For Parents

There are many ways your teen could benefit by becoming involved in ThreeSixty.

Why should your teen add ThreeSixty to his or her already crammed schedule?

We teach our reporters how to do great journalism and we hope that they become journalists. But whether or not they go on to break the next Watergate, teens who work with us learn to think critically, do great research, write in a logical, structured way and become more engaged with the world around them.

Reporters receive one-on-one feedback on everything from writing to investigating from professional reporters. And before-and-after testing of students who’ve worked with us showed big improvements in their literacy.

Should I really encourage my teen to get involved in a so-called dying industry?

Journalism is going through a rocky transition. The Internet has pulled away a major part of the advertising revenue that used to fund news media. At ThreeSixty, we know that the future of how journalism will function in society is unknown, but we are sure that the need for information will always exist.

And we are 100 percent sure that blogged opinions can’t provide the quality of information a democratic society needs to maintain its health.

When radio came along, print news worried. When television news came along, print and radio news worried. Information-gatherers are still trying to figure out how to best use the Internet for communicating news, and for financially supporting the news, but by no means is the need gone for quality information.

We often tell our kids that right now it’s like reporting in the Wild West – all the old rules are being rewritten. There are so many interesting experiments going on, so many ways to tell new stories. There will be a lot of failure, but there will always be a need for well-trained journalists.

The more immediate reason for getting your child involved in ThreeSixty is that we passionately believe their voice needs to be heard. ThreeSixty is written by teens for everyone. Theirs is a voice that should hold equal value in the dialogue of our society, and ThreeSixty is a place where they speak about the things important to them.

Support your teen and ThreeSixty

If your teen has become involved with ThreeSixty, you can help support them by making sure news is coming into your house, be it in the form of a news paper, television, radio or computer screen.

You can also provide them with transportation to interviews and discuss their stories with them to help them think about the issues they are covering.

And, of course, you can financially support ThreeSixty to enable us to provide the intense, one-on-one instruction we believe makes our program so special.