Sylhet City Corporation-SCC Administrator Abdul Kaiyum Chowdhury said that there was once ample open space, playgrounds and recreational facilities in Sylhet city, but due to uncontrolled urbanization, these have now become limited. As a result, children and teenagers are becoming increasingly dependent on devices and social media, which is having various negative impacts on society. To protect the new generation from this situation, they must be involved more in innovative and creative activities.
He made these remarks as the chief guest at a follow-up workshop organized by the world’s first Bangla website for child journalism, Hello.bdnews24.com, in Sylhet on Saturday (May 16).
The workshop was held at a hotel auditorium in the city with the slogan, “Children’s Stories Through Children’s Eyes.”
The workshop was jointly organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund-UNICEF and Bdnews24.com. The SCC Administrator further said, “It is essential to ensure safe walking and physical exercise facilities in Sylhet city for children, adolescents, young people and especially senior citizens. We have already taken initiatives in this regard. As soon as suitable land is available, new playgrounds will be established in the city.”
Mentioning that the future of the country lies in the hands of the youth, the SCC Administrator expressed gratitude to Bdnews24.com for taking such an exceptional initiative to guide children and teenagers in the right direction.
The workshop included a welcome speech and training session conducted by Hasan Bipul, Assistant Feature Editor of Bdnews24.com. The event was chaired by Bappa Moitra, Sylhet correspondent of Bdnews24.com and moderated by Shahjalal University of Science and Technology correspondent Nur Alam. Nehar Ranjan Purkayastha, Public Relations Officer of Sylhet City Corporation, was also present.
Throughout the day-long follow-up workshop, participants received practical training on the basics of journalism, news and feature writing, challenges and solutions in child journalism, fact-checking, child rights, selecting report topics and mobile journalism (creating video reports using mobile phones).
Prothom Alo photojournalist Anis Mahmud provided guidance to the young journalists on photography.
A total of 11 students from various educational institutions in Sylhet participated in the workshop. Press Release