MIND MOVES:Youth clubs help those at the edge of society, writes ESTHER REYNOLDS
THE MINISTER for Children and Youth Affairs, Barry Andrews, recently posed the question: are our youth services reaching the young people who live at the edge of society?
As the Minister asked this important question, I would like to share my experiences of being involved in a youth club. I can’t speak on the behalf of every young person out there; I can speak only of my own experiences and the experiences of the other young people with whom I have grown up.
I could have been one of those young people on the edge. The opportunities to take a wrong turn were all around me. The negative influences in my community were very dominant. People judged me and other young people from my area not for who we were but by where we came from. The services that were there for ordinary citizens didn’t always give us the same chance as others, because of our address. This meant a lot of young people turned against what was there to support us.
What helped me was that for as far back as I can remember I understood what I didn’t want and I knew where I didn’t want to end up. I was opposed to the destruction I witnessed. I saw the way too many wrong turns taken by some young people resulted in dented communities.
Communities weren’t always able to mend those bridges that collapsed for young people. They couldn’t always restore hope. Sometimes they fell apart when they needed to pull together. And their young people drifted closer to the edge.
I was lucky. The people in my area eventually began to take notice. Many parents came together to fight these problems. They organised activities for young people.
At first it wasn’t all year around – it was mainly in the summer. Soon individuals realised that these opportunities needed to be there for young people all the time. As this group of parents became stronger and more experienced they managed to draw resources into the area to establish a youth project.
It was through my involvement in this youth project that I expanded my skills and gained important tools for growing up. It became my safety net.
The highlight was probably my first holiday abroad with the club when we visited Africa to build houses for local communities.
It wasn’t all fun and games. We fundraised non-stop for a year. This was tough, but it wasn’t the hardest part. For three weeks we helped build homes for amazing people. By the time we were ready to leave we had also built relationships and made lots of friends. Saying goodbye to them turned out to be the hardest part.
Apart from the highlights – the big trips and the big occasions – I believe a great youth club is just somewhere you can be you. They bring people out of themselves, give them confidence to be themselves rather than follow the clique.
Everyone knows about “the clique”. The fear of not being accepted for who you are forces you into one. Being yourself is the hardest thing to do, but when you’re part of a clique you can hide. Growing up with the ability to be independent and choose what’s right for you is an invaluable skill.
Youth clubs give young people the tools and the confidence to be themselves.
A good youth club is where you feel at home, it’s where you can walk in the door and always get a welcome.
Where young people find themselves lost and on the edge of their community, a good youth project helps them to rediscover that they belong.
In an area where young people might not have many opportunities to achieve and shine, a club celebrates their achievements, holds their proud moments and keeps alive the memory of what they have done and what is yet to be achieved, big or small.
My project managed to do this for me, and I’ll always be grateful for the chance it gave me to tip the scales in my favour.
Esther Reynolds is a youth adviser to Headstrong – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, headstrong.ie. Tony Bates is on leave.