Brittoni may still be a teenager but she is the “elder” of a group helping young students navigate through life.
The South Morang girl is one of the city of Whittlesea’s Youth
Summit Krew that will hold a forum of 160 year-9 students
this week.
At 19, Brittoni is the eldest of the 17-member crew, while the
youngest is 13. They have held a series of mini-summits through the year
to gauge what is important to local teenagers.
“The biggest issues facing young people in the city of Whittlesea
are about the importance of well-being, relationships, diversity and
self-awareness,” Brittoni says. “Our major youth summit this year is for
year-9 students who are halfway through high school and at an age where
they need to understand the choices they make now will affect them in
the future.”
The summit’s theme is “Be Me”. It will be held at the Plenty
Ranges Arts and Convention Centre in South Morang on Friday as part of
National Youth Week.
The summit will divide the students into four workshop groups looking at the issues of:
* Acceptance for newly arrived migrants and Aboriginals;
* Family, friends and peers, including handling relationships and bullying;
* Well-being, including body image and healthy living; and
* Diversity including same-sex attraction and people with disabilities.
The event is geared to exploring the issues and “learning from
each other”, and making a contribution to the community by voicing the
issues to the Whittlesea council. “This is an exciting opportunity for
young people’s thoughts to be challenged and to share opinions about
what’s important to them,’’ Brittoni says.
Emma Shelton, a youth worker at the council’s Edge Youth Services,
says a representative from Project Rockit, an anti-bullying
organisation, and Rob Hyatt, an indigenous man who raises awareness of
Aboriginal culture, are among the outside facilitators to lead the workshops.
She says the group will make a DVD of the summit to give to the council.
