 Friday
at the Prepcom
Girls learn to stand up for themselves
New York, June 15 - Dozens of girls aged under-18 benefited from an interactive workshop on Friday designed to help them be more savvy as both consumers and producers of media.
The five-hour symposium and media workshop on Girls as Their Own Advocates was convened by six non-governmental organizations during the week-long third Preparatory Committee meeting of the UN General Assembly's Special Session on Children.
A session on media literacy discussed how the media shape thinking and behaviour through content and points of view. The participants also deconstructed and discussed a number of video clips.
After a presentation about techniques of interviewing and being interviewed, the girls broke up into groups and, armed with video cameras and tape recorders, practised the techniques on one another.
"I ran out of questions because she kept on giving me one word answers! What must I do?" pleaded one interviewer. Meanwhile, at the other side of the room, another group of young women reviewed their taped sessions and got advice on improving their speaking tone, speed and modulation. Each group was guided by a woman currently working in the media.
The discussions ranged from the impact of advertising on women and how it felt to be ridiculed at school for not following the latest fashion, to how to break into existing power structures and why asking the most controversial questions last in an interview can be a good tactic.
The event closed with a song and dance session during which all the girls and women found their voices and really made them heard.
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