Category: Uncategorized
Understanding and Managing Emotions
By Casey Schmidl-Gagne, MPY Summer Media Camp Educator
Emotions are a tricky topic to talk about with kids. Positive, negative, and everything in between – emotions are a spectrum of feelings, mindsets, and physical reactions. Some of them are simpler to understand and manage, while some can feel incredibly difficult to even talk about. Let’s de-mystify the way emotions work, and work through some solutions that might help kids handle them.
6 Essential Tips for Navigating a ‘Bell-to-Bell’ Cell Phone Ban
By Roger Gelman, MPY Youth Advisory Board Member
We’d heard rumblings for a few months before the news was officially announced by our superintendent a few weeks before the school year began: our district would be implementing a “bell-to-bell” cell phone policy. Elementary students (K-4) must leave devices at home, middle schoolers (5-8) must store phones in lockers, and high school students (9-12) must keep them in their backpacks, off and silent.
My first reaction. Ugh. No phones at all? Even at lunch or in the hallways? It felt like a huge change and I was pretty skeptical about how it would go.
Lights, Camera, Community! Youth Film Festival 2025
Over 150 family and community members gathered for Media Power Youth’s Second Annual Film Festival in a celebration of creativity, leadership, and the impact young people can make. With red carpet photos, popcorn in hand, and powerful stories on the screen, this morning of cinema captured everything Media Power Youth is about: teaching kids how to use media to learn, lead, and connect. KEEP READING
Summer Filmmaking Camps 2025
The 2025 summer filmmaking camps went fantastically! Our 10-14 year-old filmmakers investigated nature and wildlife, explored their emotions and how to communicate them, and filmed some cool and extravagant scenarios. We worked with technology to share inspiring stories!
In partnership with NH Audubon and the SEE Science Center, the Conservation Quest and Reel Explorers camps gave young filmmakers the chance to work across genres and styles to share their stories. They produced experimental films, documentaries, comedies, dramedies, and more. Through this, they found their voices, and used them to inspire us to change how we view nature and promote healthier relationships with emotions. Our partners welcomed us with open arms and gave the campers knowledge and a space to grow as storytellers.
NH Teens Pave the Way to Safer Driving
Obtaining a driver’s license is a significant milestone for teens. It is often seen as a symbol of freedom, giving youth aged 16 and up more independence and access to new opportunities. It also helps them maintain relationships and connections with their peers through in-person visits and group activities. A driver’s license contributes to our teens’ social and emotional well-being by allowing them to develop and refine self-awareness, social-awareness, better judgement, and decision-making skills. KEEP READING
Retrain Your Brain – Tips to Manage Screen Time
By Geo Elasmar, 2024-2025 MPY Youth Advisory Board Member
Most of us know we spend too much time on our phones, and yet breaking the habit is still painfully difficult. Social media platforms, streaming services, and even productivity apps are all designed to keep us hooked. If you’ve ever tried (and failed) to limit your screen time, you’re not alone. The good news is that there are practical, realistic ways to take back control without cutting yourself off completely. As a member of MPY’s Youth Media Squad, I wanted to share a few strategies that have helped me strike a better balance. KEEP READING
How to Avoid Being the Internet’s Punchline This April Fools’ Day
by Shreya Rajesh, Media Power Youth Student Volunteer, Academy for Science and Design
Congratulations! You have officially entered the most chaotic day on the internet. April Fools’ used to be about harmless fun: your sibling telling you your shoelace is untied (it’s not), or your friend swapping the sugar for salt (disgusting, but respectable). But now? Now we have AI-generated lies, deep fake videos, and corporations dropping fake announcements for products that don’t exist. Remember when your sibling would set up a bucket of water above the door just to watch you get soaked? The internet’s basically doing that now, but with misinformation.
If you want to make it through April 1st without falling for the jokes, follow this highly comprehensive guide to avoiding digital deception.
Teens React: Social Media Misinformation
The media landscape of today’s world is constantly changing, and it can be challenging to keep up with it all. Social media content spreads quickly through peer-to-peer sharing and reposting, which means inaccurate information may not be caught until after it goes viral and reaches a large audience.
Some social media platforms are currently changing the way they moderate posts. For example, Meta has announced that they are canceling their contracts with third-party fact-checking services, and switching to a new “Community Notes” feature where users are responsible for assessing the information they see for truthfulness and flagging inaccuracies. KEEP READING
Seeking High School Students for 2025-26 Advisory Board
Media Power Youth is a youth-development organization that inspires young people to engage with media in thoughtful and creative ways that support their physical and mental well-being. We offer rich learning experiences on media and technology that help students, teachers, and communities build media literacy skills and use media responsibly to advocate for the causes and people that matter most. Through our youth advisory board, the Youth Media Squad, we partner with teens to create new youth programs that address the current issues facing young people. Members also have opportunities to build new media creation and advocacy skills. We are now accepting applications through April 14th, 2025. KEEP READING
Valentine’s Day: A Digital Love Story (But Like… In Real Life Too)
by Shreya Rajesh, Media Power Youth Student Volunteer, Academy for Science and Design
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples anymore. Teens have officially redefined it as an opportunity to show love and appreciation for friends, family, and—let’s be honest—yourself. Thanks to social media, we can now shout out our besties and crushes with a double-tap. But there’s more to it than just emojis and heart filters. Technology has opened up a new world of creative ways to show your love, and it’s not all just for your Instagram. KEEP READING