Rise Up New Hampshire (www.riseupnh.org) is organizing a conversation with teens (13 to 19 years old), to give them a platform to share their personal experiences with the pandemic – school, family, friends, masking, social distancing, etc.
Editors Note: From time to time we will share emails we receive from like-minded groups or organizations so that our extensive readership can make themselves and others aware of programs or events.
Editors Note: From time to time we will share emails we receive from like-minded groups or organizations so that our extensive readership can make themselves and others aware of programs and participate in these events.
Our intention is to record this conversation over Zoom (an online meeting room, with video and audio), and make the recording and/or edited versions of it available to the general public for educational purposes.
The conversation will be facilitated by a social worker. No other adults will take part of the conversation or be present in the meeting room except in a technical capacity (i.e., to make sure the recording is taking place properly and that all participants can be seen and heard).
Our aim with this project is to understand the impacts of the pandemic, and perhaps more importantly the effects the governmental responses have had on our children, as described by them. We are not looking for, and do not want, any child to be used to deliver a message or a pro or anti position on the pandemic or any of its measures. The adult facilitator will be asking open-ended questions only and will remain neutral.
It is crucial that each child who participates does so without any pressure from parents or other adults. Parents or guardians of participating children agree not to coach the child before or during the meeting. We would recommend (though will not require) that the parent or guardian not be in the room where the conversation is taking place, in order not to influence or inhibit the child’s ability to share their true feelings and experiences.
We at Rise Up New Hampshire are sensitive to how children have historically been used, and are currently being used, to promote messages and agendas on behalf of adults, corporations and governments, and we promise not to engage in any such exploitation. We will do our best to minimize this by sharing the video end-product without biased framing of any kind, and through questions that redirect the children to share their actual experiences, leaving out opinions and messaging to the greatest degree possible. That said, our aim is not to control or shut down anyone’s self-expression, and children do have a right to their opinions – and to express them.
Our “Conversation with Teens” will take place next Saturday, December 12 at 1pm on Zoom. It will be facilitated by David Cope of Hancock NH*, a social worker with experience working with teens in a variety of contexts.
We are asking parents who feel their children might be willing to take part in this project to approach their teen(s) with a gentle inquiry about whether they’d be interested in participating in a conversation with others in their age group, and if so, whether they’d be comfortable appearing on camera, having their first name shared, and having the meeting recorded and shared publicly. We are ideally wanting to hear from children who have already been actively communicating their feelings, and who would not be shy about doing so in front of others.
| If your child is willing to participate, please read, complete, and sign the Minor Child Release Form (for anyone child under 18), or have your 18-year-old-plus child complete the 18-and-Over Release Form, then scan or take a photo of it and return ASAP to admin@riseupnh.org. Please direct any questions to the same email address. We will contact you to set up a brief screening meeting on Zoom prior to the event next weekend. |
If you know of other families whose teens may have an interest in participating, please pass along this notice to them.
Please note that due to the limitations of the Zoom environment, we may not be able to accommodate all who show an interest.
Thank you,
John-Michael Dumais
RiseUpNH Organizer
Keene
p.s. At some later point we hope to organize similar conversations with younger school-aged children, with parents, and with elders — stay tuned.
* About David Cope:
Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker
B.A. Psychology Brandeis University
MSW – Simmons School of Social Work
20 years counseling teens
15 years counseling active duty military and veterans
20 years teaching and providing professional mediation
| Just a quick reminder to join us Monday, December 7 at 1pm for our weekly Zoom community chat. Click {{{HERE}}} to join us on Zoom. |
