Festival goers were treated to an inspiring showcase of media works made by the youth under Plan Asia’s Young Hearts project – including films, TV and radio pieces, musical performances and recordings, short stories and poems, theatre productions, comics, posters and other visual arts pieces – that provided a precious insight into youth perspectives and the reality of violence in schools across Asia. The festival heralded an important shift in roles. Children were teaching adults something they know about all too well and the adults were listening.

 

On the main stage, a panel discussion involving children, child rights experts, teachers and media professionals got the conversation started on tackling violence in schools and the power of youth media in instigating this change. Viewers were further enlightened to the talents of young people with some awe-inspiring traditional and not-so-traditional song, dance, theatre and magic performances by children with exciting things to say and engaging ways of saying it.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was on hand to add his voice to the children’s call for their right to an education free from fear. On a tour of the exhibition, Abhisit was clearly overwhelmed by the quality of the exhibited works. He then joined the children in a Social Media workshop and answered their questions online via his Twitter account, demonstrating for them in real time how social media can be used to spread a message to the world. Showing his commitment to ensuring all children reach their full potential, Abhisit then signed a Pledge of Support to support youth media and end violence in schools.

Whilst the auspicious occasion attracted great interest from local and international media, it was the children themselves who could be found behind the cameras capturing the action or asking Abhisit the hard questions. Their newfound media skills were evident and they worked with great professionalism beside their adult media counterparts. 

The festival was the climax of the children’s journey from experimenting with their new skills in their rural communities to premiering their media productions, centre stage, Bangkok. For some, it was the first time they had met children from another country. Here is what they had to say: 

 

“Previously, we didn’t know what children from other countries experienced. Watching their short films and other media was a really good experience for us.” – Shomapti, Bangladesh

 

“I feel special when people see our film. We have met the children here at the festival through youth media. This is our passport to go around the world.” – Soraya, Thailand

 

“It gives us a good feeling that other people are visiting our exhibition and learning about our alphabet, our paintings and the work we have done through this project.” – Shomapti, Bangladesh

 

“It’s really fun. It’s really thrilling. It gives me goosebumps. It makes it all worth it. When I see the crowd’s reaction and they are all so enthusiastic about our performance, all the tiredness and all the sweat doesn’t mean anything anymore. When you see the reactions from people and they really enjoyed it, it makes me really happy.” – Sisil, Indonesia