Announcing the YouTube Youth Forum @ Children's Day

by: Wabi-Sabi

Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 21:59:42 PM EST

Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia (PCA-WV) and West Virginia's legislators want to hear from youth on You Tube!

PCA-WV is the West Virginia chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America, a national leader in building awareness, providing education, and inspiring hope in everyone involved in the effort to prevent child abuse and neglect.

On February 13th, during the opening session of the 2008 Children's Day at the Legislature, WV lawmakers will be invited to respond to video submissions from youth across the state. PCA-WV and You Tube want you to let your voice be heard!

You ask about the issues that are important to you!

Go to YouTube.com and read the You Tube Terms of Use. Your parent or guardian must read and agree to it the Terms of Use.
Make your video! Please include your name, and hometown.
Upload your video to You Tube:
Go to the PCA-WV group on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/group/P...  and
Click "Join the Group".
Choose Add videos form top right of page.
Select video from your lists of videos to add to this group. Your video should appear on the left side of the page. Check the box and then click the "Add to Group" button.
Click "Done"

Quick Facts:
If you need some facts to jumpstart your thinking check these out.
- A child in WV is abused or neglected every 59 minutes.*
- There are over 97,000 WV children living in poverty. Enough to fill both football stadiums at Marshall and WVU.**
- A child in WV dies before his or her first birthday every 2 days.*
- 9,000 WV youths age 12-17 need, but haven't received treatment for drug and/or alcohol use.**
- 75% of all WV 4th graders are reading below grade level.*
- A child or teen in WV is killed by gunfire every 3 weeks.*

Tips for a great You Tube Video:
- Be original - choose your own approach.
- Be personal - your perspective is important.
- Choose your focus - pick the issue that is important to you.
- Keep it quick - your comments should be less than 60 seconds.
- Make it look good -speak loudly and keep that camera steady.
- Provide context - in your comments, include your name and hometown.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:
Deadline: To be included in the Children's Day Forum Q&A panel you must submit your video by February 10th. However, we encourage you to keep submissions coming in for future use.

Size: Video entries must be 60 seconds or less, and no more than 100MB

Format: Videos from digital cameras, camcorders, and phones are all acceptable if they're in .wmv, .avi, .mov, or .mpg format. Please avoid filming any copyrighted material such as music, logo-apparel, etc.

Language: All entries must be in English (no sub-titles)

Sources: Children's Defense Fund, *Child Welfare League of America

P.S.  You can register online to attend the Public Policy Forum for Children (Feb. 12th) and Children's Day at the Legislature (Feb. 13th) at http://www.preventchildabusewv.org.