The idea of organizing youth
movement against drugs in Pinsk
Teenagers often reject the most objective information
about drugs and involvement with drugs, if this
information is coming from adults (teachers, parents).
It happens not because adult specialists lacking
competence, but because teenagers at the age of 14-17
are sure that they are powerful, fearless and immortal.
They are quite convinced that that they will never come
across the dangers of drug addiction the adults are
speaking about. This is not a secret that teens consider
us, adults, to be aliens from other planet, who don’t
understand anything in this life and who have completely
forgotten their own teen years.
On the contrary, any information including information
about drugs, passed from peer to peer, is treated with
more respect. In case this information is presented by a
teenager, who is considered to be a leader in a teen
group, then the attitude to drug problem in the group is
formed on the base the leader’s opinion.
Our practice of communication with pupils and students
showed that teenager environment in Pinsk has a great
potential – youngsters who have leadership qualities and
active stand against drugs. They are able and they want
to organize preventive work with their peers, taking
into account the interests of their age group. They want
to realize their initiatives being in a safe, friendly
and creative environment.
Objectives
The objectives of the peer education club are the
following:
· Preparing youth leaders to work with their peers;
· making conditions to help young people work with their
peers on healthy lifestyles propaganda and forming a
stand against drugs in a teenager environment;
· organizing after school activities as one of the
directions of drug prevention process;
· making conditions to help young people realize their
ideas and raise their social activity;
· organizing and conducting of study courses on healthy
lifestyles propaganda for teenagers.
Scheme
of the CLUB
>>
Directions of club development
1. Game Technique and Theatre
Game Technique is an interactive form (the form of
dialogue) of communication of teenagers and adults. The
main means of communication is a game. At the first
stage the games we played were aimed to create friendly
atmosphere. To communicate effectively we also needed to
respect each other. Then it came the turn for the games
to activate life position of the children and to form a
stand against drugs and toxic substances.
We paid special attention to Theatre Forum in our Game
Technique group work. This exercise helps imitate
conflict situations, which we face in everyday life.
Teenagers prepare a short play, which lasts not longer
than 5 minutes. In each play there must be an oppressor.
One or more people protest against the oppression but
fail and the play always ends in “misery” with unsolved
conflicts in order to stimulate the spectators to
intervene and bring about a better solution to the
stimulated conflict.
The drunk father is beating the mother in the children’s
presence… The nonsmoking girl gets in the smoking
company… The teenagers are offered to try drugs at disco…
These are the plots of the plays our teenagers played.
When the play has been shown once, the actors and the
audience agree on who is/are the oppressed. These
persons may be replaced when the scene is shown again.
Any member from the audience who has an idea about how
the conflict could be solved and the oppression stopped
shouts: “Stop!”, takes the place of the oppressed
protagonist and enacts his own solution.
2. Girls’ Group Rubble and Roses
Why only girls are invited to the group?
Girls rather than boys are brought up with the idea that
they should serve the others (family members, for
example). So girls from time to time need to meet in a
group to have fun to raise their competence in different
spheres. I can’t say that girls are less self confident,
or more cowardly or weaker than boys. It is not simply
in the girls’ traditional model of behaviour to
demonstrate self confidence or to take responsibility –
it’s rather in the boys’ traditional model of behaviour.
In a girls’ group it is easier to break the stereotyped
models of behaviour. For example, a quiet girl is given
an opportunity to talk, a noisy and boisterous one can
become quiet and hesitating.
During the group meetings we welcome any opinion, but
also it is very important to respect the opinions of the
others. We discuss issues like lifestyles, love and
sexuality, alcohol and drugs. We aim to help the girls
form and express their opinions and attitudes and
inspire them to support each other to stand up against
oppression and try new solutions in conflict situations.
During the first meeting practically all the girls feel
uneasy. They are afraid to look clumsy and stupid. But
this feeling is usually gone after a couple of meetings.
The girls are not any longer afraid to express their
opinions thinking that someone could consider them to be
wrong. The girls understand that what is right for one
person might be wrong for another.
Girls always choose the topic for the next meeting
themselves. They like to discuss such issues as
friendship, love and sexuality, relationship with peers,
independence and dependence, alcohol and drugs.
Girls do such exercises as Four-corner and also Hot seat,
Stand on a line. This way they learn to form and
actively express their opinions and also respect the
opinions and choice of the others. Girls also enjoy
playing motion games, which help to drop any false
dignity.
Working with girls is often “ruby” – rugged,
antagonistic and rough but at the same time “rosy” –
enchanting, beautiful, tender and fun.
3. Boys’ Group Nooop
Boys are constantly competing with each other and often
think that they can solve all the problems by means of
physical power. At the same time boys are lacking
communicative skills – ability to listen and hear the
others, to discuss and to respect others’ opinions.
We discuss such issues as friendship, relationship with
adults, independence and dependence, gender equality,
love and sexuality, alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Boys
think the last two issues were the most important ones.
To the boys opinion the relationship between boys and
girls are sometimes lacking tenderness and romantics.
Being egoistic young people often treat each other in a
quite cynic way.
During the first meeting boys are constantly teasing
each other, laughing and making jokes. It is very hard
to persuade them listen to each other. That is why each
group works out the rules, which helped them create the
atmosphere of respect and cooperation, such as:
· Every opinion has a right to exist.
· Don’t interrupt the one who is speaking and you also
won’t be interrupted.
· If you don’t feel like expressing your opinion, keep
silent.
· It’s OK if you feel you don’t want to be too open to
the others
· It’s OK if you feel you are not to be too active today.
At the end of every meeting boys usually write or speak
about their impressions. It gives them a possibility to
think over and analyze their thoughts and feelings.
4. Club’s Newsletter
With the help of Club’s newsletter we inform both the
students from school #15 and also from other schools
about the Club’s activities. The newsletter is also a
good opportunity for young journalists and graphic
designers to improve their skills.
We edit our newsletter monthly.
Teenagers from our Club say: “Why sit and wait until
someone will come and make our life interesting? Why
avoid responsibility and wait until someone will take an
important decision for you? No – we want to be leaders
in our own life! We make decision and take
responsibility”. They would like to pass this idea to
their peers through the newsletter.
We published the articles about the club activities, the
interviews with club members. Also young journalists
acquainted the readers with myths about drugs and the
teenagers’ opinions about drugs. Here are some opinions:
Kostik, aged 15: «I am against drugs. To my opinion they
only do harm to people. There are different harmful
things, but drugs are the most dangerous – if you get
involved, it’s almost impossible to quit. Maybe in the
future there will be hope to get rig of this evil”.
Blaster, aged 15: «Drug addicts have neither
perspectives in life, nor future. They have 0,00001%
chance to get back to normal life”.
Sasha, aged 15: «I think a person can easily refuse any
drug if he/she realizes how harmful it is for the
organism. Drugs mean nothing for a person who has
hobbies and friends».
Cheslava Dudareva, Kalegium member and computer teacher
at school#18 said: «Practice showed, that the newsletter
attracted teenagers who like to write and to make
computer lay-out. I am happy, that our teenagers managed
to make the newsletter themselves – we only helped them
a bit. The newsletter helps to inform other children
about the club’s activities and also help get the new
skills to teenagers who dream to become journalists and
computer designers.
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