Yes, We Care!: Young People Weigh in on the Health Care Debate.
YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia and WireTap Magazine are proud to present the eighth Youth Media Blog-a-Thon, set to kick off on October 1st and going on till October 8th.
They’re lying about us. Long before Representative Joe Wilson infamously called President Obama a liar during his historic health care speech, Capitol Hill politicians and media pundits were pushing one very controversial point: young people didn’t care to join the healthcare debate.
Statistics repeatedly show that young people are some of the most vulnerable and chronically uninsured groups in the country. Over time, some of us are kicked off our parents’ health insurance plans. Others work part time jobs that don’t offer any insurance. Still others can only dream of health care as a distant luxury.
It’s time to show the world that ‘Yes, We Care’. And yes, our lives do matter.
Here are some ideas to address in your blog posts:
• In the highly publicized speech in which he outlined his administration’s health care agenda, President Barack Obama made a point of saying that a public option would not benefit undocumented people. Do you agree? Disagree? Prove it to us and tell us your story.
• Let’s face it: the only thing that sucks more than being sick is knowing that there’s something out there that could possibly make you better, but you can’t afford it. Do you know someone — or are you someone — who has suffered because you can’t afford health care? Tell us your story.
• Why is health care important to you? Record a vlog telling President Obama and our local politicians why health care matters to young folks.
• What do you (or members of your family) do when you are injured or ill?
• How do you pay for visits to the doctor? Are you (or your parents) in debt from medical bills?
• Do you support Obama in saying that he will “…provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance … and lower the cost of health care for our families…” Why or why not?
• How will you receive coverage once you don’t qualify under your parents’ health care?
• Media reports suggest young people aren’t active in the health care reformation. How do feel about that? Do you think it’s true? Tell us why.
If you are interested in being a part of the Youth Media Blog-a-Thon, please email Eming Piansay at epiansay@newamericamedia.org.
Sponsoring Organizations:
For over 15 years, YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia has been a leader in youth-produced content in the Bay Area. Through our active website (http://www.youthoutlook.org), YO!TV – a weekly 30-minute television show on Access 29 in San Francisco, and our weekly YO!Radio segments aired on KMEL 106.1, YO! gives young people a voice on the issues they most care about. YO! content is also regularly syndicated in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Oakland Tribune and more. The YO! blog has been active since 2007.
WireTap is a national news and culture magazine by and for socially conscious youth. Our online community promotes social justice, inspires action and gives young people a voice in the media. Wiretap provides free, daily content to over 60,000 monthly visitors and 14,000 weekly newsletter subscribers. Our award-winning journalism and youth commentary is syndicated every week on the Nation.com, AlterNet.org and Chicago Sun Times, and college papers, and hundreds of our stories get linked to in widely read blogs and websites, from Mother Jones’ blog to Fear of a Brown Blogger to social networking site MyBloc.net.