The upcoming Mayor’s Youth Conference in the Radisson SAS Hotel Galway on the 2nd May is of great significance for the youth.
On becoming Mayor of Galway, Brian Walsh set out his priorities for his term of office. One of those key priorities was the issue of youth and young people.We all know teenagers need “somewhere to go and hang out”. Otherwise they end up getting into trouble and causing harm”.
The Gaf Health Cafe in Galway City is a great example of where to go. The Gaf is situated in Francis Street in Galway and is run and operated by young people. It is a drug and alcohol-free facility.
The key to its success is that teenagers are involved in every aspect of its activities. If provisions for a safe space are provided where teenagers want to hang out a lot of negative pressure to get involved in anti-social behaviour would be disposed of. Perhaps if other communities adopted this model and gave our teenagers “their own dens” to “hang out in”, we would have less vandalism created out of boredom and nowhere to go.
Until next time,
Josette
