The last of our missions at The Byway is to “provide an opportunity to youth to write and be read.”
This is one of the coolest things The Byway does! We love getting to rub shoulders with our youth as we work with them, report on their activities, and help get subjects and writing out there that are important to them.
What Is So Cool about Working with Youth?
We like working with youth because it keeps The Byway young. And it’s fun to write, and read, and grow alongside our youth. It’s not all just about us though. We really want to make the lives of kids, and the lives of community members, better through this mission.
Youth at The Byway learn some great, marketable skills that they will use in any career. These include:
- Being on a team of journalists.
- Writing and good communication.
- Interviewing locals about important topics.
- Finding reliable internet sources.
- Taking constructive criticism.
In managing our junior journalists, we learn about who they are and what is important to them in their lives.
We have been so proud and impressed with the topics these junior journalists have come up with on their own to write about. These include keeping up with the Utah flag changes, appropriately covering community tragedies, and encouraging kindness no matter the circumstances.
You can read these articles in the Written by Youth tab.
Reporting on Their Activities
Not only do we write with our youth, we also write about them.
One of our journalists once wrote that “much of the social life in our area revolves around our youth, and we grow close as communities by supporting them.” It’s true that most of our community events have to do with youth: basketball games, homecoming pageants, youth church activities and even summer work.
As such, we like to write about these topics. The most recent youth activities we have written about include Bryce Valley’s Spanish Club, Panguitch’s and Piute’s Homecoming activities and the state wrestling tournament.
You can read these articles in the School tab.
The Importance of Writing and Being Read
It is important to us that these youth are written and talked about. Why? So they can know what people are saying about them, so they can enter the world of civil discourse, so they can see that people care about them, so they can find jobs and stay in our community.
As we are writing with and about our youth, we hope that some of their values become ingrained in us as well. We are, after all, building a world that they will soon take over. Hopefully we give them one they can feel like they are a part of.
Some of the most important subjects that are real in these kids’ lives include technology, social media, Church service, where to go to school, how to move forward into their futures, jobs that are available to them, things that are going on in high school right now and how Gen Z fits into the world.
We at The Byway know we are not perfect at what we do. But we hope we are not scaring away too many of the youth. We really do care. That’s why we try to write with youth, about youth, and even to youth. Hopefully they will continue to give us a chance, and we can make the world a better place together.
– The Byway
Feature image caption: Working with youth at The Byway is a win-win. The Byway stays young and in-the-know, and youth gain marketable skills and are able to share their voices in a world that really needs them. Courtesy Gustavo Fring.