Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Stop Kony 2012 – Youth Work Session Plan Idea

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This is a key year for trying to effect real change in the world and one way to get your youth involved is through Invisible Children’s Stop Kony 2012 campaign.

Today’s youth work session plan idea is to use the Stop Kony 2012 campaign as a way to get your youth group more aware of this and other global issues.

Watch

Even though it’s 30 minutes long, this video is extremely engaging and well produced:

Discuss

Some talking points for your youth group:

  • How do they feel after what they’ve just watched?
  • Should we care about what people are doing in other countries?
  • Teach them more about child soldiers, such as Ishmael Beah
  • What do they think it would be like to be a child soldier?
  • Would they want to get involved in Cover The Night on April 20, 2012?

Fundraise

If your youth group would like to support Invisible Children’s campaign, one way of doing so would be to organize a fundraiser. We have a number of youth fundraiser ideas that work well with youth groups and could be used to support this cause.

Question: Are you planning on discussion the Stop Kony 2012 campaign with your youth? If so, how are you going to be doing it? Let us know in the comments below

Update since posting: There have been some concerns raised regarding the method of this campaign and other issues. To each issue there is a side. Take the time to educate yourself on the issues that you take before your youth, sharing with them the pros and cons of any issue, situation or campaign and work to help them make informed decisions.

If you do not support Stop Kony 2012, that’s totally cool, but take the time to find the issues that matter to you and your youth and move forward on making a difference in those areas instead.

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Veteran’s Day: Child Soldiers

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Child soldiersIt’s Veteran’s Day in the US, Remembrance or Poppy Day in the UK and Armistice Day throughout the Commonwealth. We usually spend this day remembering all the men and women who have willingly given their lives to serve in the Military.

However, there are soldiers all around the world who are not serving willingly. They’re recruited, drugged and forced into ‘military’ service.

They are child soldiers.

Despite the fact that one of the articles of the UNCRC is that children cannot become soldiers until they are 18 years old, children are serving in armed conflicts even now.

Today’s Spotlight on Youth is on former child soldier Ishmael Beah. His book ‘A Long Way Gone – Memoirs of a Boy Soldier’ came out a few years ago, but children are still being used as soldiers today all across the world. Here is an interview with him on The Hour in Canada.

 

Ishmael was able to forgive, overcome and move forward. Despite being a little older than the youth we usually spotlight, the story of his own youth is so compelling that it has to be shared. He has become a role model and advocate for youth all over the world.  If you’re interested in his book, you can preview a chapter or buy it from Amazon.

Ishmael was fortunate: UNICEF was able to arrange his release, but many other children and young people are still child soldiers today. You can learn more about child soldiers from Amnesty International and War Child.

Question: What could the youth in your program do to help raise awareness of child soldiers this Veteran’s Day weekend? Create a conversation in the comments below.

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