That’s what young people asked in “This is Our Voice: A Children/Youth Inaugural Address” video, which premiered on January 21st to coincide with President Obama’s second inauguration and his up-coming state-of-the-union address. I worked with Slowey/McManus Communications, the Children’s Leadership Council and SparkAction.
As you can see, the kids really spoke from the heart about issues that concern them: education, going to college, hunger, gun control, health and mental health, bullying …
Two things in particular struck me about working on this project: hunger and school security.
Hunger was one of their main concerns. Not hungry children in Africa, but their hungry friends in Boston, New York and Washington, DC, where we conducted the interviews. One young man asked, “Mr. President, I feel that no one should have to go hungry. Do you feel like anyone should have to go hungry?”
Second, we produced the video two weeks after the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. So gun control, mental health and school safety were top of mind. I had to stop myself from using the usual video “shooter” lingo. We interviewed students in a peace studies class at the newly renovated Wilson High School. It is an incredible facility and its student body is ethnically and socio-economically diverse.
To get into high school, not only did we pass through a metal detector, but a photo was taken of our drivers’ licenses, our photos were taken to put on visitor badges, and we signed in on an electronic pad. The students we interviewed didn’t appear to be concerned about their own safety. But they were concerned about gun violence and mentally ills people not getting treatment.
Take a look at the video. It’s very moving. ALSO, if you would like to submit a video, SparkAction is looking for more interviews with kids.