youthspeakoutint.org-
Why Is Social Media So Addictive?
Do you ever feel like you can’t stop scrolling on your social media apps? Like you just have to watch the next video, scroll through more photos, read the next post? That’s not a coincidence. Social media companies intentionally design their apps to be addictive. And no one is more vulnerable to those addictive tendencies than children and young people. According to the American Psychological Association, children’s brains go through a fundamental shift when they […]
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Instagram Takes Steps To Protect Teen Privacy
Social media can be a difficult place for children and teens to navigate. For years, people have raised concerns about the dangers young people face on these platforms, including concerns over privacy, exploitation, and exposure to dangerous or inappropriate content. And many parents have no idea what their children are doing on social media sites and who they are engaging with. Instagram recently announced that they are taking steps to make their platform safer for […]
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AI and Your Digital Footprint
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more mainstream and people become more aware of the impact it has on our lives, we will see rippling impacts on every area of our digital lives. This includes impacting your digital footprint– the trail of data and information that you leave on the internet– in both positive and negative ways. AI relies on data collection for fuel. As a result, the negative impacts of this technology are easy to […]
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Digital Citizenship In The Age Of AI
For anyone who spends time online, it is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between facts and false information. With the rise of AI technology that can create incredibly realistic “deep fakes,” social media sites that struggle with moderation, and malicious actors who benefit from sowing chaos and confusion, even educated adults can struggle to figure out what’s real and what’s not. And with wars, elections, and crises around the world unfolding on our smartphones […]
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Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Six
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculums week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Six. After following along with our students for six weeks, we have finally arrived at the final session of the Today’s Digital Citizens curriculum. Across these classes, our students have learned about what it means to be a good digital citizen while creating Public […]
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Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Five
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculums week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Five. In Week Five of Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens (TDC) program, all the puzzle pieces that the students have been learning and working towards finally begin to come together. Week Four saw students wrap up the production of their Public Service […]
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Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Four
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculums week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Four. In Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens program, students have the opportunity to explore their relationship to the digital world in a creative and engaging way. In Week Three, students had a discussion about cyberbullying and began working on the design stage […]
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Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Three
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculum week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Three. Cyberbullying is a major issue facing today’s young people. The internet and devices provide a shield for kids to hide behind as they hurt other people. Some kids might not even realize the impact of their words or actions because of the distance […]
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Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Two
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculum week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Two. The internet provides people with the ability to share information quickly and easily. This can be incredibly useful– but also potentially dangerous. In the second week of our Today’s Digital Citizens program, we explain the concept of a “digital footprint” and explore with […]
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Digital Citizenship Across Generations
This summer, students in Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens program had the opportunity to collaborate with senior citizens. At Acts of Kindness summer camp, students in the 3rd-5th grade class heard from a local senior citizen about how technology impacts her life and her relationships with her grandchildren. She also helped students work on their projects, assisting with the creation of storyboards for each group’s Public Service Announcement (PSA). This opportunity to collaborate […]
Today’s Digital Citizens™
Society has witnessed massive changes in the way media and technology impacts the way we live. Technology is more mobile, more functional, and seemingly indispensable. We’ve integrated media and technology into more of our lives, bringing devices with us everywhere and depending on them for school, work, and social functions. Beyond the usual dynamics of friends and peer groups, the wider world also now plays a consequential role in young people’s digital lives. The current […]
Life’s Purpose™
Purpose in life means pursuing far-reaching goals that are both personally meaningful and beneficial to others.1 Youth with a sense of purpose in life perform better in school, enjoy better health, and experience higher self-esteem. In contrast, those who lack a sense of purpose are more likely to endure depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.2 These consequences make purpose especially critical for the well-being and success of at-risk youth. About the Program Life’s Purpose™ is a […]
Today’s Technology & Communication™
Today’s youth are growing up in an age of rapidly advancing on-screen technology. The world is literally at their fingertips. It’s evident that in today’s society of mobile technologies, the media environment has become increasingly pervasive and an important teacher for our children. Most of the time children spend using “on-screen” technologies is time spent alone without guidance of an adult to mediate the images, cultural biases and conversations, or to help make sense of what […]
What We Do
Youth Speak Out International (YSO INT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to giving children and youth a voice through collaborative media production. As a result of our innovative, hands-on curricula, children develop media literacy, learn to manage their screen time, strengthen their communication and digital citizenship skills as they discover their life’s purpose.
Our Mission is to empower youth and families within culturally diverse communities to use their voice for global change by teaching media literacy, strengthening communication skills, fostering face-to-face collaboration, and providing a platform for the creative use and effective management of screen technology. We envision a world in which empowered youth with strong human connections live with purpose to build a vibrant global community.
Founded in 2008 by CEO/Executive Director, William King, YSO INT was created to address the need for media education for youth and families impacted by media messages. YSO INT operates at the community level, working with afterschool programs, schools, families, and youth to foster lasting change. Our trained facilitators have educated more than 15,150 multicultural students in South Florida, Belize, Jamaica, and Costa Rica, giving priority to after-school programs serving low-income families and underserved youth.
By helping youth think critically about media content, YSO INT promotes tolerance, safety, and respect for others. This forms the groundwork for youth to create new media content aimed at producing positive change in their local and global communities. Youth learn script writing, storyboarding, and filming techniques to create videos that educate the public.
