Ten local teens took a trip to the nation's capital last month and have come back with several ideas to help make Squamish a more youth-friendly community.
The group recently attended the Town Youth Participation Strategies (TYPS), which took place in Ottawa from March 23 to 26 and according to community program co-ordinator Renée Theoret, the event made a huge impact on the lives of the youth who attended. The teens then shared their experiences for the public at Gelato Carina on Sunday (April 3).
"This was a life-changing experience for them," she said, adding that herself and two other youth workers accompanied the kids on the trip.
Days typically started for the group bright and early at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast, which was followed up by breaking up into their theme groups for the conference. Theme groups that the Squamish youth took part in included substance abuse, homelessness, suicide and addictions.
Youths attended the groups from four to six times a day for about an hour, and they also had the opportunity to participate in open workshops with themes like comic books, photography and meditation. Nights included several events such as a youth Olympics sporting event, a costume dance and a "jam" night that included face painting.
Jeffrey Richardson, who attended a group on youth engagement, recommended more youth-friendly events in Squamish.
"Our youth here are doing really stupid things but what I'd like to see is more stuff like we had on Canada Day," he said. "We had a concert, fun, laughing and dancing. I'd also like to see more things around town like the Farmers' Market become more youth friendly."
Cameron Watts said he learned the importance of emotional intelligence at his suicide prevention group.
"Instead of just running away from fear, we were taught to embrace it," he said. "Running away is just going to make it worse. Emotions don't last forever, they will go away. I think it'd be great to have workshops like we had in Ottawa here in Squamish to teach adults and youth emotional intelligence. If you can handle your emotions it will help you through a lot of difficult situations in life. It should be more commonly taught in school."
Joshua Watts took part in an aboriginal youth perspectives community and said he learned a lot from his fellow youths.
"I would really like to bring a back a program that we talked about in my group that would unify aboriginal and non-aboriginal people," he said. "Something else I would really like to see is a First Nations language class in school. We have to learn French to go to university. Shouldn't we incorporate a First Nations language in there?"
He also brought the crowd to stitches describing the group's visit to the Parliament buildings. Other speakers included Laura Georges, Kaila Hanson, Jocelyn Anderson, Daniel Nitchke and Ashley Campbell. Those who also attended but were not present on Sunday were Adam Morgan and Malika Davis. After the teens' presentations, Gregory Fischer, the owner of Gelato Carina, made an offer to the youth in the room.
"This year I've partnered up with the youth centre and in May there is a youth week and we are going to have a youth festival happening here," he said, noting he's been involved in several community events in the past. "I want you guys to come to the table with ideas, with bands, whatever and you guys plan it. "
The suggestion was met with loud applause and the groups plan to work together to make the youth festival a hit. Youth workers hope the kids can grow and learn from their experiences at the TYPS event and think the youth festival could become a big event.
"It was incredible how well everyone participated and how much these youth were able to contribute and how much they gave of themselves," said youth resource worker Madeleine Sommerville. "We've known these kids for so many years but the sides we saw of them on this trip just blew us away."
For more information on TYPS, visit www.typs.com.
