Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Motivating Today's Teens to Get Involved
Aired July 12, 2001 - 09:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: They are young, sometimes they are restless, they're also the future. We're going to talk this morning about motivating today's teens to get involved in civic affairs from community activities to politics.
Motivating young people is the focus of a new book "Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens." I've got a copy of it here. Its author is Terrie Williams who is president and CEO of her own P.R. firm. She's also a motivational speaker. She joins us today from New York City.
Ms. Williams, thank you for joining us.
TERRIE WILLIAMS, AUTHOR AND MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER: I'm glad to be here, Stephen.
FRAZIER: It's an unusual time. You know there's not a Vietnam War to fight, there's not a Vietnam War to oppose, there's not a civil rights movement to get involved in. Why do you think kids would feel any sense that they need to be doing anything beyond their own bedrooms and their own schoolwork?
WILLIAMS: Well, I think primarily because everywhere you turn there are people in life that are challenged. And I think that you can't help but be affected by what surrounds you. I mean there are issues like peer pressure and violence in schools and juvenile justice. I think that young people are very, very deeply affected by what surrounds them every single day.
FRAZIER: You've written this book saying stay strong. It's one of many books addressed to children, but you say there's a difference here in that you don't talk at them in this book.
WILLIAMS: Well, I think it's important whenever you're trying to reach anyone, but particularly our teens, that we have to address them where they are. We have to really have a sense of what the issues are that are affecting them and really go to where they are, go to the outlets where they go, speak in a sense in term -- speak in a sense in the way that they speak. And I think that there's a very natural way to connect. When you - when you reach people where they are from the heart, there is definitely a way that you can connect and motivate them to affect change.
FRAZIER: Can you give me some examples of that? I'm thinking... WILLIAMS: Well,...
FRAZIER: I think MTV, for example, had a, you know, Get-Out-The- Vote kind of campaign that was very effective.
WILLIAMS: MTV has had Get-Out-The-Vote. They've also - they also did a whole thing on racial discrimination. Nickelodeon has something called the Big Help Telethon where young people volunteer thousands of hours to help in their communities. And there's a really wonderful organization called Shine that has challenge grants. Whenever a young person really wants to do something in their community, they will help them find the funding to do that.
And also with the Stay Strong Foundation that we recently launched, we are providing internships and mentors for young people once they have made a determination about a particular field that they want to pursue. It's really just a matter of encouraging young people, giving them guidance to figure out what it is that they want to do.
FRAZIER: As you're speaking, we're looking at some pictures of you on the road, in effect, with the foundation.
Why do you think mentors are important for young people? Here's Johnnie Cochran joining you, for example.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Well, it's really simple, a lot of times you need to know that someone else has gone before you, what kinds of challenges that they encounter and how they came through on the other side and it's empowering. It helps you to realize that you can do whatever it is that you want to do if you persevere and if you stay focused.
And so that's been our focus with these Stay Strong youth rallies around the country is letting young people know that because the Johnnie Cochrans and the Puffy Combs and Jason Sehorns -- and recently a little bowwow in Washington -- they came out to say: This is my personal testimony.
This is a challenge that I had. This is how I overcame it. This is how I decided to pursue my particular profession and these are the things that I needed to do to prepare for it and you can do those things if you want as well.
FRAZIER: Terrie Williams, motivating today's teenagers. We're grateful for those insights. Good luck with the book, and thank you for joining us this morning.
WILLIAMS: It's my pleasure, Stephen. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
