Students ask for more educational workshops about gangs

Att10tives Taking The Right Path workshops are going down a storm in Luton schools.

Att10tive, which delivers workshops across Luton to educate young people about gangs and knife crime has obtained feedback from a proportion of the hundreds of young people who have been attending its workshops. The overwhelming response is the students want more workshops and they should be longer.

Att10tive has developed educational workshops tailored to students of different ages to help keep young people safe.

The workshops include educating young people on organisations that can address the problem and who are working to keep people safe as well as providing conflict resolution ideas.

This programme which is supported by Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation (BLCF) allows the students to engage in open and frank conversations.

Att10tives Managing Director Montell Neufville said “Most of the workshops are double lessons which are 100 minutes. They are interactive and engaging to include all learning styles and all year groups. Some schools only have 50 minutes available for their students to participate. It isn’t easy to provide the information to students in such a short period of time, however 50 minutes is better than nothing”.

Referring to the feedback received from students Montell added “Its really important that we accommodate the needs of all learners as much as we can. Where we can’t is things like the room or space that we are provided with or requesting the postcode from participants so BLCF can track who from which areas are benefiting.

"We know the ideal time is two lessons or a double lesson. Most schools recognise that if the ideal time needed to deliver these is two lessons that is what it should be. An alternative is for us to do one lesson then come back on another day to continue the work”

We asked participants to complete a questionnaire. This is the response;

Students were asked to grade from 1 to 5 how much they agreed with the following statement. The answers were;

• I am now more aware of what a gang is and the effects gangs have on individuals and communities 97% fully agree or mostly agree

• I learned about organisations that can help me make positive choices and stay safe 92%

• I learned how I can find out information online to help me and my classmates 85%

• I feel I am part of my community 65%

When asked what they liked and what could be done better or if they wanted more or less of something, some of the additional comments were;

What was the best aspects of the workshops

• Working in a group and with my friends
• I liked the presenters
• The workshop was fun
• I liked the videos, they were interesting
• Learning more about how crime is dealt with
• I feel safer now that I have more info about gangs
• The presenters were really encouraging and knowledgeable
• I found it really informative
• The group activities were engaging
• Learning about all the work happening in the local area to stop crime
• I enjoyed watching the videos about gangs
• The presenter explained things very clearly. This made it more interesting

Is there anything that could have been done better or that you would have liked more or less of?

• More workshops like this, they are fun

• More time could be given for group discussion

• It would be helpful to have more sessions

• Don’t’ ask for personal information e.g. my postcode

• More videos and time to discuss them and pause more to ask questions

• Make sure all the pens work

• More videos and less written activities

• We could have more videos if this happens again

• More tasks out of my seat

• More fun activities

• I would like another workshop

• Not asking for my personal information

• More sessions and longer sessions

• More interactive activities

• Have more information on organisations that can help, that part was rushed due to lack of time

• More time to discuss things in groups

• We need more workshops

Montell added “I am really pleased that the schools and colleges in the area see the value of helping to keep our young people safe. There is a recognition that everyone wants young people of every age to help themselves, their friends and their families to make the right choices and to support each other. The main gap remaining is to offer mentors who can help support our youths with their decision making.”

Anyone who wants workshops for their schools or colleges should contact [email protected].