Basim Blunt

There’s school learning, and then there’s life learning.  And that is what happened when Jack Long sat down to talk to his family for Dayton Youth Radio.

All high school seniors go through a discovery period. We’re about to leave the home we grew up in and the people that surrounded us for eighteen years. So, we instinctively reflect back on our family and our parents.

Growing up, for many young people, involves a little fear. But for some teenagers, fears can become so great that it becomes hard to have even a little fun.  That’s the subject of today’s Dayton Youth Radio, the first story from our newest class of young radio producers . They are students at Bellbrook High School. 

Many students hide depression and at times, they don’t know the signs. Dayton Youth Radio producer Andrew Marrero decided he wanted to explore his struggle with depression and has our essay for today.

My name is Andrew Marrero, and I am a student at Stivers School for the Arts.  Music has been what's driven me my entire life. That's something I want to do. I want to write my own music, I want to produce my own music. I want to make my mark on the world through music.

There's a large Turkish refugee community in Dayton, some were exiled from Russia several years ago. For today's Dayton Youth Radio producer, balancing the old traditions with the new is doable. Until one family, a big one, showed up for tea.

My name is Miriam. I am 17 years old. I go to Stivers School for the Arts. I was born in Russia, raised in the US. Many immigrant families know how difficult it is to grow up in America.

In the Bible's book of Romans, apostle Paul talks about the struggle, between his spiritual life and the desires of his earthly body. Children raised in a religious home often face challenges to their beliefs as they become teenagers. Today's Dayton Youth Radio story from DaMarion Spencer helps us remember that even Jesus and the disciples were teenagers.

I play multiple positions in baseball like second base and pitcher. I love music, and I’m a very religious teenager.

Most of us know our culture's classic myths and fairytales about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Little Red Riding Hood: But how does it feel when a young person learns the truth about the stories handed down from generation to generation. This week on Dayton Youth Radio we'll find out from one teenager who has some strong feelings about how parents lovingly mislead their kids.

Young writers are often advised to "write what you know," and we've found that the young people of Dayton Youth Radio do just that.  In the beginning of our radio class, project coordinator Basim Blunt holds a microphone and tells the students that they can ask anyone anything. Today, Centerville High School student Camrin O'Flaherty asks her mom for some answers.

Firefighters have two families, the one that they run into burning buildings with and the one that waits for them at home. As Dayton Youth Radio contributors work on these stories, they sometimes interview their parents, and this is the center of  Lillian Ferguson’s story; a rainy night, and a bad accident that her father responded to.

Health and strength seem like a given when we're young. And so, for a teenager to have a near death story is somewhat unusual. When I met Scott Lyttle at a meeting of our radio class, he told me he was 19 years old, and I wanted to know why he was still in high school. He shared the story of his lost year.

I’m Scott Lyttle, a 19- year old that goes to Ponitz. I also like to draw.  I want to tell you a story about the day my life almost changed last year. I woke up, got ready for school. I got to school and had a normal day until I got to the gym.

When there is drug overdose, the Center for Disease Control adds it to the statistics. And Ohio is at the top for drug deaths.  Dayton Youth Radio producer Carmen Tibbs, told our youth radio class that Dayton had the highest mortality rates from drug overdoses in the country. I remember wondering why would a 17-year old know such a grim and compelling statistic.