The Young Social Innovators competition, which has returned for its fifth year, encourages teenagers to develop their social awareness. Sister Stan is counting on them to carry what they learn through life, she tells Davin O'Dwyer
Imagine a young-scientist competition, or young-entrepreneur scheme, but instead of focusing on science or business it dealt with social awareness, encouraging young people to get involved in social justice and activism. Sounds pretty good, right? As is the way with good ideas, somebody has already had it. Inevitably, too, that somebody is Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, the tireless social activist who founded Focus Ireland and the Immigrant Council of Ireland. The result is Young Social Innovators, a framework for social-awareness education for transition-year students.
"I was really conscious that young people wanted to be involved in these good causes," says Sr Stanislaus. "What was absent maybe was the structures and possibilities for them to become involved, or maybe how to make it interesting enough for them to be involved. We thought maybe we could create a situation whereby young people could become involved."
A pilot scheme started in a few schools in 2002. From there it quickly developed across the country, with an annual national showcase to display the projects. This year sees 3,500 students from 116 schools involved in 230 projects, covering topics from homelessness to breast cancer, from sexual education to transport and from Asbos to MRSA.
Rachel Collier, the scheme's co-founder, says the projects are judged on five criteria: understanding of an issue; teamwork; partnerships and involvement with the wider community; communications; and innovation. "What was key to it was that it would be student-led, that it wouldn't be adults telling them what they should be doing, that they would come up with their own ideas," says Sr Stanislaus. "They have loads of ideas. They also have no agenda, no baggage. Everything is possible. It's so exciting to see what they can do."
Another long-term benefit is a sense of engagement. "That social consciousness which is there but needs to be tapped into; it's in all of us, but often it isn't tapped into," says Sr Stanislaus. "If it isn't tapped into at that age, it's lost. I also believe that if it is tapped into at that age, something changes. Once they're involved, it changes their hearts and their minds, and they carry that with them right into adulthood."
Sr Stanislaus and Collier believe the projects also have an enduring value in their own right, particularly those dealing with issues such as teenage pregnancy or adolescent alcohol abuse. "Peer education is astounding," says Collier. "If you have a 14-year-old telling a 10-year-old something, it's often much more effective than an adult doing that." Some of the projects are so successful that Young Social Innovators aims to keep them as model projects, so the good work is not lost when the projects come to a close. "There's real work being done," says Collier. "It's not just school projects; they're very strong campaigns."
For Sr Stanislaus, there is a sense of extending her work by inspiring youngsters to become engaged with social issues. "Particularly now, when there is so much affluence," she says. "The gap between rich and poor is much greater now. It's more visible. The people left behind are very poor and alienated. It's all the more important for young people to feel a responsibility, to feel they can tackle these problems."
DAVITT COLLEGE, CASTLEBAR, CO MAYO
"Businesses complain about young people just hanging around Castlebar, but they're not willing to do anything about it," says Jane Corcoran, a member of the project that won the Irish Youth Foundation's Special Award in 2005. "We had feasibility studies and got businesses to help out, and eventually the local St Vincent de Paul offered some space, so we now have a youth centre that's used all the time. This year's transition-year students have taken on some of the running of it. It's somewhere you can go to chill out."
This year's project is about healthy living, says teacher Bernie Rowland; daily walks and activities are aimed at encouraging healthier living in the wider community. "Young Social Innovators is a great opportunity for the students. Their voice gets heard, their ideas are taken on board by adults and their self-esteem rises up to the ceiling."
COLÁISTE CHRÍOST RÍ, PORTLAOISE, CO LAOIS
Last year's project attempted to turn Portlaoise into a Fairtrade town; some students at the school were also involved in a high-profile Channel 4 documentary that exposed lax laws surrounding the arms trade - they briefly became part-time arms dealers. As a result, the Government has promised a change in the legislation. This year's project examines the reality of prisons, both in Portlaoise and further afield, in Burma and West Papua. "It's trying to influence the Government to say it's not about spending money on our prisons, it's about doing something before they end up in prison," says Sr Barbara Rafferty, a teacher at the school. "We're looking at two prisons here every day, and anyone the students spoke to said prisons are not working."
LORETO SCHOOL, BALBRIGGAN, CO DUBLIN
The school was awarded the overall prize in 2004 for its project on people's attitudes to asylum seekers, which involved a large advertising campaign.
This year the students have come up with an innovative project about the health benefits of laughter. "The students did a lot of work on clown doctors and organised workshops. At Christmas we were involved with a Santa flight for sick children from Temple Street. The girls wore clown-doctor costumes for the flight, doing face-painting, music, bubbles, all sorts of stuff," says teacher Michelle Briscoe, who is co-ordinating the project.
The structure offered by Young Social Innovators is invaluable, she says. "At first I was petrified but very excited. Young Social Innovators is very fulfilling but very, very intense, for me and the students. The students have worked so, so hard."
MOYNE COMMUNITY SCHOOL, MOYNE, CO LONGFORD
Last year the school won the overall Young Social Innovators prize for its project "Don't drink till you drop: think and stop", which approached the problem of underage drinking with an innovative peer-education programme. In addition, they proposed an alternative youth centre for the town, which is coming to fruition. "Young Social Innovators encouraged them to make a valuable contribution to society," says teacher Louise Killian. "It's promoted confidence among the youngsters. They are very socially aware now. It was an invaluable opportunity."
Team members Gary Faughnan, Sean Collum and David McNamee are equally enthusiastic about the benefits. "We all worked together as a team of 14, and we're still involved in the youth centre," says Faughnan. "It was more than just coming up with recommendations; it was about acting on it as well."
CROSS & PASSION COLLEGE, KILCULLEN, CO KILDARE
Part of the pilot scheme, in 2002, Cross & Passion College has tackled a wide number of projects over the past few years, including campaigning for a playground, for greater disability access in the town and for safer roads.
"It inspires a great sense of empowerment in the students," says teacher Glenda Groome. "The practical nature of the work is a major benefit, and the projects utilise everybody's skill sets, with some students taking responsibility for the business side, others dealing with the communications side of it, and so on."
Young Social Innovators has become compulsory for the school's transition-year students, so there are five projects from Cross & Passion this year, on topics including cruelty to animals, obesity and the effects of PlayStation use.