‘School is Loud’ promotes critical thinking by youths
As School is Loud founder and executive director Kostas Eleftheriou sees it, media creation is a way to put young people into action, investigating, verifying, questioning and publishing responsibly.
The work gives them the habits they need to better understand the world and engage with confidence, he says.
Through school journalism, radio, podcasting and School is Loud’s portable ‘Studio in a Box,’ students learn to research stories, prepare interviews and broadcast or publish the results.
Media and information literacy, critical thinking, digital citizenship, ethics and the responsible use of AI have been part of the organization’s approach from the beginning in 2022.
Based in Laval, School Is Loud exists to strengthen young people’s voices, their critical thinking and understanding of information, says Eleftheriou. The programs are designed and delivered independently.
School is Loud was founded on the premise that young people need supportive, safe spaces to question information, evaluate sources and form their own points of view. The group’s work, Eleftheriou says, opens those doors – in schools, in community organizations and on the airwaves.
Impact on youth of social media
According to Eleftheriou, citing government of Quebec statistics, 67 per cent of 15-to-25-year-olds in Quebec –effectively more than one million young people – get news and information through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms, primarily in short, mobile formats.
School is Loud follows a method involving four gestures, always in this order: Doubt (question what is presented as obvious); Verify (weigh sources and separate fact from opinion); Formulate (build a reasoned position and put it to the test); and Speak Up (broadcast publicly and keep the conversation going).
School is Loud delivers its message through school programs such as media literacy workshops and in-class productions co-designed by teachers, youth and community organizations where the programs focus on public speaking and audio productions, as well as mobile studios and media experiences (a fully mobile production lab is used to meet youth directly in their communities).
Special guests Leitão and Skeete
One of School is Loud’s latest outdoor activities was held on August 11, with the studio set up on the banks of the Mille Îles River in Laval.
Carlos Leitão, Member of Parliament for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, and Christopher Skeete, Member of the National Assembly for Sainte-Rose who is Quebec Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie, answered questions from Laval teenagers about electric vehicles and the future of mobility.
The episodes will air during the upcoming second consecutive season of School is Loud’s radio program (450 Décibels) on CISM 89.3 FM (the University of Montreal’s campus radio station). On location, a fully electric MINI Cooper Countryman powered all of School is Loud’s audio-recording equipment, demonstrating the mobility and self-sufficiency of their setup.
“This is part of our mission,” Eleftheriou said in an interview with Newsfirst Multimedia. “We want a traditional media like radio to actually help students take over their parents’ airwaves.
“We’re trying to cultivate critical thinking and an understanding of how much power words have,” he continued. “They can use those words for good, but they have to be a bit more conscious of how much words can affect somebody even though they not always see it.”
All-electric mobile studio
School is Loud’s mobile radio studio is powered by a 100 per cent electric Mini Countryman provided by BMW Mini Laval. Both Leitão and Skeete, along with Laval-area MNAs Virginie Dufour and Céline Haytayan, have been steadfast supporters of School is Loud’s educational media mission, both on-air and in classrooms.
Over the next twelve months, School is Loud will be visiting schools, youth organizations, sporting events and communities throughout greater Montreal and across Quebec. The objective, according to Eleftheriou, is to go as far as Quebec’s electric grid and ferries allow, meet young people in their own communities and amplify their voices.
Now certified by UNESCO
School Is Loud recently announced that it had joined UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Alliance as a member organization, effective immediately. The milestone followed the organization’s recent registration as a Canadian charity.
According to Eleftheriou, MIL membership will now provide School is Loud with an international framework in which to deepen, document and share work already well established in the field. He said School Is Loud aims to contribute to MIL exchanges in Quebec, across Canada and within the Alliance’s international network while continuing to expand its school journalism initiatives.
