Kids with Confidence & Motivation!

Wendy and I were really fortunate to be asked to run a workshop on Confidence and Motivation for youngsters between the ages of 12 and 16, recently - and boy did we learn lots!

Hart Development Centre are running a pilot project called "The Get With it Project" which has been set up to get youngsters off the street and to do something interesting over the summer holidays. In particular, it is aimed at combating antisocial behaviour in a positive way by providing activities such as sports tournaments, ceramic painting, health and beauty and team building games.

We had already run one workshop last year for a group of people who had been long term unemployed and obviously, we have kept in touch, as it is a great way to do something worthwhile with the skills and talents that we have, so when Wendy and Cheryl discussed this, it seemed like a great idea!

And it was! I was a little concerned over the age range (12 year old boys and 16 year old girls - big difference in what would keep them interested, as we found out!), however, we managed to choose some great exercises that meant that everybody in the room could get something from - we did a creative exercise, a physical one, one that tested the "little grey cells" and one where everyone had an opportunity to participate - a panel of "experts" taken from the group who were there to answer questions, and let me say now that some of the questions were very though provoking - such as why adults demand respect, and don't always show it?

The feedback we got was tremendous, in that Cheryl said that she was impressed how they all became engaged and how they concentrated for so long.

So what did we learn from that day - as they were as much our 'teachers' as we were theirs? Well that treating these young people like adults, tends to encourage them to behave like one. That they were still very open to puzzles like the 9 dot exercise and solved it much faster than some adults, who naturally over time become more fixed in their way of looking at the world. That anyone with the responsibility of keeping 30+ youngsters entertained needs a medal - it was exhausting!

Fab!