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Today’s Ypulse Interview is with D.C. Vito, Executive Director for The LAMP. An organization after our own heart, the LAMP [the Learning About Multimedia Project] is a Brooklyn-based non-profit dedicated to addressing the lack of media literacy in New York city schools and helping educators and parents to better engage in the dialogue around the issue.

This summer, as an extension of that mission, the team launched LAMPcamp, a four day program at a local YMCA designed to help tween campers explore the influence of advertising and the ways gender was represented in media. I spoke with DC to find out more.

Ypulse: How does LAMPcamp fit in to LAMP’s vision of media literacy? What was the inspiration for extending the project into a summer camp?

D.C.: It fits perfectly into our vision of media literacy because we’re tackling several forms of media (video, print, texting, comic books, music videos, documentaries, social networks) and trying to break them apart for our LAMPers. From the very beginning when Katherine and I formed The LAMP, we had always envisioned a summer camp. You can really accomplish a great deal when you have the students entrenched in a concentrated exploration of media literacy. And because we were able to break it into girls- and boys-only sections for some of the lessons, we were really able to expand on issues of gender representation, reinforcement and manipulation in the media – which is one of our major goals.

YP: What was the process for coming up with the curriculum of LAMPcamp? What did you want “LAMPers” to take away from the session?

D.C.: We took existing curricula we’ve used for previous workshops and tailored it for the age group and time we had to work with. Katherine was very intent on making the curricula flexible with both our different media presenters (one on each day) as well as with the LAMPers themselves. We really wanted them to feel like this was their project too, and that they had a voice in the direction. As a result, they came away with much more, and explored media and gender in ways that were new for them. Not only did the LAMPers gain a deeper understanding of how comics, music videos, documentaries and other media are constructed, but they also examined how all these media influence the way they see the world, and how media impact their every day lives. When the students stopped to really look at the media in their neighborhood, they were completely surprised by how many media messages exist on just one block.

YP: Could you describe one or two highlights from the session?

D.C.: We had a discussion about texting, but instead of raising their hands to ask a question, the LAMPers could also submit one via text. They sent questions to DC that they might have been embarrassed to ask in front of the group, and the result was a really honest discourse about texting–its benefits, detriments and their opinions of its place in their life.

The video projects they completed by the end of the week were also extraordinary. The other LAMPcamp leaders and I were really impressed, touched and humbled by their quick learning, their talent and their voices. Once we provided the forum, the kids took the reins and ran with it.

YP: How did you define the benchmarks of success? Did you feel like they were met? What, if any, challenges did you encounter?

D.C.: Benchmarks proved difficult to set for LAMPcamp, at least in terms of metrics. The curricula was in flux up until almost the week before the camp because the time we had with the students kept getting scaled back by the organization hosting LAMPcamp. Initially, we planned for two full weeks of activities, but ended up with only four half-days, so our expectations of our students and our program changed rapidly. We adapted by choosing to focus on the essential: that LAMPers leave with a more critical look at the media around them, and how they interact with it. In that sense, we were successful. For example, it was clear that our texting activity impacted their opinions of how and why teens are so connected to their phones, and also as to how text messages can function. Before, the students understood texting as something they needed to be sneaky about doing, but by the end, they were open to text messages being used for more than just the equivalent of passing notes in class. I got the sense that because we validated one of their primary means of communication, they felt that they were finally being taken seriously and were freed to consider that something like a text message can still be a constructed message with significant weight to it.

With more and more advertisers turning to text messages and other forms of mobile interactive marketing, it is important to open up a dialogue about texting from a media literacy standpoint. That critical thinking about media is what we want our students to develop, and it was very clear that our LAMPers are now on the path to becoming more active and critical in their media consumption.

YP: What would you like to see happen at next year’s LAMPcamp? For LAMP in general?

D.C.: Mostly, we want more time. The kids had so much more they wanted to do with us, and we had a lot of other ideas for guest speakers and projects where they can make more of their own media besides the videos they did. We would like LAMPcamp to help us meet the demand we receive for our workshops during the school year, and allow us to expand to serve more communities. Pretty much, the answer is just more.

See Also: The LAMPcamp Flickr page

More on D.C.

D.C.Vito co-founded The LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Project) in September 2007 with Dr. Katherine Fry, Education Director. He has been an active community organizer for well over a decade, sitting on numerous local committees in addition to serving with the Peace Corps in Mali supporting family health. Mr. Vito has also managed or worked on over 20 political and issue-oriented campaigns ranging from the local city council to national presidential races.

For more coverage of the tween space, check out the Ypulse Tweens Channel, sponsored by the Tween Tribune.

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Categorized under: Tweens

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