By Dawar Naeem
(Dawar is a Community Journalist with the Focus Media Arts Centre)

Block Talk is the newest show on Regent Park TV by youth involved with Focus Media Arts Centre. Hosted by Regent Park youth under the age of 16 years, the show features a group of Regent Parkers who go out in to the community each week to speak to people about various topics.

The show is also about how these set of youth see the world. The interviews they capture are used to discuss their perspectives on the topics.

In this first episode Block Talk takes on Vaccine Hesitancy.

In the first episode the Block Talk hosts went out in the community to know what Regent Parkers think about the COVID-19 Vaccine. The youth asked community members how they feel about vaccination and what they think about non-vaccinated folks. They got very interesting answers which they compiled and shared with the community.  What follows is a very interesting journey in the minds of young people as they talked about Covid Vaccines and how they as youth understood what the Covid vaccines are and why people should get it.

Born between 1997 and 2012, this group of youth are commonly referred to by social scientist and popular media as Generation Z or Gen Z for short. Succeeding Millennials, they are considered to be the first generation to grow up with access to the Internet and portable digital technology. Other characteristics of these Generation Z teenagers are that they are more concerned than older generations with academic performance and job prospects, and are considered better at delaying gratification.