Youth Leadership Fort Wayne

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to share my take on today’s fast-paced, ever changing communication landscape to the current group of 30 high school sophomores in Leadership Fort Wayne’s Youth Leadership program. 

It was a really encouraging time spent with 30 of the top student leaders in Fort Wayne. They were smart, attentive and really interactive. They interacted more than my last grassroots communication class at Huntington University this past January. 

We spent the first half hour talking about various communication channels/tools and where they fit into their lives currently. Many of us that talk about this generation write off the idea that many of them still write letters or talk on a landline phone, but we’re kind of wrong. It’s changing definitely, but it’s not lost yet. Mostly due to the lack of independence and/or consumer choice due to living with their parents or the requirements of school. It was great to get the insight and feedback from that demographic. Hopefully they don’t lose the ability to do the traditional forms. 

We spent the other half hour discussing online etiquette. Many of the students recognized the importance of basic human interaction skills online or through mobile communication. Many also admitted to having petty arguments due to not being able to communicate clearly through texting and chatting. It’s good to see them thinking critically about their online and mobile presence. 

I had a lot of fun talking with the students. Look for this group to make a difference in our community. Challenging and empowering youth in our community is such an important thing. I need to figure out how to get a group of students engaged in a development program or something at NeighborLink. 

Thank you to Ellen at Leadership Fort Wayne for giving me the opportunity to share. The presentation is below if you want to browse through it.