Instagram launches Counter Speech Fellowship 5.0 with YLAC, to focus on mental health

Instagram and YLAC’s Counter Speech Fellowship is their flagship youth program meant for school kids between the ages of 13 and 18. Applications are currently open and will be open till May 31.

The Counter Speech Fellowship is a fully-funded engagement for teenagers and participating fellows have to meet every alternate week for a couple of hours. (Instagram)

Instagram and the Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) have announced the 2021 edition of their flagship youth program - the Counter Speech Fellowship. The Counter Speech Fellowship 5.0 is going to focus on the topic of mental health and other critical issues at a time when virtual learning has become the norm.

The fellowship brings on board teenagers and has them use the power of visual storytelling to start meaningful conversations on various important issues. These issues include bullying, diversity, gender equality, and mental wellbeing. The program this year has been designed particularly keeping the current circumstances in mind.

The Counter Speech Fellowship is a fully-funded engagement and participating fellows have to meet every alternate week for a couple of hours. Given the current pandemic, these meetings are all going to be virtual. While only the curtain-raiser and the fellowship closing spread over the whole day, fellows are expected to log in for four hours at any time over the course of the day (between 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM), all the other sessions are between 1.5 to 2 hours each. These sessions include time with mentors (happens after every learning session), learning about visual storytelling, digital marketing, leadership, and advocacy, etc.

The whole fellowship will take place over the course of two months, starting on July 25 and wrapping up on September 19. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18 and are still in school (enrolled in India), you can read up on more details and apply here. If a candidate has already completed school or is in college, they are not eligible. The applications are open and will be on till May 31.