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Teens build bridges with elderly By Jenny Rees The
Western Mail, 30 August 2003 A GROUP of teenagers - sick of hearing
how terrible the "youth of today" are - have come up with a
refreshing way to bridge the generation gap. The view shared by many older people in
their Cardiff suburb was that they just hang around street corners causing
trouble. But these Llanrumney teens are too busy
hand delivering their own gap-bridging magazines to 5,000 homes be causing
any bother. The publication Just For You was
designed to be "for the youth, by the youth" but over the last
two years it has evolved and the team involved is making huge strides in
strengthening links in community relations. Now this initiative has been praised by
Children's Commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke. It all started when Maria Forster of
the youth inclusion project came to school looking for volunteers for a
peer education scheme. Aaron Morgan, 15, said at first he got
involved because he was bored. "But if it wasn't any good I
wouldn't have stuck with it. "It started with a play about
drugs but it has grown and changed to be about so many different things. "We used to have lots of meetings
and there was lots of talk but not much action was taken - but lately it's
all happening. "We have the magazine now and also
a group of us have gone out to Russia to help with an orphanage. "It has taught me a lot about the
community and we have more understanding because we see things from both
sides." Yesterday the group were given the
support of children's rights advocate Mr Clarke, who heard a presentation
by 15-year-old Liam Roberts explaining their aims. "Projects like this reinforce my
belief that if you give young people the support and opportunity they will
exceed our expectations every time," said Mr Clarke. When stories of elderly people being
attacked by youths hit the news, the group led by teenager Charlene
Thomas, were determined to show their community they shouldn't all be
tarred with the same brush. "There's always been a difference
between young and old people but we asked ourselves why that was,"
said Aaron. "Why do we have this stereotype - why do grandparents
have a go at kids in the street and why do kids kick balls against their
walls? "We're hoping to get a new scheme
to adopt a grandparent so we can help them with their shopping or keep
them company, but that's in the planning stages at the moment." The group of about 15 has also been
visiting residents at the nearby home for the elderly; Aaron even sat down
to a game of bingo this week. "Everyone thinks that young people
don't care about old people, but that's not the case at all," he
said. "Not all old people are grumpy all
the time and not all kids are vandals." Aaron said that while they were hoping
to change older generations' opinions, he and his friends were also
surprised how much fun they've had. Violet Sainty, 69, says she has seen a
huge difference between Llanrumney today and the area of old because of
the youngsters' attitude. Copyright © 2002 Global
Action on Aging |
