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CASE STUDIES >
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Case Studies and Examples
"We chose the theme 'Drugs' as we thought this was a popular problem involving young people from everywhere"
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Wrexham Youth Service / Shantallow Youth Centre
The background to the young people living in Derry, Northern Ireland is academically low. Due to lack of opportunities and through living in a high risk area, many of the young people attached to Shantallow Youth Centre had low levels of formal education. The exchange programme that occurred in August 2001 with Wrexham Youth Service (North Wales) gave the young people the opportunity to experience a more informal, experiential format of learning. The tangible end product was particularly impressive.
The theme of the exchange was to examine drugs and substance abuse in Derry. As a result, both groups had an immediate interest, as the theme was contemporary and relevant to their age groups. From the outset both groups gelled exceptionally well and within a very short period of time, the teams began to behave in a completely cohesive manner. They stopped being two distinct groups, splitting themselves up for the task of making a short video and cooperated in a unified approach. This followed on from the pre event preparation, where the young people of both groups had chosen the theme and were self appointed partisans delivering an incredible amount of energy whilst fund raising to the make the opportunity a real occurrence.
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"I learned that their lifestyles were more or less similar to ours and that the problem of drugs was the same"
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The two day shoot, was arguably the most successful activity. As four distinct aspects of group activity were required to conduct a successful shoot in a particularly short period of time, the readiness to fit into the self-assigned groups went very smoothly. Interviews were conducted with maturity and dignity, even in the face of some antagonism.
For the Northern Irish young people, the necessary contact with R.U.C. officers was challenging but they conducted themselves with decorum. Increased confidence and self-esteem naturally followed. Meetings with the Mayor and other figures of authority proved to be as equally successful, since all interviewees spoke candidly about the social problems of drugs and substance abuse, making the video an almost complete final product, which had been achieved in an incredibly short period of time.
The significant benefits are again, more 'intangible'. The young people gained an insight into new avenues that they could follow later in life. And responded well to authority figures in a hostile climate.
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