This week I joined John ‘Mogsy’ Morris from the Youth Engagement Team for a day. As it is half term for most schools across Merseyside this week, the team run a course called LIFE (Local Integration Fire Education). Based at community Fire Stations, the course runs across five days during school holidays, a time when diversionary activities are crucial. This is because Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service attend more deliberately set fires and encounter more antisocial behavior during these times. LIFE is designed to help young people understand fire safety, prevent arson, provide positive role models and help youngsters develop confidence, resilience, and self-esteem.
I joined a group consisting of ten young people aged thirteen to fourteen all from the same school in Speke. It was the second day of their course and John and I were taking them to Moel Famau in North Wales where we would meet Dave Garry, the Youth Activity Advocate.
John had arranged to meet the group at Speke Community Fire Station where the course was based. When we arrived in the mini-bus they were all already there waiting for us! Not surprisingly they had made a good start on the crisps and sweets they had brought for their lunches! They eagerly got into the bus and we set off.
When we arrived at the car park we met Dave Garry who gave the team a short talk about the area and some rules for the day such whatever we bring, we take back i.e. litter, and staying within ten meters of each other.
Whilst walking up to the top of Moel Famau we stopped a number of times and Dave would set up a problem solving activity for the group which relied upon teamwork. The first activity consisted of the group getting into two teams and being set apart by a certain distance. They then had to work together to get a cane from one group to the other without entering the ‘no-go’ zone. Each time they did it successfully the area in-between them got larger and larger. It was not long before the team realized that in order to succeed they needed each other and must communicate. These energizers not only distracted them from the “miles and miles“ they had left, but kept them keen as well teaching them valuable teamwork skills. The group learnt to listen clearly to Dave’s instructions, discuss the ideas and plan between themselves then carry out the task by working together and communicating.
The time we spent walking in-between the energizers was invaluable to me. I used this time to have one-to-one talk and also group discussions about emerging technologies. Because we were not in a classroom environment, the group talked openly about how they use emerging technology in school as well as at home. I was able to collect a great amount of information just by listening and talking to them.
All members of the group have and use Facebook regularly, mostly every day. They are extremely comfortable using it despite only being thirteen. When I asked about other social network sites they all agreed they use MySpace to listen to music but not as members and don’t use Bebo at all. The majority of the group had not heard of Twitter or did not understand fully what it is.
A number of the group members asked if I could create a Facebook group on which the photographs from the week could be posted so that they could show their friends and family and add comments to them. They thought that having a Facebook group would raise the profile of the course as well as show others what they did and the lessons that they learnt.
Whilst in this informal setting I was able to ask the young people about their Facebook profiles and how much they know about security and privacy of personal details. The majority of the young people knew not to put sensitive data such as phone numbers and addresses on their profiles; however they were not sure about how private their photographs were. This indicated that they had not received any Thinkuknow training or similar which, due to the amount of time they spend on social networking sites, is needed.
