YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (16:22): I have been informed of a personal leadership program called Youth Opportunities which I am advised has been used by some schools to support and maximise the potential of students nominated for the program. The Youth Opportunities Association (SA) Inc. is a not-for-profit organisation established in 1997 but works in partnership with schools and other organisations to provide young people with personal leadership training.

The personal leadership training works as a catalyst for identifying and fulfilling personal potential. The personal leadership training program involves an intensive 10 week seminar series and ongoing follow-up for two years after completion of the program. The intensive 10 week personal leadership program is delivered by two trainers working one day per week for a school term with a group of 12 to 20 students.

Currently, Youth Opportunities is available through some schools on request by individual schools. Children are nominated for the program by the school body based on a variety of factors which may not necessarily revolve around the risks to the student, such as family trauma, substance abuse or other signs of potential dysfunction, but may also include students with a high potential requiring some mentor support and direction.

The benefits of the course are more motivated students with a positive, confident attitude that results in better marks at school and better school retention rates and relationships with peers, teachers and family members. The personal leadership training coaches young people in the knowledge and skills to become leaders of their lives, independent of their circumstances and adversity.

An important part of this has been to demonstrate to young people how they can take charge of their own lives by assuming responsibility for their own choices, actions and expectations. It enables youth to develop their emotional maturity, appropriate language and critical thinking skills to assertively meet their needs. Parents, in particular, have found this to be a breakaway form the usual blame the parents approach to child/parent conflicts commonly seen in child protection workers.

It is my understanding that then minister Trish White used the program to help solve a well publicised problem at Craigmore High School with outstanding results and improvements in retention rates, and that DECS investigated the program outcomes and was very impressed with the results. I have heard testimonials from parents and children that the course has had a dramatic effect in turning the lives of young people around.

Suicidal teens and teens who might have turned to truanting, experimenting with drugs and antisocial or offending behaviour have reported significant breakthroughs in their academic results, quality of personal relationships within their school and at home, and greater overall hope for a bright future. One young woman who completed the course said, 'If every teenager had access to Youth Opportunities, there would be no need for therapy.'

Youth Opportunities is not available to many needy children and their families, as it is reliant on corporate support to help subsidise this program so that it can be delivered free to those youth identified as needing the program. Currently, government funding contributions are insufficient to enable wide enough community access to this very important initiative, and I would strongly urge every business in the community to seriously consider providing financial and in-kind support to this unique and worthwhile program.