A glimpse into the lives and perspectives of five local “Youth on the Edge” will be offered at a Sept. 27 community forum in Sechelt.
With more than 10 years of experience working with young people locally, Paula Howley who is helping to coordinate presentations about the lives of five local young people, views the area as “very dry in resources and overflowing with need” when it comes to supporting youths' healthy development. The drive to spark change by listening and responding to the needs of youth led Howley to work with event sponsors the PIVOT Empowerment, Education and Recovery Society on this event. Starting at 6:30 p.m., youth life story monologues will be presented. Those, Howley indicated are being prepared to “shake the community movers and shakers up a little bit and give us all a dose of reality."
Howley, wants the community and its leaders to hear how housing and addiction issues are affecting vulnerable young people and to show youth as valuable members of society.
What’s happening with youth and why
Most of the subject matter that the participating youth brought forward about their lives, including details about illegal substance use did not come as a surprise to Howley, but the experiences of one in the world of gang activity was an eye-opener for her.
She described it as revealing how that young person, who is “obviously intelligent but who felt discarded on the Coast” found an enclave of people that provided them with a “challenge and a sense of purpose."
One individual will deliver their own story, and the remainder of the monologues will be performed by local youth actors. Howley noted that was done to protect the anonymity of those who were brave enough to have their experiences publicly presented, as “it is a lot to ask of someone to be so incredibly vulnerable with complete strangers, especially in a small community.”
As to where disconnects between society and its youth start, Howley said they come from a variety of sources. “Our young people already feel overwhelmed about the future. They’re worried about climate change. I can’t imagine having 60 to 70 years in front of me and imagining what it is going to be like. My generation is going to be gone, we don’t have to deal with it. But they do. And we left them a mess and they are pissed off about it and I don’t blame them.”
She said she also sees issues of housing affordability, income inequity and poverty creating disillusionment for local youth.
Panel, group discussions to follow
The presentations will be followed by panel and small group discussions on how the community can move forward and support positive life choice decisions for youth. Questions that demand public discussion Howley said include, “Are we going to set them up for success or failure? Are we going to keep ignoring things or are we going to do something? Are we a community or are we not?” Ideas on how to help address the impacts of homelessness in downtown Sechelt, generated at PIVOT sponsored discussions with that areas business community (to be co-hosted by PIVOT and the Sechelt Downtown Business Association on Sept. 26) are anticipated to provide a starting point.
Howley has operated Head Start Public Speaking for Kids as a business for 10 years, and before that worked with youth as a community volunteer, a gymnastics coach and a mother. She credits a teacher with encouraging her to develop her gift for public speaking and now she works to create safe spaces for children to find and use their voices. On her company website she admits to having struggles in her own formative years, noting, “When I was a teen the only direction in life I had was directions to next weekend’s party.”
The Youth on the Edge event is at Sechelt’s Seniors Activity Centre, Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. The public can register to attend at pivotsociety.ca/community-forum/
