Youth Pulse

New York, NY, 1998

Our vision was for a youth-produced radio program on WBAI that dared to tackle substance abuse among young people today. A partnership formed between WBAI and Global Kids (GK), a local nonprofit youth advocacy group that focuses on developing youth skills in leadership and teamwork, within a context that connects local community issues with global ones. WBAI is part of the Pacifica Radio network and has been serving New York City's metropolitan area with community-specific programming for 37 years. The two nurse/producers of its award-winning weekly program, Healthstyles, provided their program as a vehicle for launching Youth Pulse, as well as project oversight, youth mentoring, and health consultation.

Project goals included:

• diminishing substance abuse among youth;
  
• broadcasting youth programs on WBAI;
  
• making the programs available to other outlets;
  
• including youth voices in developing programs;
  
• building a presence for Global Kids on WBAI;
  
• increasing a teen audience for both partners; and
  
• exciting youth about radio production and broadcasting as a career.

Six teens were trained in radio production and were able to continue to meet the time demands of this project. Later, they took turns as lead producer. Two planned to continue their work on Youth Pulse while beginning college; one decided to major in communications. The youth producers named the monthly program and developed a format combining relevant music with commentary and interviews, live segments, and listener call-ins.

The first program focused on how New Yorkers define substance abuse, using a variety of interviews with strangers, peers, a policewoman, and a state senator. Generational views of substance use and abuse were discussed in the second program, which covered the perennial nature of substance abuse and the different forms it takes in each generation. The third program addressed the influence of the media on teen smoking and included global perspectives on the marketing of tobacco. The fourth program focused on "raves," a youth-oriented, after-hours dance scene associated with drug use.

The programs were aired in a New York City leadership class and were made available to other classes. Media coverage has included two cable TV segments.

Contact Information

Youth Pulse
Diana Mason, Producer/Host, "Healthystyles"
Tel: 212-581-8351

Global Kids
David Velasquez, Project Coordinator
Tel: 212-226-0130