TRANSITION TIMES:A recent round of Young Social Innovators (YSI) 'Speak Out' forums in Kilkenny illustrates how the programme captures the imaginations of young people
YSI KEEPS ON growing. This year 11 “Speak Out” forums took place across the country with over 6,000 young people taking part. The social justice project, which adheres to the “think globally, act locally” ethos, has Ireland’s young people getting out into their community to affect real change. Transition Times got some reports back from social affairs correspondents at this month’s Kilkenny forum as well as one in-depth look at an interesting project from the west.
Believe, act, change
Ruth Lawlor of Stella Maris Secondary School, Tramore, Co Waterford, tries to capture the excitement of the “Speak Out” experience
The noise was the first thing to grab my attention when I pushed open the door to the YSI room. I was immediately greeted by the babble of hundreds of voices all talking at once, the sweet high and the rumbling deep tones blurring together so smoothly. The overpowering effect was the pulsing, perfect hum that can only be heard when you cram 400 rearing youths into a plush suite with music, peers and – most importantly – a stage.
It was the sound of pure excitement.
The reason for all this hype? The young people of the south-east gathered together in Kilkenny to take part in the 2009 YSI “Speak Out”. The young innovators themselves (us!) were preparing to tell the world (or at least the other students in the region) about a social issue which they had chosen to share, an issue that they felt was important to them.
The idea of the programme is simple: believe in it, then act on it.
The YSI programme gives young people the opportunity to get involved in action which helps improve – and change – the lives of others in their community. YSI involves thousands of young people in Ireland each year, in hundreds of projects and social enterprises which are youth-led, team-based and action-focused.
Upon entering the forum in Kilkenny on the day, it was clear to all that endless work had gone into these projects. The atmosphere buzzed with tension and excitement – the uncontained enthusiasm shared by students from schools all over the region was tangible in the air.
Props littered every available inch of floor space; young innovators busied themselves fixing costumes and make-up. And, when a group took to the stage to present their issue, they were welcomed with thunderous applause and, while speaking, were treated with utmost respect.
That’s not to say, though, that the “Speak Out” was a sombre affair. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. The day was filled with fun and laughter – singers and dancers and wonderful musicians delighted the audience, while friendly chuckles broke out whenever lines were forgotten or words jumbled.
Despite what the name suggested, the “Speak Out” was not just all talk and no action. The audience was treated to a variety of colourful presentations – one could even call them performances – with students putting their all into the show. Skits and songs, dramas and dances – all were used to vehemently convey a message to spectators, a message that said: “Don’t diss my ability”, or “make your donations count”, or “homelessness is a stage in a person’s life, not a destination”.
By the end of the day, there was one even more powerful message that had entered the mind of every single person in that room: the youth of today do care, and they are getting out there to be – in the words of the great Ghandi – “the change they wish to see in the world.
A lot to talk about
Shoshi Winstanley-Brown of St Brigid’s College, Callan gives her take on the variety of different projects
I was slightly surprised by the extensive range of topics that were raised throughout the forum. These issues included alcohol abuse, the declining use of the Irish language, bullying, the adulation of celebrities, diabetes, how religion is perceived to have less importance for today’s young people, the danger of social networking sites, the importance of contraception, mental health and many others.
Each team had their own individual, creative and – in some cases – humorous ways of conveying their messages. This was aided by the use of props, including all manner of clothing – from normal everyday wear to rags, uniforms and pyjamas. Other props included a car door, wigs of many descriptions, a full-sized fake mirror, signs of all shapes and sizes, human-sized condom costumes and guitars.
The way in which each scenario was performed enabled us, as an audience, to relate fully to what was taking place in each scene.
Some of the scenes were based on instrumental pieces, conveying the sadness and intensity of their subject. Others were done comically, such as a team which focused on the effect of drink. This particular team used their acting skills to emphasise the idiocy and feeling of self-confidence that people adopt after alcohol abuse. Their short play included several supposed drunks singing and dancing to the song Greased Lightning in such a way that left the entire hall in stitches! Another team, this time raising awareness about diabetes, used individuals to act out each symptom in turn, including extreme tiredness, a decrease in sexual desire and excessive urination.
