Results of MDGs Media Mashup: workshop for teens

During the forum, we held a workshop for teens, geared toward raising awareness of the Millennium Development Goals via fun activities like creating a 30-second TV spot, storyboarding an online game, and making a skit or a song.

The MDGs Media Mashup workshop activities were designed to bridge issues such as tolerance, freedom, stereotypes, media bias, violence, and solidarity. Some examples are as follows:

News Reporting
As consumers and potential producers of news, how do we approach international news with a critical eye? What makes us good readers of news? How can we inform ourselves of bias in the news media? Where can we search for alternative news sources? What constitutes ‘fair and balanced’ reporting? What can we do to improve the quality of news we receive?
Compare what was reported on Darfur and what really happened.
Here are the materials from this workshop:
Crisis and Conscience: News Media for a Developing World

Music and Media
Participants brainstormed to develop one of the following projects or a project of their own, tying music to MDGs:
1. An international network of young musicians that use music to bridge cultural divides, to educate and empower other artists, to bond our culture to a sense of universal responsibility and to raise money or support for important causes.
2. A website/partnership that allows participants worldwide to create, mix and remix an evolving song that expresses solidarity and universal responsibility.
To continue discussions started during the workshop, check out the MDG Music for Peace Project wiki.

Game Creation for MDGs
Students came up with a concept and storyboard for a game that raises awareness of one or all of the MDGs.

For full descriptions of each of the workshop activities, go to the MDG Media Mashup info page.

About 70 teens participated, and based on feedback from both students and teachers, the workshop created a platform for some stimulating discussion and good ideas.

We'd like to invite the workshop partipants to use this space to continue the discussion by posting comments, links and thoughts...