Kids these days are-who are we?/We work and reach for the day/The day we can be like you/So maybe the question is not/Who are we-and who should we be-But who are you?"
With her poetry, 17-year-old Erin Haithcock, a senior at Jordan High School, calls attention to issues that many teenagers grapple with: self-identity and the search for a voice in an often-stifling adult society. Her personal search led her to Youth Voice Radio, an association of more than 200 teenagers, all of whom find what they're looking for over the airwaves.
Youth Voice Radio is a radio program broadcast out of WXDU-the University's student-run radio station-and solely organized and developed by teenagers from several community high schools. YVR's principal aim is the production of a weekly radio show that airs Saturday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the University station.
Beyond the show, however, YVR undertakes a wide range of activities to foster a teen culture within the organization, either in its offices in downtown Durham or at the radio station.
"We've really developed an amazing family by pushing each other, supporting each other, and connecting with each other," said Manju Rajendram, a 16-year-old senior at The Charter School in Chapel Hill.
Founded in 1995 as a summer workshop, YVR grew into a fully developed program under the guidance of Kelly Overton, YVR's director. Created in response to the redistricting of Durham's schools-a move made without the input of the very students affected by the change-YVR became a symbol of protest for teens and a model for change in the community. Overton described the program as "creating a space for young people to hang out.... It's this amazing place where they can come and be heard."
One of YVR's chief goals is the promotion of teens
"It's remarkable how many people say [teens] are apathetic," said Adam Watson, a 16-year-old sophomore from Chapel Hill High School. "We don't feel we are given an opportunity to voice our concerns and make a difference." The radio show, in effect, gives Watson and his peers the opportunity to connect with other teens in several important ways.
The actual radio program encourages creativity through spoken poetry, movie reviews, social commentary and the music of high school bands. A majority of the show is devoted to the local talent and, Overton said, "[YVR] is the only place that I know of that welcomes [local bands]... we want demo tapes."
In addition to giving unknown talent the opportunity to let their music and voices speak for themselves, YVR members produce their own creative pieces at the office's impressive digital production studio.
Songs, poetry and social commentary are not limited to the radio booth. Aheri Stanford-Asiyo, a 16-year-old at Durham High School, performed an original work, "Ode to Individuality," at Durham's CenterFest '97 art festival: "What if I was only here/To manifest the rage and fear/Of all of those that came before me?/ ...I know there's more to life than monotony/I know the past is made by my walking/I'll only laugh against their mocking..."
Creativity runs in the YVR family. Alongside their production of pieces to share with the community, the collective group stages benefit concerts, goes on retreats, designs T-shirts and bumper stickers and volunteers in the Durham community.
Last summer, for example, students at YVR participated in "Sounds of Service," a volunteer program that involved the Durham community with the WXDU radio show. Students volunteered at a variety of locations in Durham and put their experiences into writing, which they then used as social commentaries during broadcasts.
"If I hadn't totally gotten involved at YVR," Haithcock said, "I wouldn't be into taking part in building the Durham community."
YVR members also attended a "Media in Democracy" conference in New York City, a trip, Rajendram explained, that "brought together alternative media working for democracy to confront the issue of corporate dominance of the media and develop strategies to confront that."
Whether at a conference in the Big Apple, a general group meeting or at the radio station, YVR members have forged special bonds with each other, cemented by their shared belief in promoting the teenage voice.
"My real circle of friends is at YVR," Stanford-Asiyo said. "We all sort of share the same passions, we're all motivated and we're not 'sit back and accept' sort of people."
Group members said that YVR, in addition to giving them a voice in the media, has also become a positive factor in shaping the way the adult world views teenagers.
"Mainly what we're trying to do is make people aware that we do care about things and we don't just read the funnies," said high school junior Gabe Folwkes, who DJs for YVR as well as for WXDU.
And people are listening. Amid a shower of positive attention for the group, the members keep striving to accomplish their goals and contribute to teen culture. "Silence is the pillar that upholds any oppressive force," Watson concluded. "I was free to be myself and not worry about what others thought about me... Youth Voice Radio changed my life." And the walls keep a-tumbling down.
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