Overall, these numerous “Speak Outs” show that today’s young people have opinions about a wide variety of topics and that they have an understanding of those who may be less fortunate or less aware than themselves.
It is because of this that they have been prepared to speak out and allow their voices to be heard – to speak for those whose voices may not be heard and to convince others that Ireland’s youth does care and is trying to make a difference.
Protective clothing
TY student Jack Slattery from St Kevin’s Community College, Dunlavin, Co Wicklow tells us about life as a contraceptive
For our YSI project this year, four of my fellow pupils and myself decided to raise the issue of underage sex. Our goal was to hopefully raise awareness and also give information to the students who attended the “Speak Out” forum in Kilkenny. Other groups from my year chose to highlight different topics such as homelessness, peer pressure, youth drug and alcohol abuse, healthy eating as well as eating disorders.
Each group, as well as our teacher, Ms Burke, worked really hard to generate ideas and produce a mini-play to act out in front of a live audience at the “Speak Out”.
On the days building up to the event everyone helped each other in making props and rehearsing different acts. My group included Alice Whelan acting as a teenage boy, Paul Miley playing the part of a teenage girl and Sarah Mc Daid as the narrator/helper from Cura. Kate Kelly and myself were dressed as contraceptives!
Our preparation was well underway and when the day of the YSI “Speak Out” came around we were all glad we had put in the hard work.
On arrival at the Hotel Kilkenny I witnessed a function room filled with seats and students rushing around putting the finishing touches on their projects. There was a stage at the top of the room. Shortly after getting into my “contraceptive pill” things got underway. The event began with a school playing musical instruments followed by a choir from another school performing a Michael Jackson song. The Deputy Mayor of Kilkenny made a speech welcoming the schools to this great event.
The performances soon began and we were up against some tough competition. Various acts caught my eye and managed to get their points across very well but I knew that our group would do likewise because of our great ideas and preparation.
We were one of the last groups to perform and as soon as we were on stage my nervousness disappeared. Everything turned out well. We portrayed our point to the audience just as we had intended. We even got praised about how good our props were!
The "Speak Out" came to an end with a performance from a band called Miracle Bell. It was a great end to a truly great day and also a fantastic learning experience. Our school couldn't have performed as well as it did if it wasn't for the hard work of each student taking part and not to mention
the hard work and dedication of our teacher, Ms Burke. Well done to all!
Mirror, mirror
Caoimhe Gowran of Gaelcholáiste an Chláir in Ennis, Co Clare tells us about her group’s project which tackles the important issue of negative body image among young people
During a class discussion on the YSI programme we came across this social issue we as teenagers face today. Our project is about how the ideal body image has always been taken to the extreme, in history and to the present day. In history the ideal body image has always been what was hardest to attain at the time; from corsets in the 18th century to over-exercising and extreme dieting nowadays. We felt that this issue was an important one to tackle amongst the local schools and community. It is a problem we all encounter every single day – how we look, how others perceive us. How we look should not affect the way people see us; after all, “its what’s inside that counts”, “real beauty is not just skin deep”, “don’t ever judge a book by it’s cover”. We’ve all heard these phrases, but do we actually believe them?
We knew we needed some external knowledge on this project. We got the school counsellor to come and speak to us on how she deals with the problem in our school. We did a lot of research on the internet in our local library. We did some research of our own by sending out a survey to over 200 students in the local schools.
We discovered a lot of astonishing facts on the negative body image our community deals with. We found that 37 per cent of girls surveyed have skipped meals to lose weight, 46 per cent feel under pressure to be a certain body shape and 47 per cent have tried some form of dieting.
We believe that our project will show teenagers that this issue has been recognised and that we can speak out against it and take the action that needs to be taken. By handing out tips on how to attain a positive body image we helped people to recognise what we are trying to do. We hope to be able to make a change in the way people think and feel about themselves, we hope that our voices will be heard when we speak out.
