Today as I led the class, I found myself struggling to capture the attention of these 7th and 8th graders. I couldn’t keep them from talking to each other. I couldn’t give them definite answers to their questions. I felt like I was losing ground with them.
I told myself, “Boy, this is going to be hard.”
“Look at these guys, coming in to our school, teaching us about stuff we don’t know. And now they’re trying to make us do extra homework.
“This is hard,” Dimitri said as he walked out of the classroom.
When I took it upon myself to be a part of a project teaching the craft of journalism to 7th and 8th graders at Humbold Junior High School in St. Paul, I had no idea what I was getting into. Although I wondered how the experience would turn out, one thing was for sure: I was excited about teaching them something I was so passionate about.
Our goal was to see if the two can be intertwined: middle school students and journalism. Is there an interest? And if yes, where can it go? On our first day, the excitement Dave Nimmer and I had either scared the poor kids or engaged them. We walked away believing the kids were excited; we knew we were excited.
But I had no idea what I would see and learn from this experience. I was confronted with their world, their issues and their passions. I had to learn to listen to what was important for 7th and 8th graders, what things mattered in their worlds. I learned what they considered news and what they felt was important to them. In the midst of learning about them, I had to introduce what broadcast journalism was and what it entailed.
As I watched and observed these bright individuals contemplate newsworthy issues and ask tough questions, I thought about my own experience at that age. Wait a second! As a middle-school student, I didn’t have the opportunity to learn about journalism. I had no clue what journalism was about. I knew that news was what was on T.V. at 5 p.m. and what ran in the daily newspaper.
I found myself understanding the confusion Lisa Vue and Xia Chang felt because I could relate with them the most. They were two young Hmong girls trying to learn how to succeed in this world, and at the same time trying to succeed in our Hmong world. They were intimidated by the idea of voicing their opinions and thoughts on news. They feared being wrong because they, as well as I, feared we hadn’t found our places or voices yet in our community.
Where did we belong – what social group, or with which culture? As I continued to talk to them and learn about their perspectives on growing up and their issues with the world, I found that they had the same interests in life. I felt so touched with how they looked up to me and took interest in how I grew up. They knew I had the same struggles, and so for them to know that I overcame them was hopeful.
I began to learn more about my part at Humboldt and the part I may have in a larger community.
Our goal was never to force journalism on these kids. Our goal, perhaps, is to encourage their curious minds and to stretch their writing and young reporting muscles. As I listened to the students talk about their opinions, I realized they knew and cared a great deal about things in this world, too. Dimitri spoke strong opinions on President Bush and his administration. Hamza spoke angrily about the war in Iraq, the soldiers risking their lives and the amount of money being used on war. Tramonte spoke passionately about her fears over school shootings.
These students obviously care. They care enough to read and watch and learn about these issues. They care enough to ask questions and challenge opposing opinions. They care enough to push themselves to accomplish hard tasks. If I wasn’t mistaken, these kids sound pretty darn close to being young reporters.
However, I also wonder if this is too soon for acting as journalists to have a part in their lives. I fear they already deal with so many struggles of growing up, it might be hard to focus on writing or reporting stories in their community. I think what we can expect and achieve is a group of students who will continue to be active readers, listeners and watchers of news around them.
If, at the end, we walk away sparking some interest in telling stories they find important to them we will have been successful.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Humboldt students are working, in teams of three, to produce a single broadcast story. They will shoot the pictures, interview the subjects, gather the facts, write the script and edit the video track. Their topics are cliques at Humboldt, sexual harassment among students and the pros and cons of writing on MySpace.com
Laura Lee is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism at the University of St. Thomas. She is from Minneapolis and was in ThreeSixty’s summer camp in 2002. She is mother to two-year-old Nevelyn
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