What is Counter Stories

This chapter revisits the creation and results of cultivating mobile journalism and film making skills with middle and high schoolers in Long Island. The youth digital film production effort was in response to a hate crime. An immigrant was killed by a group of young males after a suspected spree of other attacks. After the murderous incident, immigrant parents and students of the local schools feared for their lives. Working towards narrative goals, the organizers set out to teach students how to use mobile and computer technologies for filmmaking. Using themes of human rights, they also focused on responding to hate crimes and immigration issues. The chapter offers further key discoveries, lessons, and positive outcomes of the program. The programs provided academic and workforce development skills as well as using computer technology for digitizing narratives. The program also offered informal academic purposes, along with opportunities and recommendations from the findings for other digital filmmaking endeavors.