Editor's Note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's Voices of Youth Battle Creek program which is supported by the BINDA Foundation, City of Battle Creek, Battle Creek Community Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Get back to the real

Cordell Barnes, 15, and Elisha Willis, 16, sophomores at Battle Creek Central High School, participated in Voices of Youth Battle Creek in March. 

Friends who are passionate about video gaming, their original intention was to focus a podcast on common problems associated with excessive gaming, such as lack of physical exercise and some of the poor eating habits that accompany sitting for long periods of time in front of a video screen.

CnE Podcast, featuring Cordell Barnes and Elisha Willis, is hosted by Gerald King.
After discussion with their Voices of Youth Mentor Gerald King, they changed directions and decided to focus on social media and its mental health impacts, particularly as it relates to teenagers.

Their conversational podcast opens a window into the ways in which teens view, use, understand, and navigate their social media use, as well as some of the risks they perceive to teen mental health and self-esteem.

Elisha Willis (left), 16, and Cordell Barnes (right), 15, are both sophomores at Battle Creek Central high School. In the middle is Gerald King, podcast mentor and host.Some of the topics covered include: importance of being positive in post comments; the illusion of perfection (through use of filters); productive uses of social media, like TikTok videos for brief explanations or directions regarding math, recipes, music, etc.; the over-abundance of information, opinions, and entertainment options available; sleeping with phones and sleep disruption due to checking social media apps; buying likes (even dislikes) to get more views; impact on self-esteem from negative comparisons to idealized images.

CnE Podcast, featuring Cordell Barnes and Elisha Willis, is on Spotify.The healthy solution they arrive at is simple, but incredibly challenging in today's technology-infused world: Get back to the real.

Elisha Willis, 16, is a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School.
Cordell Barnes, 15, is a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School.















"I see my sister on four devices, my mom on the computer playing SIMS, my stepdad watching TV," says Elisha.

"People moving from the real world into technology, " Cordell adds.

"We will be in the same room, but we will be on our phones. In general, technology is. . ."

"Taking over," says Cordell.

"For real," says Elisha


To hear their podcast, moderated by Gerald King, listen here: CnE Podcast

Cordell Barnes, 15, is a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School.


Cordell Barnes, 15, is a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School. He plans to study engineering, though he's always had a knack for writing. He plans to become a petroleum engineer.



Elisha Willis, 16, is a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School.



Elisha Willis, 16, is a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School. He likes playing basketball and drawing in his free time.




Gerald King, Voices of Youth Battle Creek Mentor.An Artist in every sense of the word, Gerald King has been involved in several Art projects here in Battle Creek, and it’s surrounding areas. Born in Chicago in 1977, his family relocated to Kalamazoo where he graduated with honors from Kalamazoo Central High School and later studied 2-D Animation at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. His love for Art began at the early age of 5 when he saw the first Star Wars film and early cable shows on MTV and BET.

From Gerald: It was interesting to learn different things about social media and mental health from a 15-year-old’s perspective. I learned a few things about how they interact on there and how they have a social media presence. It was cool to see some of the ways they navigate through their problems on social media and in their lives. Being a podcast host, I learned to use my voice and be an anchor for the conversation.
 
Overall, it was a great project. I love working with Second Wave Media. I loved working with Theresa. And hopefully, I will get to work with them again soon.