DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY
YMCA Teen Nights offer youths a chance to let loose,
When you’re a teen and you have to leave your friends because your family is immigrating to a country thousands of miles away, that’s a big deal. And that’s exactly what happened to Mo’tasem Alnajdawi when he moved to Canada from Jordan as a 15-yearold three years ago.
“I didn’t know anyone at high school — I had no one to talk to,” says Alnajdawi. “But I did know one guy who said, ‘Come with me.’ ”
So every Wednesday after school, they’d head over to the Brampton YMCA to participate in the Newcomer Youth Leadership Development (NYLD) program, where Alnajdawi could volunteer, meet with others to improve his English and get involved with the community.
“The people at the program encouraged everyone,” says Alnajdawi, who had always been shy, even as a child. “I thought, if I talk, everyone will laugh at me,” he says. “But when I did start to talk, no one made fun of me.”
That’s the great thing, says Alnajdawi: no one laughs when someone makes a mistake. “That’s how I got rid of the habit of being shy — now I make jokes and I talk to anyone,” he laughs.
“With all the changes that happen with the brain in adolescence, it is a phenomenal time to be able to write the script — youth need a sense of belonging to feel that they are valued by others and to value themselves,” says Dr. Jean Clinton, associate clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences, division of child psychiatry at McMaster University in Hamilton. Too often the picture we get on television is the portrayal of young people as lazy and up to no good, says Clinton.
“Yet the opposite is true: young people are volunteering like never before, for example, and if you want a creative approach to something, get a bunch of teens on it, they have ability and talent,” she says.
In fact, the YMCA has taken a very positive approach to teens, says Clinton.
This year, the YMCA of Greater Toronto and United Way Toronto commissioned a review of the latest research on the developmental needs of 12- to 25-year-olds, identifying the critical factors that enable them to thrive.
This resource is being shared with agencies serving youth and others to support the development of effective programs.
“School only accounts for a small percentage of students’ time and one of the things we know is that young people with lots of unsupervised, unengaged time are much more at risk for unhealthy behaviours,” says Clinton. Kids need safe places to go, she adds. But why should we reach out to teens and young people?
“Youth in the GTA face many challenges related to income, employment and education, among others, that put their long-term health at risk,” says Michael Hall, vice-president of program research and development at the YMCA of Greater Toronto.
“If, as a society, we set young people on a path to thrive, to have a healthy and meaningful life, then we put them on the path for long-term health.”
The key is set when children are younger, he adds, by their ability to get an adequate education, to get meaningful work for secure and adequate incomes. And it creates economic benefits, as well, he adds, as an engaged workforce can cut healthcare costs in the long term.
“Young people may look like adults, but they still need a lot of support as they are still developing,” says Hall. And, he points out, not all of them are in school, as there are18- and19-yearolds in the workforce and some who aren’t engaged in anything.
That’s why the YMCA offers initiatives, such as Teen Nights, with programming for teens led by teens on an advisory council. Last year alone, more than 7,000 youths visited a Y drop-in centre and more than 1,700 youths have participated in youth leadership programs. Teen Night hit a record 16,000 attendees. “The Teen Night council is awesome — they work with peers and they do an excellent job of running the programs,” says Shaun Miller, the youth program co-ordinator at the Toronto Central Grosvenor St. YMCA Centre. “Actually, our Teen Night council is being snatched up by staff; two or three members have been hired already at the centre.” The teens are totally autonomous, he says, and that’s the way he wants it, adding that he is more of an adviser, not a facilitator, and that helps the kids build leadership capacity. “Teens don’t get a lot of opportunities to get experience, that’s why our programs are so important, especially now with so many unemployed youth,” says Miller, “And when I see what these guys can do, I know adults that can’t do what they do.” One of Miller’s favourite stories is the one about a young man who was suspended a few times from the program. “But every time we saw him, we’d talk to him, whether it was in a negative or positive situation,” says Miller. “The last time he was suspended, he asked to come back early, saying, ‘This is the place for me, where I come from, it’s only a place to get into trouble.’ ” Miller extracted a promise that the young man would be a productive member and live up to the values of the program. “Now, instead of being one of the guys who starts something, he breaks it up — he’s the one saying, ‘It’s just a game, let’s keep it going,’ ” says Miller, and they have had no more issues with him. For Alnajdawi, the Y has become the place that helped him settle in when he first arrived in Canada, to a home away from home. “Everybody knows me at the Y,” says Alnajdawi. “We are like friends and we are like family, the way everybody takes care of each other.”