GAY RIGHTS, suicide and the effect of the recession on teenagers were just some of the issues highlighted at a Young Social Innovators “Speak Out” in Dublin yesterday.
More than 800 teenagers from schools all over Leinster gathered to present their projects on social issues. They are are among 6,000 15-18 year olds who are participating in the Young Social Innovators (YSI) programme this year. They have worked in teams to study a social issue and to identify ways to improve or solve it.
Students from Moate Community College told how they had raised funds to put 36 defibrillators in place within three years, following the death of a fellow student from sudden adult death syndrome (Sads).
Students from the Dominican College in Drumcondra highlighted the effect of the recession on teenagers. Their survey found that 23 per cent of teenagers had seen a reduction in pocket money because of the recession. Some 67 per cent said they felt guilty asking their parents for money because of the recession. The students also modelled clothes from charity shops run by bodies such as St Vincent de Paul and Oxfam.
Alternative solutions to anti-depressants were explored by students from East Glendalough School in Wicklow town. They encouraged young people who were suffering from depression to talk about it and to seek counselling. They also highlighted the benefits of exercise and a healthy diet for a healthy mind.
Depression, suicide and self harm all weigh heavily on the minds of teenagers, if yesterday’s presentations were anything to go by. Many schools also focused on bullying, peer pressure and homophobia. Protecting the environment and growing your own vegetables were popular subjects.
Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan said it was very important that young people were listened to because they were willing to talk about issues that often made adults uncomfortable.
She told the young audience they also had a duty to remind adults about fun. It had been estimated that babies laughed 300 times a day but as they grew, they laughed less and less. “So your job as young people, your responsibility to this country, is to remind those of us who have stopped laughing and started giving out, to think very carefully about the energy that you bring.”
Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, chairwoman of YSI, told the teenagers they had the power to change the world with their projects.
“You are making a difference by touching the life of some person, even one person. It’s like throwing a pebble into a pool – the ripple effect, you never know where it will end.”
The YSI programme was founded by Sr Stanislaus Kennedy and businesswoman Rachel Collier in 2002 to develop social awareness and activism among young people. When this year’s “Speak Out” series ends in Galway next week, almost 400 social action projects will have been undertaken.
Some 60 projects will then be shortlisted for the ninth YSI showcase which will be held in Croke Park on May 5th.
The Young Social Innovator of the Year Awards will be announced then and the winning team will receive a grant for their project.
Social Innovators In Their Own Words
Kiah Hughes(15) from St Brigid's College, Callan, Co Kilkenny, is involved in a project that highlights domestic abuse, child abuse and bullying.
“Abuse is something that should not happen and we wanted to raise awareness of it and try to help,” she said.
The domestic abuse element of the project focuses on the abuse of men. “The woman is the stereotypical victim but it does happen to men as well and we wanted to heighten awareness of that also.”
The group set up Facebook and Bebo groups to encourage discussion about these issues and she said they would continue to run these groups and perhaps extend it to other social networking sites.
“Hopefully we will make a difference.”
The trend towards growing your own vegetables was reflected in a project presented by Michael Lancaster(16) and his classmates from Coláiste Bhríde, Carnew, Co Wicklow.
“We were just saying, if the lorries stopped going to Tesco and the supermarkets, where would we get our food? We rely on them so much,” he said. “And after the snow and all, we realised that we had to do something about it.”
The group is growing a selection of vegetables and flowers at the school. “We sold hyacinths in pots for Mothers Day. We’re growing a huge variety of vegetables – cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cucumber,” he said. “It will keep running in the school for years, I’d say.”
The abuse of animals was on the mind of David Farrar(16) from St Gerard's School in Bray, Co Wicklow. He is involved with his class in a project that highlights issues such as fur farming, the clubbing of seals and the abandonment of household pets.
He said the group found that many people who were buying dogs were looking for pure bred animals and were ignoring the hundreds of dogs in shelters in Wicklow and Dublin.
“We got speakers in from the DSPCA and the WSPCA and we visited the shelters to find out more. There are very, very many animals in the shelters. And they weren’t puppies. Most of them were fully grown dogs. We wanted to take them all home, they looked so lonely. ”
The group also held a bazaar, sold Christmas cards and did face painting to raise awareness of animal rights.
John McManus(16) from Moate Community College said he believed his class project on helping older people had already made a big difference.
“It definitely has. We did computer classes for the elderly and that really helped,” he said. “We were initially only going to do it for six weeks but it went so well that we are holding a second course for them.
”The class also organised a Christmas party in the local nursing home and got TR Dallas to sing for the residents, said John.
Fiona Murray(16), also from Moate Community College, said she and her classmates had developed friendships over time with lots of older people, thanks to their elderly in need project.
She said students enjoyed working on the project and did not mind giving up their time to work on it outside school hours.
“We are now making a leaflet of different services and contact numbers for bus routes and things like that for older people,” she said.
“It has made a difference because we’ve seen a lot of elderly people who were very quiet when they came into us first but now they are getting more sociable, so that’s good.”
