Junior Drugs & Alcohol Youth Forum (D&AYF)
The Council for Education in World Citizenship (NI) and Lisburn YMCA are organising an interactive cross-community, Junior Drugs & Alcohol Youth Forum for Year 11 students as a part of the New Curriculum - Personal Development Strand (PSHE), Citizenship and Education for Employability.
CEWC NI and Lisburn YMCA plan to hold two Sittings of the Youth Forum. The first Sitting about Drugs Alcohol and Culture/Health, Drugs & Alcohol Chain on a local and global scale takes place in the second week of June. The Second Sitting - Drugs and Alcohol School Policies and the Debating Competition follows in the third week of June in Stormont.
CEWC NI and Lisburn YMCA believe that it is important for young people to be given the opportunity of playing a role as an active and responsible citizen, participating in a simulation of the workings of a Youth Forum.
Year 11 students will learn about, discuss and debate issues involving the production, trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs & alcohol locally and globally. The Junior Drugs & Alcohol Youth Forum provides an opportunity for the students to take fuller responsibility for the choices they make, and to think of new ways to solve the drugs & alcohol problem in their schools and communities. To address all abilities and interests of pupils across the BELB and SEELB area, the organisers will apply a variety of resources and methodologies (role-plays, drama, ICT, discussions, debates, interactive learning techniques).
CEWC NI and Lisburn YMCA will run each event for a maximum of 60 pupils from 6 schools. This means that your school would need to release ten Year 11 students on two occasions (the students targeted could involve those interested in debating, politics, wanting to improve their self-confidence and other relevant Key/Life Skills).
A major part of the project will be delivered through an interactive website updated on the daily basis: www.cewcni.org.uk.
We do hope that your pupils will be able to participate in this exciting and challenging initiative, in which they will be directly involved in drawing up recommendations on improving school drug and alcohol policies. To see more on the Junior Drugs Forum please visit the website.
Please apply by sending us an email before Monday 18th April 2005
Many thanks for your help.
Kind regards
Piotr Sidor Michael McKay
Project Manager, CEWC NI Project Manager, Lisburn YMCA
