Turning Around Troubled Youth

It has been well publicised that British youth are among the most diasaffected in Europe. Many experience higher stress levels than most top executives, worrying about peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, family break up, bullying and exams to name but a few of the issues affecting them. British teens in particular suffer a very bad press and are often held to blame for rising street crime and substance abuse. However, there is much we can do to help and support youth through these difficult teenage years.

IAHV currently supports a youth intiative to deliver the YES! course - the Youth Empowerment Seminar to teeangers. It engages the youth through interactive discussion, physical team challenges and processes designed to break down inhibitions and defensive concepts. It introduces them to non-violent ways to achieve their goals and teaches them to relax and eliminate stresses through powerful breathing techniques. This course has transformed the lives of many diasaffected youth around the world already.

The IAHV vision is for this amazing workshop to be made available to kids within the school environment itself. Currently the course is being offered outside school hours mainly during half term breaks and only those children whose parents can afford it end up taking it. If however, this workshop could be trailed in schools across the country and the positive benefits could be quantified then it stands a good chance to be an accepted part of the curriculum. The cost per child to undergo this workshop is £100 which would pay for materials, the Workshop leader and an assistant to facilitate this 5 day course.

The money IAHV raises for this cause - the British School's project will launch this pioneering pilot project off the ground and offer the YES! workshop initially to 20 disadvantaged youth in an inner London school. It will also pay for the results of the pilot project to be quantified so that the case for similar workshops can be made to school boards more effectively.