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No newsflash here -- sometimes parents just don't understand. While you might be inclined to think this parental unit sentiment extends to all grown-ups, don't give up hope just yet. Read about four adults who not only care about what you think, but who also give teens like you a means of expressing it.

Cultivating Junior Journalists
At Children's PressLine in New York City (CPL), kids ages eight through 18 learn how to write, edit, and publish stories on issues directly affecting them -- and we're not talking about school paper exposes on the cafeteria's special sauce. These young adults delve into topics like gangs and what it's like to be a teen on death row. Articles are distributed to mainstream media outlets like New York's Amsterdam News and Scripps Power News Service.

Since CPL launched in New York in October 2001 (it also has sister bureaus in Indiana and Michigan), the organization has trained 315 kids in journalism and leadership, published about 550 articles, and interviewed more than 900 kids, all under the guidance of editorial director Katina Paron. "Because there's so much material, the young people really take ownership," she asserts. "Peer mentoring is an important part of the program. It lets kids see themselves as role models and gives them a whole new sense of responsibility."

Paron first became interested in youth media as a college intern at a teen feminist magazine, and the movement has steered her life ever since. "The whole phrase that 'kids are the future' is upsetting to me, because it doesn't put value on them right now," she says. "I think there's a lot of wasted potential if you don't think of kids as having something valuable to say."

Minoring in Music
Aden Holt, founder of One Ton Graphics (Deep Ellem, TX), is 35 years old and admits he has no idea what kind of music teenagers listen to these days. That's why the former record company owner lets young adults promote their favorite alternative bands through Buzz-Oven, a grassroots street marketing and concert promotion organization currently operating in Dallas and Austin.

"It occurred to me that the demographic that gets most excited about music is teenagers, and most bands are playing in bars," Holt explains. "There are so many bands in Dallas that I'd like to expose to this market, so I did a call-out on my Web site for teens who wanted to help promote their own music scene. I started with 12 kids and we now have more than 1,200."

The $10 concerts and giveaways that they sponsor, feature bands chosen by Holt's "buzzers" who range from 15 to 20 years old. Buzzers are so tuned in to what's hot, they were touting bands like BOWLING FOR SOUP and EISLEY way before their songs ever hit mainstream airwaves.

And Holt doesn't just give young adults a voice, he gainfully employs them, too. In July 2005, Holt called on 20-year-old Michael Henry to work alongside him at the company. "Aden saw that I had the leadership qualities, and it's what I wanted to do, so I hopped on board," says Michael.

Teen Casting Call
The Columbine High School shootings in early 1999 was an event the entire nation couldn't stop talking about, but filmmaker Erahm Christopher noticed that one distinctive voice was missing in this conversation: the teenagers'. "I was frustrated that no one was giving kids a chance to talk," he says. "That really struck me because that's where the issue was -- no one was really listening to them."

That's when Christopher came up with the idea for "Listen," a documentary that discusses topics like bullying, stereotyping, and violence filmed entirely by high schoolers. "I've seen a lot of educational videos and they don't grab a kid's attention like they should," says the 29-year-old, Christopher. "I sent the trailer to an educational video distributor and they loved its rawness, because the kids filmed everything. The camera became their friend and was an outlet for the things they wanted to get off their chest." The documentary is set to be distributed to schools by Human Relations Media at the start of this school year.

Through his production company, Horizon Intertainment, Christopher has made giving teens a voice a cornerstone of his film career. "I like working with kids because they're a lot more intelligent than people think they are," he explains. "What they say is very important."

Teenage Exposure
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Positive Tomorrows, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit organization benefiting homeless and at-risk kindergarten through 12th graders, speaks volumes.

Positive Tomorrows gives young adults in its program a disposable camera and photographer Kirsten Griffin teaches photography concepts like how to snap subjects, create a frame, and compose a picture. The only requirement is that the teens photograph their environment. Griffin develops the photographs and afterwards, she and her students discuss why they chose particular subjects. All the while, their conversations are being recorded to accompany an art exhibit showcasing the teens' pictures. Though the children will be invited to the event, their work will not be identified in order to protect their anonymity.

"Kirsten volunteered her time to work with students and came to show them some of the creative possibilities that are out there," says Char Carter, executive director of the program. "We know from our experience that you can do a lot with photography, but if you don't know about it you can't express it."

The kids express so much through their photography, that one of the pictures moved Carter to tears. "It was a close up of a flower and a fountain and there was a drop of water on the flower," she recalls. "To see someone who has never been exposed to a camera or any kind of professional training come out with something so beautiful was moving to me. Kirsten is really creating an end product that will say something about the life of a homeless child."

>>Learn more about these projects at: www.cplmedia.org, www.buzzoven.com, www.ec-films.com, www.positivetomorrows.com

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