Shaping the future at BLU FM
Author: Ken Quinnell | Source: BLU FM 89.1 | Date: 05-03-07
Jacqueline and Dylan presenting Kid's Biz
TOOT YOUR OWN HORN 2007
Title of Entry: Shaping the future at BLU FM - The participation of young people
Contributor: Ken Quinnell, BLU FM 89.1
In 1984 when BLU FM was first established it was simply assumed that young people would be involved as volunteers - and involved they were. At that time a great deal of the technical work was done by Darren, a Year 11 student at a local school who went onto become a technician with Radio Australia. And Don, also in Year 11 and now managing a Tandy store.
Children and young people have presented their own programs here since the station's inception and they have proved to be extremely valuable as members. For instance, Tom and Josh who are now in their early twenties started their program when they were just ten years old. Tom designed our website when he was twelve and continues to update it regularly. He is also our elected youth coordinator and Josh is a skilled graphic artist who designs posters for our music events.
The involvement of children as young as six was common - all that was required was appropriate supervision from either a parent or a teacher until they were 15. The program Kids Biz was presented for a couple of years by the Katoomba Out of School Hours & Vocational Care center under the supervision of a child care worker. The regular participants ranged in age from 6 to 15 and they operated for themselves. The program was extremely well received in the community.
Some of our young presenters go on to greater things. For example, Jonathan became the full-time manager of a large metropolitan community station; Dave was appointed "roving rock reporter" for a Sydney commercial station; Tim runs his own indie record label; Lindsay joined ABC radio in a management position; Monica is now a respected musician; and Joshua became press secretary to a leading politician.
However, several years ago one committee decided that no one under the age of 18 should be permitted to broadcast unless "under the care and supervision of a fully qualified school teacher". This proposal became an issue at the station and it was disappointing that quite a few adult members (including some school teachers) supported this move. They did so ostensibly because of concerns about insurance, safety, on-air performance, possible equipment damage, possible disruptive behaviour, possible libel, possible downloading of porn from the Internet, possible graffiti in the studio and possible adverse affect on sponsorship.
The young people at the station organised themselves, fought the proposal and defeated it. They stood up for themselves in a very responsible way and, in consultation with supportive committee members, they drew up a Child and Youth Access Policy and had it passed by a convincing majority at a general meeting of the members.
In 2003, a new committee immediately confirmed a commitment to the full participation of children and young people in on-air presenting and other station activities, including outside broadcasts, fundraising events, and committee positions. Indeed, a 19-year-old - Louisiana - was elected vice-president and, for three months, served as acting president. Louisiana, who is also vision impaired, has been our fundraising coordinator on subsequent committees and she continues to make a contribution to the station in addition to presenting her programme each week.
Mostly it was through local schools that children accessed the station. They came in groups - different children each week accompanied by a teacher who was trained to use the studio. However, while some teachers were excellent, we found others to be unreliable (too often the kids turned up without them and were disappointed). We also found that some schools used participation in their BLU FM program as a reward for "good behaviour". On top of this, there were occasional complaints from listeners objecting to the way a couple of the teachers spoke to the children on air and dominated the programs themselves. There had to be a better way.
4 pm - 5.30 pm was designated as a youth timeslot across the week. We did an on-air promo and put an item in the local newspaper and recruited a number of interested young people. A few came from the school groups that were presenting at the time. Young people doing their Year 10 work experience with us have been a good source of young presenters as well. These young people were encouraged to get involved in all aspects of the station's operations and to give their views and opinions about how things were done.
These kids are often better presenters than many of our adults. Byron, when he was just ten, interviewed a number of adult guests including our federal member, the local mayor and CBAA manager, Barry Melville. Some kids from a local Catholic School recorded a particularly hard-hitting interview with the Bishop of Parramatta about what they viewed as unnecessarily harsh rules at their school.
There are two on-going problems with this commitment. One is ensuring that the young people involved in presenting programs are representative of the diversity of the community. The other is to make sure that wherever possible there is gender equity. We find that enquiries from boys greatly outnumber those from girls and once they have programs the boys tend to stay longer. Many boys remain presenters during their HSC year. Girls, as a rule, don't.
We encourage the children to co-present with a friend. This makes the experience more enjoyable for them and the program slot is better covered. If they are under 14 they must have a parent or other adult with them. They are also encouraged to bring students from their schools as guests.
Peer mentoring is also important. We can often bring children together to present, as happened recently with Daisy (13) and Annabelle (14). Daisy is home schooled so she has little access to other children and was a bit shy about going to air. Annabelle was very keen and very confident but could not arrive at the studio before 4.15. She was grateful to have Daisy there every week to start the show.
A natural consequence of participation in radio broadcasting is improved communication skills. David, who has Asperger Syndrome, has benefited enormously from his participation in BLU FM. His confidence soared when he realised he could not only operate the equipment, but also put together his programme and stay focused for the 90 minutes each week.
We also encourage young musicians and provide them with performance opportunities, especially those who are too young to play at licenced venues. We organised a number of music competitions in which young people could perform. The Unveiled series of concerts was particularly successful as was the Battle of the Bands, the Singer-Songwriter Challenge, and the Rocklympics.
Another young presenter Jack (12) is organizing our PodCasting. This is in its infancy but a number of presenters are participating with interviews and music of their own, or from local bands that are keen to have the additional exposure of Podcasts.
There are enormous benefits to having children and young people involved. Not only do they make us a better radio station, they give us a more positive image with the local community. Young people, with their technological skills are of immeasurable assistance in planning for the future.
Young people benefit, not just from their broadcasting experience, but also by taking responsibility for projects and being involved in the station's planning and decision-making. They increase their confidence and personal development and gain a better awareness of what they can achieve in life.
BLU FM would definitely be poorer without their skills and commitment.