Getting kids to read — one video at a time.
How to get kids to read? Tell them why you do it. So says the team at TEDxYouth@Doha, who have just launched a new campaign called Laysh (“Why” in colloquial Arabic), calling for people across Qatar and the world to upload a 1-2 minute video in Arabic or English on their relationship with reading to encourage kids to pick up more books.
“Through Laysh, we hope to speak to the youth of Qatar who (unfortunately) do not read much,” says organizer Uzair Mohammad.
“Whether you want to tell your story by speaking to a camera, acting for it, or directing it, you can take part by joining us in a conversation on reading,” the team writes on their website. “So, now that we are asking you, what would you like to share?”
How to share with Laysh? They’ve provided 6 easy steps:
Step 1: Turn on a camera.
Step 2: Record yourself or someone or something.
Step 3: Check your video to see if you like it. If you’re not happy with it, return to Step 1.
Step 4: Upload the video to us.
Step 5: Tell your friends to spread the word.
Step 6: Follow the conversation on:
For more information on Laysh, visit their website at http://laysh.org/
In February, TEDxYouth@Barcelona held their first event, at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. Below, a journal entry from organizer Maria Santolaria, telling the story behind the event:
As a young person under 30, I’m really sorry to see that, generally, if the international media is talking about young people in Spain, it is negative: the lack of expectations or the loss of values in our generation; the brain drain; an unemployment rate of 60% for people under 25.
Earlier, at TEDxSummit in Doha last year, I realized the social impact that some TEDx events have in the communities they’re organized in. And that inspired me. A lot. I knew we had to organize something similar: A meaningful event, connecting with the problems in our social reality. An event to show people that things can be different; to show people that things are already being done differently. An event with speakers who have the potential to change our reality and build a better future.
That was it. I decided to organize a TEDxYouth@Barcelona event to show the world that another reality exists. One that nobody is talking about. An event to show through stories told in first person by its protagonists, that Barcelona has a lot of young talent.
We built a team and selected 10 amazing speakers from 15 to 25 years old — all who have different passions: mathematics, acting, graffiti, photography. Social entrepreneurship, photojournalism, hip-hop, robotics. A pure injection of optimism.
For 6 months we trained them in storytelling, how to structure a speech, non-verbal communication, how to move on the stage, how to capture an audience’s attention and, most importantly, how to enjoy their time on stage. And we did that during their holidays and on weekends. It was amazing to see how engaged they were with the whole event and how thankful they were (and still are!) to be given such an incredible opportunity as being part of a TEDx event.
I can say that the evening of the event — February 16, 2013 — was a memorable one in our city. Almost 400 attendees, with 200 on the waiting list. Among those, 100 students between 14 and 18 years old. A lot of educators and representatives from the public administration of Barcelona. And all on a Saturday night!
Our speakers rocked it on the stage. Couldn’t feel prouder of them. If they felt nervous, they just looked at the first row to find support from the other speakers. We laughed. We cried. We lived their stories with them.
Some people came to me after the event and told me that from now on they would hire more young people in their companies. One man approached me and told me that he wanted to organize a TEDx event to show that senior citizens also have passions. Everyone was re-energized from the pessimism that rules our country right now. So, I can say: Objective accomplished!
The moment kids start to lie is the moment storytelling begins.
They are talking about things they didn’t see. It’s amazing. It’s a wonderful moment…It calls for celebration. For example, a kid says, “Mom, guess what? I met an alien on my way home.” Then a typical mom responds, “Stop that nonsense.” Now, an ideal parent is someone who responds like this: “Really? An alien, huh? What did it look like? Did it say anything? Where did you meet it?” “Um, in front of the supermarket.”
When you have a conversation like this, the kid has to come up with the next thing to say to be responsible for what he started. Soon, a story develops. Of course this is an infantile story, but thinking up one sentence after the next is the same thing a professional writer like me does. In essence, they are not different … a novel, basically, is writing one sentence, then, without violating the scope of the first one, writing the next sentence. And you continue to make connections.
Take a look at this sentence: “One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.” Yes, it’s the first sentence of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Writing such an unjustifiable sentence and continuing in order to justify it, Kafka’s work became the masterpiece of contemporary literature. Kafka did not show his work to his father. He was not on good terms with his father. On his own, he wrote these sentences. Had he shown his father, “My boy has finally lost it,” he would’ve thought.
And that’s right. Art is about going a little nuts and justifying the next sentence, which is not much different from what a kid does. A kid who has just started to lie is taking the first step as a storyteller. Kids do art.
—Novelist Young-ha Kim in his TEDxSeoul talk, “Be an artist, right now!”
Above: Snapshots from TEDxKids@Riyadh, a TEDxKids event in Saudi Arabia that took place this January.
Photos by instagram users Razan Alakl, Bayan Al-Ak and salwaabdullah
