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Committee members met jointly with the Youth Council after the final series of Speak-Ups. We knew that Council members who participated in Speak-Ups had a lot to tell about their experience, about what they had learned, and what they hoped to contribute through their hard work. They demonstrated the skit using the popular Ricki Lake talk-show format which they had developed to get students involved in meaningful dialog.
Attending the skit at the Youth Bureau was a poignant experience. Students seated in simple folding chairs, dressed in their daily outfits, shared dialogues as though they were real exchanges between teenagers. Powerfully acted out in groups of two, each pair provided food for thought for the audience as well as a stark reminder of what young people deal with on a daily basis.
Speaking of drinking- A drinker who hits his girlfriend, is confronted by another student who queries," Why do you hit her? "I don't hurt her, man, I just keep her in line."
Talking about marijuana- 'It makes me a better guitarist, one very cool looking young man says. "Well its not too cool when you can't remember anything in class. Oh. Man the pot, makes me feel so creative, I can write the best music, who cares about math."
Addressing drug sales- "Johnny, how can you sell this stuff, your own brother overdosed." " It's not my fault man, they buy it." If they were right, they wouldn't buy it. "I just sell it, they don't have to buy. I have to make a living. I'm not flipping burgers and riding the bus, when I can be selling and riding in a jag."
What was inspiring about the skits was the real and chilling way the students addressed the stark realities of every day life, craftily expressing views on both sides of an issue, carefully leaving space for members of the audience to express their own views.
During follow-up interviews, members of the Youth Council shared thoughts on the experience:
"I have been a member of the Youth Council since freshman year and I'm a senior now," said one young woman.
Interviewer- "Tell me about the experience of preparing the skits".
"I learned that people have very different points of view than me and they react to things in ways I would never think of. That's what is exciting. Students surprise me, we all opened up to each other during the practices. There are kids that I am involved with there that I probably would not otherwise speak with. I enjoyed working with them. Racism is a concern of mine. I think about the way students treat each other when they walk down the halls at school. Sneers, sneers and more sneers.
Kids do not know each other, so they don't know what to say. They say nothing or something mean. The skits related to all the kids. Race didn't matter. Everyone has a friend with a drug or a drinking problem. As a matter of fact, most kids did not think that we were acting. They thought we were kids with the problems that we represented. We had to tell them we were really acting. That was good, because we were able to capture something real. The kids could relate to us. They opened up , talked about what they thought about drugs. They heard kids who looked like really tuff kids saying, 'I'm not getting high man'.
These kinds of interactions are what young people need. They need to talk about these social problems; not lectures from parents and teachers. Teachers seem so old, it is hard for kids to imagine that they can understand the things we are going through. It is different when kids your own age start asking questions and wondering about life.
I think the speak outs will help make people think before they become violent or do drugs. I think that kids will think about drugs differently since we were there."
Another voice of the Youth Council speaks out:
"I joined the Youth Council after seeing the skit. I liked what the students were doing, the message they were getting out in the community. Watching the skits made me laugh. Knowing the kids well, and listening to them with tuff parts. I was thinking listening to one kid, sounding like such a bad dude, this is really good. They told me it took three months to plan the skits, decide on the topics and agree on the dialogue. The goal was to get the students to react. It worked on me.
Role-playing was relaxing, not like power trips. We were peers. Lots of young people talking allows the atmosphere to get relaxed, we don't have to feel under so much pressure. The longer we talked the more relaxed it became. It is important to feel comfortable with different kinds of people.
It has been good to be involved. The Youth Council goes on trips together. We do work together. We were doing a tournament, got the flyers ready, packed them in envelopes, and sent out the mailing. We did the whole mailing ourselves and it felt good. It made me proud."
Interviewer: "What happens next for the Youth Council "
"We [Youth Council] need to address the problems that were so real to the students. We need to publicize the problems. The youth and the politicians have to have the courage to act. The students have to organize. The adults have to support the students. Many kids said that there is nothing to do in the county, and that if there was, there wouldn't be a way to get there. I think there should be more free daytime sports, not just for the champions, but for all the kids that want to play. They should open up the schools at night for dances and just to hang around. We need a relaxed environment. Kids talk when it is relaxed. That's what we were doing in the speak outs. The kids got relaxed, they felt safe. They think, 'well, I can say what I want here.' They should feel that way about places to hang around also. Our schools should be opened all the time."
Survey results for each of the project years are included as Attachment 2.
HOME
Attachment 2
Council Members
Facilitators
Major Issues
Participating Schools
Recommendations
Subcommittee
Survey Results