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Senator Andre Worrell (left) presenting the President’s Award of Excellence to Nneka Weir (right).

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Jeffrey Broomes (left) presenting the Spotlight Award to Nathaniel Williams (right).

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Senator Andre Worrell (centre) presenting the Chairman’s Award of Excellence to Travis Gardiner (right). Looking on is Founder of the United Youth Leaders of Barbados (UYLB), Christa Soleyn (left).

‘Highlight and promote the work of positive youth in Barbados’

Highlight and promote the positive things that the young people in Barbados are doing.

This is the message that Senator Andre Worrell has sent out to the media.

Delivering the feature address at the Charity Awards Dinner of the United Youth Leaders of Barbados (UYLB) to mark their ten year anniversary on Saturday night at Almond Bay Caterers, he said that far too often the media tends to highlight all of the negativity that the young people are involved in, and yet there are so many young people who are engaging in positive activities and these persons do not receive coverage.

“More often than not you need to highlight and promote the work of positive youth in Barbados. Far too often we see the negativity associated with youth in Barbados, not recognising that a far greater percentage of our young people are actually involved in positive activities throughout this country, and it needs to be highlighted more. Their work needs to be commended and it needs to be supported at all levels, and definitely United Youth Leaders of Barbados have shown that we have a cadre of young people who are dedicated, who are committed and who are worthy of our support, encouragement and also need to be highlighted and given that opportunity to go further.”

He told the young people that if they believe that they are not receiving the type of cooperation from the traditional media that they feel that they should receive for all of their good work, then the onus is on them to self-propagate their positive work.

“Now many of you young people may say, I am doing this good work, but I am not seeing it highlighted within the media. You have to break out of the shell of depending on the media to spread your good work. You have the ability to do that yourself. Many of you have the technological ability – you don’t need the print media anymore. The print media – quite frankly – is becoming dead, but you have the ability that you can share, spread and highlight your good work by utilising social media, which is a far more powerful tool than the print media and if you do that, use your talent and abilities to let others see what you have been doing.”

Worrell suggested that the best place to do this is through social media since this is where the youth tend to congregate when they are online.

“Don’t hide it under the bushes like you said. I know you do a lot of activities in the bush and I applaud you for that but don’t hide your work in the bush. Bring it out in the light! Share it constantly on social media – on WhatsApp, on Facebook, on Instagram – all of the platforms where young people are congregated, on the Internet where they are looking, so that we can see the positive images of young people in Barbados and what they are doing, so that it will overpower what the mass media are trying to promote, that our young people have fallen astray and are without any hope in Barbados.”

Barbados Advocate

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