More than 5,000 students from 187 schools are active in projects designed to make a difference in their communities. Michael Kellyis impressed
'I dunno" and "I don't care": two phrases forever associated with teenagers. It's easy to believe that young people don't know and don't care more than they used to. As it happens, it's not true - although could we blame them if it were? The people they learn from - adults such as you and me - aren't always brimming with social conscience. We seem obsessed with wealth, measuring success in terms of, say, how many houses and cars we collect. Almost four in 10 of us don't even bother to vote. The number of adults volunteering dropped by almost a third between 1992 and 2002. Young people don't own the market on not caring: we're all guilty of it.
In any case, teenagers are more fired up about the issues facing society than we think. Social-awareness education is not part of the official school curriculum, but in 2001 Sr Stanislaus Kennedy and Rachel Collier founded Young Social Innovators with a straightforward objective: to fire young peoples' passion to change the world. This year more than 5,000 students from 187 schools and youth education centres participated in the programme, which culminates with the Young Social Innovators showcase at the RDS, in Dublin, next Wednesday and Thursday.
If you take the young people interviewed here as examples, the programme has achieved its aims. Some of them admit that to start with they saw Young Social Innovators as just another subject, and possibly a dull one at that, full of topics guaranteed to bore the pants off any young teenager: social integration, youth facilities, health support services, road safety, domestic violence, politics, old people.
Over time, involvement in the projects fundamentally changed the way they look at these issues and the world around them. All of the team members we spoke to are articulate, passionate advocates for change with the potential to make a difference to the world.
One little worry: all the schools nominated young women to talk to us. Have the young men lost their tongues?
• To contact Young Social Innovators call 01-6458030 or see www.youngsocialinnovators.ie
THE BUTTERFLY CLUB
The students in the YSI team at Coláiste na Sceilge in Cahirciveen, Co Kerry, set out to change attitudes towards people with disabilities by establishing the Butterfly Club, a school youth club.Aoife Musgrave, a 16-year-old member of the group, says: "We decided that one of the biggest social issues in our school was that people with special needs didn't integrate with other students. We thought it would benefit everyone if we could meet up and socialise together."
The group researched the needs of people with learning disabilities by contacting support groups in their area. "We had experts come to talk to us about appropriate activities. The club is held for two hours on Tuesdays, and each week we do something different: arts and crafts, drama, orienteering and the like. We are going on a trip to an adventure centre soon, and we are going surfing, too."
Musgrave says the club is a great success. "Everyone involved just loves it. It's not something we feel we have to do. I suppose that, to start, we saw it as something we were doing to help them, but I think everyone involved has learned from it. We've made friends. You discover that people with special needs are the very same as us. They have the same interests, the same concerns. Everyone has abilities and disabilities, so it's really unfair to treat anyone differently because they have special needs."
USE YOUR VOTE TO ROCK THE BOAT
At the last general election, in 2002, only 40 per cent of 18- and 19-year-olds voted. Students at St Mary's Secondary School in Mallow, Co Cork, are not impressed. "Only the Government has the power to change things, so we decided the only way to effect change was to encourage people to use their vote," says Theresa Collins, who is 17. She challenges the belief that teenagers are uninterested in politics.
"We held a mock election, and everyone was really engaged. There were loads of questions." One of the ideas they discussed was mandatory voting. "Participation in elections should be higher. There are countries where voting is linked to getting a passport, and we thought this was a really good idea."
They advocate online voting, perhaps unsurprisingly for a generation that is so technologically savvy. "Most people download music and buy things over the internet, so why not allow people to vote that way? We got a local software company to develop software, and in our mock election 250 students all voted securely online." E-voting opponents take note.
Some of the students went canvassing with general-election candidates. "A lot of the time people weren't home, so the politician didn't get to talk to anyone. This gave us the idea of having a seminar in our mock election where people can come along and ask the candidates questions."
Ominously for Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, neither party secured one of the four seats on offer at the mock election. (They went to Labour, the Greens, Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats). The group is looking for funding for 100,000 windscreen stickers, designed to encourage people to vote. "We asked all the major parties for funding, but only Labour gave us money. We were disappointed with the parties but are hoping that we might get a sponsor at the RDS," says 16-year-old Julie Mansfield.
IN AETATE VERITAS (IN AGE THERE IS TRUTH)
"We were looking at the project lists, and we felt that all the topics were quite negative - you know, drugs, alcohol, all that stuff. We wanted to do something positive," says 16-year-old Leanne Moran of Presentation Secondary School in Galway.
The group designed a website where the city's old people can share their life stories and experiences.
"We visited senior citizens and recorded interviews with them. They would be telling us stories about old romances, school, what it was like living in Galway. There was a lot that was surprising to us. For example, areas that we consider part of the city now were countryside when they were young. We talked to one man who used to work as a projectionist in the old cinema, and he was in The Quiet Man. That stuff was just amazing to us."
Do young people respect the older generation? "I think we do, but we don't take the time to listen to them. You wouldn't take time out to talk to your grandparents like that; I don't know why. We didn't think it would be all that interesting. But I would love to sit there for hours, listening to the stories. I was intrigued."
It's notable that the group doesn't automatically assume that life is better now than it used to be. "There were things that were worse back then, like they didn't have enough money for food or clothes. But there were also things that are worse now. Things were simpler, more innocent in their time. They weren't as exposed to things like drugs and alcohol as we are."
The group is hoping that the website - www.galwaygenerations.blogspot.com - will attract all ages. "We think it can be like an archive for use by the future generations of the city."
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Students at East Glendalough School, in Co Wicklow, tackled the difficult twin issues of domestic violence and restorative justice. "We found out about a housing facility in Wicklow for victims of domestic abuse," explains 16-year-old Alanna Webb, "and discovered that it was a facility for male victims of violence, which really surprised us. We would have always looked on men as the perpetrators, not the victims. We thought it would be interesting to try and change people's perceptions of this issue." The group lobbied politicians and community figures about domestic violence and looked at the concept of restorative justice as a means of dealing with it. "Restorative justice is where the victim and the perpetrator are brought together to break the cycle of violence. It is not widely used in Ireland, but we believe it could be a valuable alternative."
To encourage the concept the group developed a restorative-justice module for transition-year students and sent it to the Department of Education and Science. "We also got together with an artist, Emma Finucane, and developed a photo mosaic where we acted out the roles of domestic violence. We had males acting as victims and perpetrators." The exhibit is being shown at the Irish Museum of Modern Art this month.
Amy Elkinson, a 16-year-old student, believes the project has helped changed perspectives in the group. "At the start it was just a class, but when you see that what you are doing can help someone it's more interesting.
We gained a lot of skills, like public speaking, communication skills and photography. It also helps you think about what to do when you leave school. I would be interested in getting into law or some career where you can make a difference. I find I pay far more attention to the news now."