Youth Group (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Photo by DEAL.org
A YAC member from a small town in Newfoundland and Labrador wanted to address the problem of youth boredom in her community. She says that, “the community I currently live in has a huge drug and alcohol problem, and a lot of the young people are out and about getting into trouble every night.”
Our YAC member had recently moved to this community, so locating resources to address youth boredom was a challenge because she was just settling in to the area herself. However, she was able to come up with a creative solution. She explains, “my dad is a minister, so most of the resources I have access to in my new community are through my church. We have a huge church basement, and lots of multimedia tools and stuff to use. So, with the help of my dad, we have started up a youth group in our community…we meet every week on Wednesday night from about 7:30-10:00 to play games, listen to music, eat food, and of course, because it is church based, we do discuss church and religion, etc.”
So far, her youth group has been a huge success. It has expanded to hold drop-in nights every Friday, where up to 25 youth (in a community that only has about 50 youth) drop in to play video games, compete in ping-pong tournaments, eat food, and play icebreaker games. They have also taken youth to neighbouring communities for youth events, game nights, rallies, and special events. In addition, the youth group made it possible for 7 youth from the community to attend “YC Newfoundland” – the biggest Youth Conference in Atlantic Canada.
Speaking about the success of her youth group, our YAC member reflects that “we are seeing about an average of 15 youth coming out weekly, and definitely a decrease in the drug and alcohol use of these teenagers.” Although starting up a youth group in her church basement wasn’t originally how she had planned to tackle youth boredom, she says that it “is much more successful than the other ideas that I had…what I have learned throughout this process, is plans don’t always have to be set in stone. Sometimes you just have to work with what you have, and be creative and spontaneous, and you will see success.”