CONFRONTING CONCERNS YEAR TWO

Confronting Concerns Program is an empowerment program for youth in which they:

• name concerns for themselves, their neighborhood and the world and

• create action for change.

Interviewing one another

Exploring their concerns

Preparing for action

OUR VISION FOR YOUTH

• Engaged, hopeful, positive teenagers concerned for human rights and the common good who have change making leadership skills and who can listen to others and articulate what is important for themselves.

MAJOR OUTCOMES One hundred youth were interviewed

regarding their concerns for themselves, their families and the world. Their major concerns:

• Violence

• Health and environment

• Drugs and effects on people

• Negative aspects of sex

• Racism

THE INTERVIEWS

St AmbroseAll Saints

All Saints

All Saints

All Saints

All Saints

Youth Leadership Team counted and charted the responses from the 100

interviews

Counting and organizing responses by subject

Continuing to categorize Planning the first session

Categorizing the responses

What are your concerns for yourself, your neighborhood and for the world?

Violence

43%

E nvir onment

19%

Dr ugs

16%

Sex

13%

Racism

9%

Violence

E nvir onment

Dr ugs

Sex

Racism

CHARTING THE CONCERNS

What do you think are the concerns of other kids your age?

Violence

31%

Sex

18%

Dr ugs

16%

School

17%

P eer P r essur e

18%

Violence

Sex

Dr ugs

School

P eer P r essur e

What do you think are the concerns of children in other parts of the world?

Poverty

48%

Health/ Environment

20%

Violence

19%

Future

11%

Freedom

2%

Poverty

Health/ Environment

Violence

Future

Freedom

What do you think should be done to address young people’s concerns?

Resources and

Safe Space for

Youth

31%

Publicizing Youth

Issues

26%

Get Help from

Adults

17%

Youth to Youth

Dialogue

16%

Address Personal

Issues

10%

Resources and Safe Spacefor Youth

Publicizing Youth Issues

Get Help from Adults

Youth to Youth Dialogue

Address Personal Issues

Ten Harlem youth named similarities and differences among youth in Harlem and youth in other parts of the world. In two groups they created a RAP song and a poster regarding these insights and presented and discussed their insights from one group to another.   

SESSION ONE

Presenting the concerns of youth

Preparing a RAP on Poverty

Dialogue about Poverty

Presenting Poverty in USA Poverty in Sudan

SESSION TWO

• Ten youth named and presented at least two of the causes, effects and solutions of the five major concerns they had identified

VIOLENCEIt is a bad example for young people.

CAUSE

It hurts people.

Television and radio motivates people to act violent including sexual

abuse and gang violence.

Kids watching television imitate

people they admire.

EFFECT

his issue affect young people because most of their family

members are being killed.

SOLUTION

Be the bigger person by walking away from the

situation.

Resolve problems without violence.

More police in neighborhoods would equal fewer troublemakers.

We can take action and speak out against violence on the

television and radio.

People who use drugs and sell

drugs are harming the environment.

HEALTH/ENVIRONMENT

People are polluting the environment and their bodies with chemicals and drugs. To stop this we can enforce laws to prevent young people

from using drugs.

There should be less global

warming and more supportive people to help protect the

environment.

People should be more cautious to the things that they do to harm

the environment. To help the situation people can stop littering

and start recycling.

People are being affected by air pollution and contaminated water in certain parts of the

world.

We can put people who use drugs in rehab to help them

stop.

DRUGS

People are pressured to support drug dealers by using and selling drugs.

Many who involved in

drugs drop out of school.

Drugs led to death.

Drugs make people do dumb things.

Older people are buying cigarettes and selling them to underage children which can cause their death at a young

age.

Less drug dealers and more supportive

neighbors are needed to clean up the streets.

In order to prevent the youth from being involved in drugs, we can have a

documentary about what happens when you use drugs. We can also help drug

users get into rehab and try to turn them to God.

SEXHaving sex can cause

teen pregnancy.

Having sex can cause HIV and AIDS.

Using protection is important to prevent teen pregnancy, AIDS, and HIV.

Avoid peer pressure. Work to develop your own mind.

Find ways to create comfort in a relationship besides having

sex.

There should be more activities for young teens so their minds would be

to busy to even think about sex.

RACISM

It hurts people feelings.

Racism affects young people because children are being segregated and

teased because they are from a different race.

This affects people today because of what

they hear and learn from the people who

are raising them.This affect them by making the ashamed of their race, sex, etc.

Everybody should just get along and live as a

big happy family.

SESSION THREE

• All the participants identified three leadership qualities that they personally have and came up with several causes of drug and sexual abuse.

WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

ADULTS WHO HELPED!