Vanessa's Blog

.... and 'Action!'

2009-04-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

This has been a very exciting time for me; I have been working on an exciting and creative film project with young people in Watford, Hertfordshire and I can honestly say that I have learnt as much from them as from the professionals at Positive Strides who have been sharing their skills with us and making our entry into the world of film making an absolute joy. Never mind the freezing cold winds whistling around us as we have huddled around on the street for hours waiting for the perfect 'take'! Forget the ridiculous amount of half cold pizza we have hastily eaten between shots! Discard the crushing blow we felt when Transport For London refused our polite request to film on their tube trains! After all, why would they want to support a project that seeks to raise awareness about keeping safe on a night out amongst young people using public transport???? Even forget my mortification when one of our 'mature' actresses dropped out at the last minute and I had to step into the breach, or big silver estate car as it turned out, to play the part of a distraught mum whose daughter is in trouble - mind you this may as acute embarrassment when I see my efforts on the big screen.

Whatever, this has been a learning curve for us all; from the first germ of an idea floated by a young man one night late last year through to our final 'wrap' last week. Film has proved the ideal way to raise awareness about an issue that seems relevant to most young people in Herts; transport and the difficulties young people experience trying to use it, including cost, safety and availability. There is no point in us all declaring our support of green issues and the importance that increased use of public transport could have on the environment unless we make it a viable option for the under 18's. A swift survey by the young people revealed that the average pocket money a teenager in Watford gets is £5.00 per week, and the average night out at a cinema (including transport fares, film tickets and a snack) costs nearer £15.00. No brainer really isn't it?

So, coached by a professional scriptwriter, Kev Saunders, and film director, Laura Baylam, the young people have learnt how to translate their ideas from a script to a storyboard and from there to holding auditions offering young actors and actresses the opportunity to act in the film. It was great to see so many young people with a real talent for acting come forward and a privilege to work with them. Finally, with all the parts cast and film locations identified (including a tube train carriage that we used at The Pump House Museum, Walthamstow; many thanks to Stella for feeding us!) we were ready to film. The results of all the hard work is being edited at the moment ready for a 'rough cut' screening next week, before a premier screening that the young people are busy organising for the 10th May. If you have any influence over the transport system in Herts and have not yet had an invite, please let me know! Boris, if you would like to see what TFL refused to support, you are more than welcome.

However, despite the excitement of the pending screening and glamour of the wrap party being organised at the moment I am beginning to feel a bit sad at the thought of saying 'goodbye' to all the young people who have shared their experience with me. For them, this is not the end; they intend to use the film to raise awareness across the county and beyond. Copies will be available for youth projects and schools and the group are planning sessions that they can facilitate to support other young people wanting to put pressure on decision makers to improve transport links and raise safety levels.

However for me it is time to move on, but not without reflecting that this project has offered young people the opportunity to make a real difference, whilst learning new skills through an experience that I am sure will stay with them for a long, long time. YouTube, Channel Mogo, Youth Film Festivals ... hopefully the film will be seen by as many people as possible, just make sure you don't miss it!

Low Cost, No Cost Youth Work!!

2009-02-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

Low Cost, No Cost Youth Work title perfect for credit-crunching timesThe latest activity pack by Vanessa Rogers and published by The National Youth Agency as an e-book offers an A to Z of exciting activities that cost little or nothing to carry out, except for time and enthusiasm, making it perfect for today’s straitened climate. Low Cost, No Cost Youth Work: 101 Positive Activities for Youth People follows Vanessa’s tried and tested style of producing activities that will encourage, energise and motivate young people. Environmentally sound, good fun and encouraging team work, each of the 101 activities has already been trialled by practitioners to ensure that they work.

The pack is divided into five categories – icebreakers, energisers, craft activities, problem solving and team games. Each activity provides a resource list, clear instructions of how to do it and an estimated time of how long it will take. There are also suggestions for adapting the ideas to include young people with disabilities and those needing more targeted support.

A notes section for each activity means you can personalise this resource with your own evaluations, learning outcomes and useful variations.Low Cost, No Cost Youth Work costs £8.50. It is only available as an e-book for downloading and not as hard copy. It can be purchased from The NYA online shop, which is now open for business at www.nya.org.uk.A5 format; 86 pages. ISBN: 978 0 86155 346 4Cost £8.50

Low Cost, No Cost Youth Work - new E-book!!

2009-02-02T02:38:00.000-08:00

Hey hey! Very excited ... my first e-book is being published by the National Youth Agency (www.nya.org.uk ) this week!! Called Low Cost, No Cost Youth Work, it is a collection of 101 positive activites to use with young people that can help you deliver great activities within a small budget.

Don't know much about e-books but seems an ideal way to publish youth work resources. No more rushing about photcopying worksheets or games just before a session! No more pages falling out of ringbound spines! Once you have it you can print of the bits you need again and again - without the risk of colleagues borrowing it just when you need it most!

