When a deejay from rap radio station Hot 97 tells a roomful of students they should be tuning in WBZ 1030 instead of his show, you figure someone is listening up - which is what 150 or so students from Boston Pilot secondary schools were doing at the First Annual Youth Conference held April 2 at the Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA) on Arlington Street.

The focus of the conference was “Teens Break the Silence: the Media and the Messages, and Students’ Perspectives.” The big question of the day was whether media really reflect African-American teens, or whether the media are a manipulative force that is helping to keep kids from succeeding in life. There was animated disagreement.

The first of the panelists introduced by Dania Vazquez, conference organizer and co-director of the Pilot Schools Network, was “Reggie Beas” (Reggie Beasley) of Hot 97. Beasley objected to the way women are portrayed as sex objects in the music his station plays. He hoped the students he was speaking to would see beyond such lyrics. “If you write music that turns women into sex objects, it doesn't make you more ‘ghetto’ or ‘cool.’ It makes you look dumb.”

He said popular stations like 94.5 are especially guilty of pandering and promoting a degrading image of people of color, because they are owned by white people who can “make a lot of money promoting the negative images that sell.”

That message was supported by panelist Susan McDonald, Program Director at the YWCA’s Youth VOICE Collaborative. She told the students, when they hear degrading hip-hop images of gangstas and slutty women, to ask themselves, “Who made this image?” The answer, she said, is “non-Black owners of media - white men.”

Not all the students were ready to see themselves as being victimized by a white power structure. Hawa Traore, an African-American senior girl from New Mission High School, challenged the panel. “Do you really think it would be different if minorities owned media outlets? I think it’s just about money. It would be just as bad whoever owned the media.” The panel members acknowledged that racism can come from any race.

Beasley urged the students to change stations and listen to the news on WBZ and “be informed.” Susan McDonald added a caveat: “When you see or hear the news in the media, ask yourself, ‘What is left out?’ Your community is only on the news when police cars are there.”

The adults also emphasized getting an education and taking charge of one’s life. BCLA principal and host Nicole Bahnam urged, “Please go to college. Your education has weight.” Beasley concurred, pointing out that he became involved in radio first at Oberlin College.

The third panelist, Darius McCroey, is a managing partner of Elevated Media Group, which creates downtimeonline.net, “the premier culture and lifestyle resource for New England’s urban community.” He urged the students to get involved with the web. “Anyone can have impact using the web. It doesn’t take a lot of money.” In response to what Beasley and McDonald had described as white control of the media, McCroey pointed out, “The internet has made it easy for us to take some of that power and control back.”

The morning concluded with a moving, unaccompanied rap, by a BCLA girl introduced as “Sheik,” about her friend who was killed in the street.

After lunch, students moved to student-led break-out sessions on media impact.

The most popular session for girls was about the media’s impact on women’s fashion and body image, led by Zena Toppin, Katrina Williams, and Arian Nazario. Students in attendance agreed that they are strongly influenced by the skinny look promoted in print and broadcast media. The discussion leaders pointed out that stores “go by Caucasian sizes, not the larger sizes that correspond to average African-American shapes.”

In “If It Bleeds It Leads: The Hidden Messages Creating Fear and Bias in Our Society,” leaders Kowsar Haji, Arnold Dick, and Darnell Bartee asked participants how local TV and radio news presents their neighborhoods. One student answered, “People think you can’t go out in my neighborhood in Dorchester ’cause you’ll get killed. I go out all the time. It’s not like that.” Leader Haji wondered “if they cover Lexington like that.”

The largest turnout was for “The Power of Music: The Negative and Positive Effects of Music on Youth,” led by Quin Smith, Felicia Teixeira, and Narosme Auguste. There was lively disagreement around the message of the morning panelists who had regretted the negative image of African-Americans portrayed in hip-hop. Some of the students bemoaned the images promulgated by such hip-hop performers as 50 Cent. Others wanted nothing to do with requiring performers to portray a favorable image. They said hip-hop performers tell the truth from their own lives.

Other break-out sessions covered the “reality” of reality TV, the real negative impact of video games, and the corruption of sport.

Students reconvened at the end of the day to share what had happened in the break-out sessions. BCLA student Eric “Chief” Scott volunteered a closing thought that seemed to capture the day for many: “If we know what our values are, then we can deal with the media and what they show.”

Youth Conference panelists Darius McCroey, Susan McDonald, and Reggie “Beas.”

“When you see or hear the news in the media, ask yourself, ‘What is left out?’ Your community is only on the news when police cars are there.”

Hawa Traore, a senior at New Mission High, challenged panelists’ claims that whites are the only exploiters.

Darius McCroey urged students to build web sites where they can control the message at little cost.

At the end of the morning session, “Sheik” rapped sadly about the loss of a friend who was killed in the street.

BCLA seniors Katrina Williams (left) and Zena Toppin lead a fashion media discussion on “Body Image and Beauty.”

Kowsar Haji co-led a break-out session, “If it Bleeds, It Leads,” that looked at how urban neighborhoods are portrayed by the media.

Quin Smith discusses “the negative and positive effects of music on youth.”

Eric “Chief” Scott said knowing one’s values is insurance against corruption by the media.