Not all teens bully. Not all teens drink alcohol. And not all teens like the way they are portrayed in the media.

A Youth in the Media Student Symposium brought together 250 students from across Toronto on May 22 at the Royal Conservatory of Music to determine how they wanted to be portrayed in the media.

"We were talking the negative ways and some of the positive ways we are portrayed in the media," said Kaydian Bell, a Grade 7 student from Alexander Sterling Public School in Scarborough. "They show teens going out to parties and drinking alcohol but teens aren't really like that. Some teens are really educated and want to reach their goals."

Throughout the last two months, young people from nine Toronto schools worked with teachers and Learning Through the Arts (LTTA) media artists to critically examine the messages about youth in the media. These classes then used digital photography and computer software to create storyboards depicting how they wished to be portrayed.

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