Radio Inspiration Movement
APPEALS, 10 Oct 2011
Dylan Bradley – TRANSCEND Media Service
What if whenever you turned on the radio, you heard a song that inspired you?
My name is Dylan Bradley. I am 16, and I’m from a small town in Connecticut. People generally know me as an ambitious student. They know me as the class president, the cross-country captain, and an Eagle Scout. However, that is not the whole truth.
The truth is that I am also insecure, to an extreme. I have always struggled with personal relationships, with my family, and with the fact that nobody knows that I am gay. There are times when I feel very alone. I have attempted suicide with very near success but still did not tell anyone about it.
In reflecting on my life, identity, and goals, I realized that even the loneliest people may never be alone these days. After disagreements with my parents, I would always go to my room, lock the door, plug in my headphones, and my favorite artists and bands would console me. Through their music, they would make me feel worthwhile and valuable. Powerful lyrics and positive messages in my favorite songs have made me an independent, free-spirited, confident person.
I do not know where I would be without the inspiration I have gotten from music. So today, I want to return the favor. I want to fill the radios with inspiring music.
Kids are constantly exposed to music, and it has an enormous impact on their attitudes and identities. I want to help make a better place for the youth of the world by increasing the positive messages in songs and decreasing those that encourage hate and cruelty. Imagine that change.
Mission Statement of the Radio Inspiration Movement
1) …to spread the idea that music has an enormous effect on the lives of youth in the world.
2) …to provide an environment for discussion of the good and bad messages in the songs we hear on the radio.
3) …to act as an instrument of change, with the ultimate goal of communicating directly with singers, songwriters, and bands about improving the messages of their songs and about being good role models.
The Radio Inspiration Movement’s YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/RadioInspirationMvmt, which now has over sixty subscribers, houses a collection of videos uploaded by young people explaining how a particular song or artist has changed their lives. The movement is spreading throughout the world, especially in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, and Malaysia.
My dream is that the user-made resources provided by the Radio Inspiration Movement will inspire people to work through their problems. I hope to create a community for co-inspiration through accessible positive music.
As the movement grows, so will its ability to reach out to the stars of the music industry and effect real change.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 10 Oct 2011.
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