Why is Benton focused on underserved young people?
By 2010 there will be 50 million Americans between the age of 16 and 28, a historic high. Approximately 25% of them will be out of school, under-employed and with limited skills. Young people in their late teens and twenties who are of color, live in urban centers or isolated rural communities, are under court supervision and are single parents are disproportionately underserved. Media and communications tools, when embedded in comprehensive approaches to youth development, can play an important role in reconnecting them to a future of productive work and civic involvement.
