Edutainment
These Teen RJs From Kerala Are Making Quarantine Bearable
Class 8th & 9th student RJs of Kerala are motivating the society with their radio show to keep morale high until school reopens
The COVID-19 outbreak saw a growing camaraderie amongst people, that was somehow either lost or buried deep. Children, especially, have shown such will and desire to help and do something for the society and for those in the front line.
Take these 50 Kerala kids of Narayanan Nair Memorial Higher Secondary School, Chelembra, in Malappuram, for example. These heroes are engaged in the relentless pursuit of awareness programmes in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Before the full lockdown was announced, every day at 1:30 pm on school days, these students of VIIIth & IXth standards used to take up the role of radio jockeys (RJs), producers and spot editors for different school activities.
Even after Coronavirus forced the schools to shut, these champions have refused to sit idle in the comfort of their homes. They coordinate programmes, record their voices on their parents’ phones and forward it to their editor. The editor then compiles and forwards the inputs to the teacher who is in charge of the Radio SPC, because, well…the show must Go On! After this, the programmes are parked on various social media platforms!
“Post lockdown, Radio SPC is broadcast only twice a week. The RJs record on their phones and the students send to us the voice notes of their activities quiz programme, poetry, stories, reviews and speeches. The programmes start with a bulletin, followed by a message on Coronavirus disease by a teacher or PTA president and then awareness initiatives,” says Krishnapriya, a class IX RJ.
Poems, essays, craftwork, drawings on COVID-19 impact, awareness programmes on safe distancing and responsible behaviour as well as hand wash techniques have wowed their followers.
The RJs also dedicate songs to their schoolmates and send them birthday greetings for they do not know how long it would take the school to open its gates again.
Class IX student Yelena connects the recordings of her schoolmates into a chain and converts it into a video format, including the logo of the radio station and the jingle.
“The programmes cover not just creative works of the students, but of the teaching and non-teaching staff too. Special programmes on commemorative days, a quiz with prizes, news bulletins and current affairs programmes are aired generally. The students are very keen to be part of the radio during the lockdown time,” informs Yelena.
Their dedicated efforts are just not confined to the internet. Some kids even prepare buttermilk for cops and volunteers while others stitch masks for mass-distribution.
ScooNews is a little wet in the eyes seeing the spirit and dedication of these young minds. These teenagers prove that the world is in good hands.