Youths in Spain and Mexico engaged in virtual PRIX JEUNESSE Youth Jury
Even in times of COVID-19 two close partners of PRIX JEUNESSE managed to organize Youth Jury groups. They virtually assembled groups of young people who watched the 11 – 15 Fiction and Non-Fiction finalist programmes, discussed the shows with their peers per video conference and decided on their favorites.
Here is a report on this special adventure by the Youth Jury organizers in Madrid/Spain, Verónica Pastrana:
“We managed to bring together 15 young people, between 11 and 13 years old, who for one week had the opportunity to watch in their homes the 19 productions nominated in the categories of Fiction and Non-Fiction / 11 to 15 years.
In order to accompany the jury through this online work process in which they had to be more autonomous and were alone during the viewing, the young judges received a “TV Jury Kit” with various materials: voting criteria, voting sheets, synopsis of the productions.
After the week of viewing, the group of young people, accompanied by two moderators (Eloísa Suárez and Verónica Pastrana), met on the video conference platform Zoom for an intense full Sunday to discuss the nominated productions. These sessions were a very important meeting point for the young jury. They actively participated in the debates. The participation in both sessions was lively and conducted with awareness how to listen to each other and developing an order of speaking.
Taking part in this jury was a very well received experience by the kids and their families. They had a chance to discover very different TV formats, they were open to listen to the opinions of others, had fun and became aware that their opinions have an impact which was very empowering to them.
Another aspect to highlight has been the work shared with our fellow coordinators of the youth jury in Mexico, so far and so close, Ulises Soto and Elke Franke!
After the jury work we asked the following questions to some of the participants: What do you like about being a young judge? Would you recommend this experience? Here are some answers:
Pablo, 11 years old: “What I liked about participating as a judge was watching TV programmes from other countries and cultures. I would recommend my friends to participate because it is very fun and informative to watch programs from different cultures.”
Olivia, 11 years old: “I liked participating because I gave my opinion about what I saw and I was able to hear the opinion of others and I was able to know what they didn’t like. I would recommend it because you get to know other people and you can make friends.”
Mateo, 11: “What I liked most was being able to give my opinion on the series and programmes so that the winner would get a prize. That makes me feel older. I also liked seeing what was happening in different places. I wouldn’t change anything but I’d like to see us in person.”
One aspect to highlight is that we have managed to gather a group of girls and boys who are curious, open, participative, sensitive, respectful and eager to keep in touch with their new friends.
The second group of the 2020 International Youth Jury took place in Chiapas, Mexico where the children also conducted their jury work digitally.
PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL thanks everyone who helped making the 2020 Youth Juries possible, and to all the strong young people in Spain and Mexico who took part in these challenging times!