As always a big 'thank you' to all the youth workers and young people who have contributed to the resource - it is always good to hear new ideas. I particularly enjoy emails sent from all around the UK to me from people who have used previous books and want to contribute activities that they have used with success. Please remember the whole point of the books is that if it hasn't been tried and tested, it won't be included!

Have a look and see how you can use the activities with young people - even better send me your ideas for the next one! If it is included you will get your name and youth group credited in the front and a free copy of the book! Contact me via www.vanessarogers.co.uk

2009-01-29T02:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so perhaps left-handed young people today don’t struggle with the outright hatred of previous generations; thankfully the practise of tying children's left hand behind their back thereby forcing them to write with the other hand is gone. But I'm still amazed by young people's stories of being called 'clumsy', their writing 'messy' and the struggles that many left handers go through trying to fit their natural inclinations to a right handed world. Last night a young man explained how he had been ridiculed at primary school for not being able to cope with a right handed knife and has felt self conscious about eating in public ever since.

In 1998, a study suggested that approximately 7 to 10 percent of the adult UK population is left-handed, and that left-handedness is more common in males than females. That makes me a minority in a minority!

However, as a left hander I have always felt a bit like a member of a special club; one shared with artistic genuises Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci and rock gods Kurt Cobain, Joe Strummer and Jimmi Hendrix. It is not just the rockers, 50 Cent and Jay-Z are also left handers, as is Angelina Jolie. In fact, although less than 10% of the population of the USA is left handed the last five of the last seven Presidents have shared this characteristic; Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

So where does the assumption that being right handed is 'right' and being left handed 'wrong' come from? Prejudice against the left hand minority can be traced back to early Greek-Christian beliefs that left-handedness was a sign of satanic influence. Pictures show the Devil sitting to the left of God, whilst Jesus sits in the place of honour; literally God’s ‘right hand man’. Did you know that a technical term for being left-handed is 'sinistral', derived from the Latin word sinister, originally meaning ‘left’, but subsequently meaning “evil”? This idea is reflected in cultures and faith the world over. People talk openly about taking the ‘right path’ or being ‘right’ without a thought for any implied meaning behind this.

So is it a gift or a curse? Probably neither, although I am sure it is seen as both by most left-hander’s at some time. Instead, left handed young people need encouragement to achieve and to speak out about the difficulties they face in a world designed on the right, or is that wrong, side.

If Barack Obama is in touch with the youth of America, how in touch is Gordon Brown with their UK peers?

2009-01-22T06:55:00.000-08:00

If Barack Obama is in touch with the youth of America, how in touch is Gordon Brown with their UK peers? On a scale of 1-10 how would the average 15 year old score him for understanding the issues that affect their life?

These thoughts came to me as I read BBC interviews with young American’s to find out their views about Barack Obama becoming America's 44th president and its first African American leader. One young person enthused: "I think he should be president because of the way he presents himself and he has a really good plan for America," Another concluded “he's an inspiration to me." Would young people in Britain consider their Prime Minister a positive role model? Or think that he is working to a good plan?

As I continued to read through the list of comments and messages of support it struck me that a similar exercise with British teenagers might be an interesting exercise. So, over the next few days I am going to use the American quotes to promote discussion and find out what young people think about the decision makers in Britain. Watch this space!!

Economic Wellbeing Vs Credit Crunch

2009-01-19T00:10:00.000-08:00

I was thinking the other day, whilst walking past the large recently closed Woolworths store in my town, about the credit crunch and how it affects young people. Not just from the loss of opportunities for Saturday jobs and the independence that earning your own money gives you, but also to reductions in pocket money or credit for their mobiles. 70% off signs in the High Street might look like bargain time, but you still have to have the other 30% available to spend.

Certainly the Government Outcome for young people to ‘Achieve Economic Wellbeing’ is probably something that most parents crave at the moment. House repossessions are on the increase, unemployment figures are rising and redundancies seem to be a regular item on the national news.

So is it all doom and gloom and if it is, should we be preparing young people for life’s harsher realities? Historically many parents /carers have tried to shield their children from the cold reality of money worries, but is this realistic in 2009? And if the parents don’t want to worry their kids, should professionals be opening the debate? After all, most forecasts predict the recession will continue for at least three years, meaning that many teenagers will enter the world of further education or work in this climate.

Money may not buy you happiness, but it does buy the latest Xbox 360, which was one of the ‘must haves’ for last Christmas, and the latest clothes and music downloads. How happy can you be without them? What is the difference between a ‘want’ and a ‘need’? An interesting debate to have with young people – and maybe some adults!

First Post

2008-11-13T02:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the my new blog - here I plan to discuss the latest developments in youth work. Please feel free to comment on anything you see here, or to make suggestions on subjects you'd like to cover.