By Stanley Uchegbu
A blogger and graduating student of Political Science, Abia State University, Uturu, Odoemena Chinonso, has launched Teens Can Blog.
Teens Can Blog is an initiative that guides the technological development of teenagers by mentoring and exposing them to high-tech activities, ranging from coding, developing AI’s, creating original writing and visual contents, developing websites and social media exploitations, among others, so they can be equipped to access global activities and become great leaders of their generation.
CAMPUSLIFE learnt that over 256 teenagers attended the online training on content writing, blogging and encouraging them to become good prolific writers with original contents.
The initiative, according to Chinonso, would, on the long run, serve as an avenue to assist the Federal Government in curbing the menace of fake news and plagiarism in Nigeria.
Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE after the training exercise, a participant and a secondary school student of Florin High School, Ejigbo Nicholas Josemaria, Lagos, stressed that the next generation would be led by young people who are within ages 10-20 years.
He said: ‘’We are in the era where purveyors of fake news keep peddling false information thereby instigating fear, anxiety and tension for just no reason. We need to educate the society on how sensitive information dissemination could be and how it can spread like wide fire using what we have learnt so far.
On their outreach and scope, Josemaria said Teens Can Blog identified some potential, but with less education in rural communities. They include: teens department in churches, high schools and colleges and even remote as villages. Their mission, he explained, is to build a community of tech-savvy teenagers, and assist them in accessing global opportunities, and empower them to be able to rule their generation and create a legacy they will all be proud of.
Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, the brainchild behind the initiatives Odoemena Chinonso, said: “The future of the teens is very bright and therefore paramount. We shouldn’t joke with them; rather we should invest in them.
“Blogging is a profession for young and intelligent people that should be practised with sophisticated digital tools in order to ensure creativity. New functions, trends and paradigms would continue to emerge for the benefit of these young people who may later nurse interest in becoming media practitioners, scholars and writers. This is why we need to catch them young and prepare them for a brighter future.”
Chinonso said the future of the media would be driven more by digital technology that will be more beneficial to practitioners, academics and journalists.
“Our mission is to ensure that Teens Can Blog becomes a national and international initiative that will be recognised globally in building young people in original content writing and creativity. I’m hoping that the initiative could birth further lofty ideas that would stem up from the basics and foundations of our drive,” he stated.
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