Our programs promote self-exploration, public speaking, and other life skills essential for job readiness. YSO INT’s most recent initiative, Today’s Digital Citizens™, helps children develop skills to manage their use of screen devices, as they learn to implement media literacy, privacy and reputation, online security safety, cyber bullying and mental well-being. By teaching youth creative uses of screen technologies and, at the same time, encouraging parents to become media mentors, Today’s Digital Citizens™ improves how screen technologies impact children and families.
YSO INT’s unique approach combining media literacy with media production empowers youth to share their voices and form stronger, face-to-face connections with others. In addition to inspiring positive change in their communities, these opportunities to discover and share their voice have changed the lives of today’s youth.
- Instagram Takes Steps To Protect Teen Privacy
- AI and Your Digital Footprint
- Digital Citizenship In The Age Of AI
- Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Six
- Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Five
- Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Four
- Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Three
- Digital Citizenship Across Generations
- Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week One
- Our Digital Citizenship Agreement
- How To Talk To Your Kids About The Next Phase Of The Pandemic
- Impactful Moments through Life’s Purpose
- Why Is Social Media So Addictive?
Instagram Takes Steps To Protect Teen Privacy
Social media can be a difficult place for children and teens to navigate. For years, people have raised concerns about the dangers young people face on these platforms, including concerns over privacy, exploitation, and exposure to dangerous or inappropriate content. And many parents have no idea what their children are doing on social media sites and who they are engaging with. Instagram recently announced that they are taking steps to make their platform safer for […]
AI and Your Digital Footprint
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more mainstream and people become more aware of the impact it has on our lives, we will see rippling impacts on every area of our digital lives. This includes impacting your digital footprint– the trail of data and information that you leave on the internet– in both positive and negative ways. AI relies on data collection for fuel. As a result, the negative impacts of this technology are easy to […]
Digital Citizenship In The Age Of AI
For anyone who spends time online, it is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between facts and false information. With the rise of AI technology that can create incredibly realistic “deep fakes,” social media sites that struggle with moderation, and malicious actors who benefit from sowing chaos and confusion, even educated adults can struggle to figure out what’s real and what’s not. And with wars, elections, and crises around the world unfolding on our smartphones […]
Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Six
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculums week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Six. After following along with our students for six weeks, we have finally arrived at the final session of the Today’s Digital Citizens curriculum. Across these classes, our students have learned about what it means to be a good digital citizen while creating Public […]
Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Five
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculums week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Five. In Week Five of Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens (TDC) program, all the puzzle pieces that the students have been learning and working towards finally begin to come together. Week Four saw students wrap up the production of their Public Service […]
Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Four
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculums week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Four. In Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens program, students have the opportunity to explore their relationship to the digital world in a creative and engaging way. In Week Three, students had a discussion about cyberbullying and began working on the design stage […]
Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week Three
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s curriculum week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week Three. Cyberbullying is a major issue facing today’s young people. The internet and devices provide a shield for kids to hide behind as they hurt other people. Some kids might not even realize the impact of their words or actions because of the distance […]
Digital Citizenship Across Generations
This summer, students in Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens program had the opportunity to collaborate with senior citizens. At Acts of Kindness summer camp, students in the 3rd-5th grade class heard from a local senior citizen about how technology impacts her life and her relationships with her grandchildren. She also helped students work on their projects, assisting with the creation of storyboards for each group’s Public Service Announcement (PSA). This opportunity to collaborate […]
Breaking It Down: Today’s Digital Citizens Week One
Breaking It Down is a blog series where we break down Youth Speak Out International’s Today’s Digital Citizens curriculum week-by-week, exploring the major concepts and activities. This post looks at the lesson for Week One. The first moments of any of our summer and afterschool programs are filled with butterflies. Students make decisions right away about the facilitator and what he or she is there to teach them. At the same time, the Youth Speak […]
Our Digital Citizenship Agreement
Digital technology plays a critical role in our daily lives. Many of us are constantly attached to our devices– whether that’s working on a computer, watching a new show through a streaming platform, or simply having our smartphones within reach at all times. But talking about the impact that these devices and platforms have on our lives can be incredibly difficult– especially when it comes to conversations with our children. In Youth Speak Out International’s […]
How To Talk To Your Kids About The Next Phase Of The Pandemic
As more people become vaccinated against COVID-19, and governments begin to lift restrictions in public spaces, the list of questions and concerns for children is growing. This past year has been incredibly difficult for our youth. It has been a year filled with not only educational hurdles, but social and emotional hurdles as well. As we move into the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that parents and educators understand how to […]
Impactful Moments through Life’s Purpose
For the young people who find themselves in Palm Beach County’s Juvenile Detention Center, life isn’t easy. But we want to make it better. In February 2021, we returned to the Juvenile Detention Center to work with a new group of students in our Life’s Purpose program. In this program, we give these young people the tools to envision a better future and create a set of positive goals. “I think for most of the […]
Why Is Social Media So Addictive?
Do you ever feel like you can’t stop scrolling on your social media apps? Like you just have to watch the next video, scroll through more photos, read the next post? That’s not a coincidence. Social media companies intentionally design their apps to be addictive. And no one is more vulnerable to those addictive tendencies than children and young people. According to the American Psychological Association, children’s brains go through a fundamental shift when they […]
