Youth Engagement Program – YEP
Volunteers are the new super heroes. It goes without saying that Positive Youth development programs are oriented towards youth engagement in social life, recreation, youth service, youth activism and outdoor education. Such activities foster youth growth and development in multiple facets of their lives including cognitive competencies.
The Youth Squad of PBEL City is undoubtedly, the facilitator of meaningful outreach and involvement with the society. They are our main agents of progress, serving as bridges between generations and promoting positive civic action.
The Youth Engagement Activities @ PBEL are a platform for the youth of today, the gen alpha kids, to express themselves amidst learning vital life skills. The spectrum of activities include dramatics, theatre, sports, recreation, movie screening, awareness sessions, light music and so on. Various activities open up volunteering opportunities for them.
Their take home message after every such session is priceless for all the aspiring drivers and responsible future citizenry of India.
Time to time various sessions are conducted for better upbringing of children.
- Sessions such as Good Touch Bad Touch and Personal Safety for the kids, which as parents we all teach our children about these sensitive issues but proper counselling techniques from the experts to educate them is required.
Often kids don’t communicate or shy away from such topics. But awareness on personal safety is of utmost importance.
- Youth participation in events/ workshops/ campaigns targeted at them. Youth volunteers/ Youth Squad assist such events and spread the word.
- Awareness sessions on Changing gender dynamics, Digital addiction, Cyber trolling, Bullying, Substance/Drug abuse, Sexual abuse, Peer pressure. Subject to confirmed participation. Marshals for different age groups are appointed to co- ordinate for meetings.
Material Collection Drives are an easy way for people to give back.
- YEP also organises collection drive in PBEL city, DAAN Utsav, Goonj Collection Drive etc
- The festival of giving i.e. ‘Daan Utsav’, ‘Odha Do Zindagi’ are few such initiatives where children urge everyone to contribute winter essentials like shawls, blankets, sweaters, socks, jackets, mufflers, gloves, boots, shoes and also sarees for people who have very little to brave through the harsh weather.
- Goonj’s annual winter campaign Odha Do Zindagi (ODZ) facilitates spreading the warmth that we enjoy in the winter with others.
- The Goonj drive is led by the volunteers. The youngsters are an exuberant lot. They now know what happens to the donated clothes, the entire processing, the products that the women make and so on.
Everyone joins hands to raise awareness and encourage collective action to protect children.
- Child Sexual Abuse is an offence that can happen anywhere, and the offenders can be known people. It’s time to break the silence and show them that we will stand with them! Learning Space Foundation also organized Child Safety Awareness Walkathon. Posting pictures on social media platforms, accepting friend requests from strangers, attending parties, cyber bullying , rape and drug hawkers on Instagram, consequences of all these and how you could be safe amidst all these.
One of the main goals in forming this group was to ensure maximum participation from children aged 7- 17 in awareness campaigns and youth sessions by taking leads and giving positive nudges to each other.
- Sessions by qualified Clinical Psychologist and Counsellor are also organized. The session were quite interactive with a range of parents of different age groups of children attending and participating with their concerns and sharing which led to a very meaningful discussion around some practical strategies that can be utilized in difficult situations with children of different age groups. Some of the strategies that were discussed by the Speaker included –
- Play Listening where you allow the child to deal with spoken/unspoken stress through laughter as a medium by practicing it in day to day to life.
- Dealing with fights among siblings or single child frustration by allowing them the “Expression of anger/frustration” and being firm throughout the process (can be long) without giving in to their unjustified demands/tantrums. This can help the child to come out with their actual deeper issues/emotions and acknowledge them instead of hiding/suppressing them through tantrums/fancy demands.
- Special Time – When you allow the child to be in the driver’s seat and run the for a fixed time per day/week (as your schedules permit). This could be as little as a fixed 15 minutes time per day or week. This will allow the parent/guardian to get the child’s perspective in the entire parenting show run by them as adults and provide opportunities of correcting their parenting mistakes and improvement in their parenting style.