social change.

Attendees will gain practical experiences on effectively using media as tools for social change, appreciating/understanding youth produced media, working with young media creators, applying media in educational settings, connecting with young filmmakers and engaging them in media literacy works. Handouts and discussion guides will be given so audiences can walk away with concrete examples and information to review after the panel.