Category: Youth
I Learned That the Best Way to Stop Scrolling Is to Start Playing
By Aaron Gelman, MPY Advisory Board Member
At least once every week when my brother and I are bored after school, I run upstairs and yell, “Hey Roger, do you want to play tennis?” Sometimes he says yes and sometimes he says no. When he agrees, we spend an hour pounding the ball back and forth, experimenting with our serves, and playing silly mini tennis games.
But after joining Media Power Youth earlier this year — and thinking more about my media use habits — I realized that the best part of this ritual is that we’re spending over an hour having fun together, getting exercise, and staying off our phones.
As we all search for ways to regulate our daily phone habits, I think one of the best things we can do is simply remember to play. KEEP READING
Orange YOU Curious?
October is Bullying Prevention Month, traditionally marked by the color orange and Media Power Youth is asking local communities to add something else to the conversation: curiosity.
Orange You Curious? is bullying prevention campaign designed to turn awareness into conversation. Throughout October, orange buttons, ribbons, signs, and resources will appear in participating community spaces, organizations, and businesses creating opportunities to talk about bullying, what young people are experiencing, and how all of us can help build communities where they feel safe, supported, and connected.
Why curiosity?
Because sometimes the best way to understand what young people are experiencing is simply to ask.
What Happens When Students Tell the Story of Their Community
What happens when students are given the tools, time, and trust to tell a story that matters to them?
At Franklin High School, the 2026 New Hampshire School of the Year, the answer became A City Reimagined, a 25-minute student-produced documentary exploring the students’ hometown and the role their school plays within it.
Media Power Youth partnered with Franklin High School for the semester-long “Rooted in Franklin” journalism elective, made possible with support from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. From the beginning, students had ownership of the project, including choosing the two questions that would guide their work:
Why do people choose to stay in Franklin?
How does our school bring this community together?
Forget Willpower: These 6 Tips Make It Easier to Stay ‘Locked In’ for Studying
Over the past few years, balancing challenging school classes, extracurricular activities, and sports has forced me to become more intentional about how I study. I’ve learned that staying focused isn’t about having incredible willpower. It’s about setting up an environment and routine that makes it easier to concentrate and harder to get distracted.
Here are a few strategies I’ve tried and honed over the years that have helped me stay “locked in” during busy exam weeks.
Time to Thrive: How to Improve Family Well-being This Summer
Summer is a big deal in the Northeast. The extra hours of daylight and warmth of the season are a welcome reprieve from our long, dark winters. It’s also a busy season as New Englanders scramble to take advantage of the good weather and it can be easy for family well-being to get lost in the shuffle of barbecues and beach days, especially if you’re also juggling school-age kids.
The key to optimizing well-being during the summer is finding a mix of play and routine that complements your lifestyle. Instead of trying to fit even more activities into an already packed schedule, we’ve put together some simple routines that you can adapt for your unique family situation.
Don’t Let a Chemical Choose Your Vibe: Teens Take the Lead During MPY Workshop
At Media Power Youth, we have the unique privilege of collaborating with young people who are just starting to find their voice. They are creative, funny, and smart. The students we encounter in our work inspire us to think differently about the challenges that surround us everyday and often jump at the chance to help peers step out of their comfort zone to learn a new skill, especially when that skill involves media.
We recently partnered with a group of community organizations on a vaping prevention initiative: Boys and Girls Club of Greater Derry, Community Alliance for Teen Safety (CATS), and South Central Public Health Network (SCPHN).
The Hidden Environmental Cost of “Free” Technology
By Varun Swamy, MPY Youth Advisory Board Member
I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a post that stopped me. It claimed that a short conversation with an AI chatbot can use roughly the same amount of water as a standard water bottle: 500 milliliters.
4 Things You Can Try (Tonight!) If Your Phone Habits Are Ruining Your Sleep
By Roger Gelman, MPY Youth Advisory Board Member
Most of my friends wake up tired and cranky. Yes, our 7:20 AM school start time is a big reason. But so is the fact that we’re staying up way too late — and not only because of studying.
The Best Hack for Using Your Phone Less: Find a ‘Flow’ Activity
By Roger Gelman, MPY Youth Advisory Board Member
We’re always surrounded by our screens. We use our phones constantly for school, social life, and entertainment, which makes it hard to simply put them down. That’s why I think it’s important to have an activity that puts you into a flow state — a time when you are so focused that everything else doesn’t seem to matter. Especially being attached to your phone.
Building More Than Robots: How Engineering Taught Me to Lead
By Ayva Hanks, Media Power Youth Advisory Board Member
When I first joined my school’s robotics team, I thought leadership was about giving directions, making sure deadlines were met, and the robot actually worked when we pressed the start button. But somewhere between broken gearboxes, and endless redesigns, I realized leadership was something completely different. It wasn’t about being in charge. It was about building something, not just a robot, but a team.