Youth Homelessness Matters
The harsh reality is that around 50,000 youth in Australia are considered homeless (Youth Homelessness Matters). Further more around 300,00 teenagers are disengaged from both education and employment leaving little hope of such involvement in future economies (Brotherhood of St Laurence). In an era of academic inflation, there is still a proportion of youth facing the next 50 years without the skills to keep a regular job. It’s pretty scary to think how tough life will be for them.
For generations we will ask, what is the best way of helping these kids? Obviously many arguments can be raised in the prevention debate but it seems some will always lose their way, rebel, or choose a path that does not resemble the norm within society. Past experiments have shown that hospitality and events are a great platform to train skill-deprived youth. Jamie Oliver highlighted this in the UK with his pilot restaurant ‘15’ and most recently to Channel 7 was Conviction Kitchen, a show where 12 ex-criminals battled for the opportunity to become an apprentice for Ian Curley. Is the production of these shows a good way of helping disadvantage kids?
Initiatives to help might be plentiful but its the kids desire to change that must be strongest. The onus is placed on the individual to make the initial decision for a positive change in lifestyle. Once they make that decision, City to Street are ready to create opportunities. Everyone deserves the chance to work.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts. My next blog will take focus around a small not for profit called Youth Projects, operating out of Hosier Lane the business tackles homelessness, alcoholism and drugs within the youth culture.
References http://www.bsl.org.au/ http://www.youthhomelessnessmatters.net/ http://au.tv.yahoo.com/conviction-kitchen/ http://www.fifteen.net/Pages/default.aspx
The harsh reality is that around 50,000 youth in Australia are considered homeless (Youth Homelessness Matters). Further more around 300,00 teenagers are disengaged from both education and employment leaving little hope of such involvement in future economies (Brotherhood of St Laurence). In an era of academic inflation, there is still a proportion of youth facing the next 50 years without the skills to keep a regular job. It’s pretty scary to think how tough life will be for them.
For generations we will ask, what is the best way of helping these kids? Obviously many arguments can be raised in the prevention debate but it seems some will always lose their way, rebel, or choose a path that does not resemble the norm within society. Past experiments have shown that hospitality and events are a great platform to train skill-deprived youth. Jamie Oliver highlighted this in the UK with his pilot restaurant ‘15’ and most recently to Channel 7 was Conviction Kitchen, a show where 12 ex-criminals battled for the opportunity to become an apprentice for Ian Curley. Is the production of these shows a good way of helping disadvantage kids?
Initiatives to help might be plentiful but its the kids desire to change that must be strongest. The onus is placed on the individual to make the initial decision for a positive change in lifestyle. Once they make that decision, City to Street are ready to create opportunities. Everyone deserves the chance to work.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts. My next blog will take focus around a small not for profit called Youth Projects, operating out of Hosier Lane the business tackles homelessness, alcoholism and drugs within the youth culture.
References http://www.bsl.org.au/ http://www.youthhomelessnessmatters.net/ http://au.tv.yahoo.com/conviction-kitchen/ http://www.fifteen.net/Pages/default.aspx
