‘Technological change is definitely something we struggle to keep up with,’ says Media Power Youth Executive Director Heather Inyart. ‘Our youth advisory board helps us to do that, because often they see things before the rest of us.’
The inspiration for Media Power Youth came a generation before smartphones began changing the way teenagers interact with the world.
Rona Zlokower created MediaSmart in 2000 with Selma Deitch, MD, founder of Child Health Services, to address the influence of media on children’s health and behavior.
The program became its own nonprofit in 2007 and was renamed.
Since then, Media Power Youth has collaborated with educators, health professionals, government agencies, research institutions and other youth-serving programs to provide media literary curricula that teach young people how to evaluate and interact with media and create positive media messages.
Heather Inyart, executive director of the Manchester-based nonprofit, recently appeared as a guest on NH Business Review’s “Down to Business” podcast. This article was adapted from that interview, and was edited for space and clarity.
NH Business Review managing editor Amanda Andrews, who co-hosts “Down to Business” with editor Mike Cote, serves on the board of Media Power Youth.
Q. What is the mission of Media Power Youth?
A. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, so we’re really excited about that. Our mission has been helping young people navigate this media ecosystem that is present in our lives. It’s one of the toughest parts of growing up. We help kids learn how to become critical users of media, how to produce media thoughtfully and creatively, always through this lens of health and well-being.
Q. What are some of the educational resources Media Power Youth offers in the classroom and for parents?
A. There are three different areas that we focus on. The first is providing classroom resources for educators and youth-serving professionals. They include curriculum around a variety of media-related topics that could include nutrition, substance use prevention and stress management.
When we share these resources with educators, they could include lesson plans and media samples that can be used for class discussion, so they can bring these conversations into our classrooms and help build those social-emotional learning skills so that they can contribute to learning in a school-based environment.
We do direct youth programing, so we’re very excited about our summer camps. We have filmmaking camps this summer, where students can come and learn about how to advocate for a cause that’s important to them. We have one with New Hampshire Audubon and another with the SEE Science Center.
We also do parent education and have parent events where parents can come and ask questions about social media, cellphones — all of those parenting dilemmas they’re likely to encounter raising kids.
Q. Media Power Youth has had to evolve over the last 25 years. How has the organization adapted?
A. We have evolved a lot in that time and have tried to offer both in-person and online experiences. Because we have Zoom, we’re able to have virtual experiences so more young people can participate in our programs.
Five years ago, we created a youth advisory board, which actually meets online, and they provide feedback on our programs. They create media together that we use in our curriculum, for example. It’s allowed us to bring more of that youth perspective into our work to ensure that our work is really helpful to children and to teens in light of the dilemmas that they experience.
Technological change is definitely something we struggle to keep up with. Our youth advisory board helps us to do that, because often they see things before the rest of us. We get a heads-up on what they’re seeing on TikTok and what they’re seeing on YouTube. And that allows us to keep pace with that.
Q. Media Power Youth has great partnerships in the community, including a new partnership with Studio Lab for the upcoming Community Impact Awards. Tell us about that.
A. We are asking students if they have had a mentor that has impacted them personally and also made a positive impact on their school community to tell that story. If they can create a short film or a photo story and submit it, they could win $1,000 for themselves and an additional $1,000 for their mentor.
We really want to celebrate the contributions of our schools to our community.
We’re hoping that, through this initiative, the amazing work of teachers, coaches and educators that are happening in our public schools here in New Hampshire is more visible to the community, and to also encourage youth to participate in that conversation about education that we’re having in our state. It’s supported through Studio Lab.
We’re going to have an event on May 30, where the community can come together and see the short films and photo stories. This initiative is also supported by the NH Charitable Foundation, which we’ve worked with on a number of different types of programs over our history.
