Council for Education in World Citizenship N. Ireland Junior Drugs and Alcohol Youth Forum May - June 2004
The first sitting of the CEWC NI Drugs and Development Youth Forum took place in Ashfield Girls' High School, Belfast on Friday, 9th May 2003. This event was organised by Piotr Sidor, Project Development Officer CEWC NI, Mary Smyth, Director CEWC NI and Hazel Wilson, Project Officer CEWC NI. Five schools were represented by 12 Year 11 students from each of the following: - Ashfield Girls' High School
- Assumption Grammar School
- Bloomfield Collegiate School
- Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School
- Wellington College
The Principal of Ashfield Girls' High School, Mrs Dinsmore, opened the proceedings and welcomed the sixty delegates present. Plenary Session Mary Smyth gave the students a short briefing on CEWC NI its structure and objectives. She also explained the mechanics of a drugs and development youth forum. Afterwards Mary Smyth outlined the procedure of each of the three sittings and what preparation would be required of the students. Next Piotr Sidor explained the ethos and the objectives of the D&DYF. He also dealt with the latest development of crack and cannabis .The talks by Mary Smyth and Piotr Sidor were supported by the Powerpoint. As a result of the talks the students were more familiar and comfortable with the idea of the D&DYF.
Ice Breakers After a short introduction the students were divided into 7 groups. Each group was allocated an adult facilitator. The facilitators were chosen from a range of organisations dealing with drugs related issues. At the very beginning the forum delegates had to get to know each other and warm up in order to be able to effectively debate and discuss controversial issues later during the First Sitting. 'Building confidence' and 'getting to know' ice breakers followed. During three ice breakers, facilitated and monitored by the adults, the delegates learnt each other's names, they found out some important details about each other and did one physical exercise, during which they had to untie themselves from a knot formed earlier on. The ice breakers proved to be a huge success. It provided a lot of enjoyment for the students and the facilitators. As a result of the ice breakers a comfortable atmosphere was created necessary for later debates and discussions. Before the break at 11:10 the students, more acquainted now, took part in a drugs and alcohol quiz, during which they had to decide on 'true and false' statements. The students, with help of the facilitators, did not have major problems completing this activity. The activity consolidated the students' knowledge on drugs.
Workshop session I (Drugs Knowledge) A knowledge session on drugs was preceded by a talk given by Alison Hogg from Opportunity Youth. The students back in their groups were presented with a grid on cannabis, alcohol and tobacco. Together, first in pairs, then in the whole group, they completed the missing information on the grid. It was a consolidating and reinforcing exercise on drugs & alcohol knowledge. The feedback from the facilitators was that the drugs knowledge among young people is still inconsistent. This exercise was a useful one and enabled the students to make informal choices later in the Second and Third Sittings of D&DYF. As a result of this workshop the students were provided with specific information on health issues related to drug abuse and dangers. Workshop session II (Line Debate) Now that the students were equipped with a bit of knowledge on drugs & alcohol they were able to participate in a 'Line Debate', which gave them a chance to express their views on controversial drugs, alcohol and tobacco related issues. It was an exercise involving all 60 delegates at the same time. The students assembled in the middle of the sport hall and after being read a statement on drugs, they had to take their position either on the right hand side - 'agree side' or the left hand side - 'disagree side'. By doing so one was able to see how our young people perceive uneasy drugs issues. The students, using a microphone, were also able to persuade their fellow students from the opposite part of the hall, to change their position/attitude towards the statement read aloud. As a result of this activity the forum delegates explored problematic drugs related issues using effective communication as the main skill. It was a great success, thoroughly enjoyed by both the delegates and the facilitators. The conference was finished with the evaluation procedure.
The Second Sitting of the CEWC NI Junior Drugs and Development Youth Forum took place in Grosvenor Grammar School, Belfast on Friday, 16th February 2003. It was a half day session. This event was organised by Piotr Sidor, Project Development Officer CEWC NI, Mary Smyth, Director CEWC NI and Hazel Wilson, Project Officer CEWC NI. The same five secondary schools were represented by 12 Year 11 Students Plenary Session A talk was given by Mary Smyth from CEWC NI on Drugs & Human Rights. She covered a range of issues relating to human rights and their possible implications on the world of drugs & alcohol. This was followed by another talk by Mary on Debating Procedures. Mary wanted to explain the formal debating procedures which the students should follow during their Plenary Debate at the Third Sitting in Senate Chamber - Stormont. After familiarising themselves with the formal debating procedures the pupils attempted a practice debate during which they debated several drugs & alcohol related motions. Workshop I After a successful practice debate and a short break the students put forward ideas for an improved school drug policy. In the feedback differing aspects of drug education were suggested, from unrestricted access to counsellors in schools with complete confidentiality to peer education (Appendix 1). These ideas were a foundation for motions which would then be examined in more detail and finally debated at the next sitting, the Plenary Debate in the Senate Chamber of Stormont. Workshop II The purpose of the Second workshop was to prepare the pupils for the Cannabis Trail simulation activity at the Third Sitting. Each student chose a role from a Cannabis Chain (cannabis farmer, Interpol, Cannabis user etc). Then they were allocated a computer - a pair of students per one computer. In a computer suite they had to find as much information as possible about their role and what it involves. At the Third Sitting they will be trying to find a range of solutions on how to reduce the cannabis production, smuggling and improving drug policies from their point of view. The Second sitting was finished with completing the evaluation form.
The Third Sitting of the CEWC NI Junior Drugs and Development Youth Forum took place in The Northern Ireland Assembly - Senate Chamber, Belfast on Wednesday, 11th June 2003. It was a full day session. The Deputy Clerk of Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Joe Reynolds opened the proceedings and welcomed the delegates present. Workshop Session I The simulation exercise, which followed divided students into groups representing all the links in a 'cannabis chain' from producer through to user. All the students had previously attended a second sitting which provided resources for research on the roles, and which gave them a chance to find information on their roles in a computer suite using the internet. In role they were asked to come up with six ways of improving the drug situation from their view point. From the lively feedback, which was conducted in the Senate Chamber after a short break, it was evident that each group was united in bettering its own position (Appendix 2). In this way the complexity of the drug problem became apparent, both locally and globally. First Plenary Session The first Plenary was a short one designed to introduce students to debating in the Senate Chamber of Stormont. Two deputy clerks explained the formal debating procedures with regard to presenting, seconding and opposing a motion (Appendix 3). They learned to use the microphones provided and reinforced basic debating skills once again. This exercise allowed them to debate more effectively in the formal debate that followed. Then CEWC NI staff gave the students more time to consolidate and reinforce some school drug related issues as a warm up to the coming Formal Debate. Second Plenary Session The main Plenary was chaired by Jane Morrice, MLA, Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and took a form of a formal debate of five draft resolutions presented, seconded and opposed by 10 students from five schools. The debate addressed issues relating to school drug & alcohol policy (see pictures on CD). The debate was extremely lively. The motions the students addressed had been brought up by them in the previous two sittings during their workshops and discussions. The real element of The Senate Chamber debate brought by Jane Morrice and their two deputy clerks added to a unique and extremely enjoyable experience for the Youth Forum delegates. The Forum was finished with an enjoyable lunch and a tour around Stormont.
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