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Envision members Kossi Ekerin, left, and Vlad Slisko |
Envisioning a brighter future
HOODIES dominate the headlines, but hundreds of young people proved the pundits wrong when they gathered in King’s Cross on Friday to change things for the better.
More than 300 young people aged from 16 to 19 from schools across London came together for Envision: The Warm Up at the Camden Centre in Bidborough Street to discuss the topics they feel need to be tackled.
They will then develop these ideas to make group projects to be unveiled in a national presentation next year.
Nick Nielsen – who co-founded Envision in 2000 when he was just 24 – believes that youths hold the key to changing public opinion.
He said: “16 to 19-year-olds are at a critical time – they’re becoming adults and they’re in a unique position to influence those younger than them. How we perceive young people is changing and young people will play up to that.”
Teenagers were divided into groups covering capoeira, photography, media skills, kung fu and urban poetry; they reconvened after the break for issues such as homelessness and fair trade.
Vlad Slisko, 17, a South Camden Community School student from Kentish Town, had come to the event to crack down on crime of all kinds.
He said: “Peer pressure is the problem. You see other people do it so you imitate them. There’s lots of gangs but you can’t eliminate the gangs, but one by one you can get to people.”
He added: “We have to teach youths what happens if you commit crime. If you disgrace your parents that’ll stick with you for the rest of your life. We try to talk to them nicely or to reach them through music.”
For his Envision project, he and his friend Kossi Ekerin are producing a video to show their peers the dangers of a life of crime.
Under the scheme, funded by City Bridge, Jack Petchey Foundation and Defra among others, Envision will hold group meetings for members of each school once a week to work on their projects.
Mr Nielsen said: “We’re giving young people the opportunity to make a difference. If you can give people a positive experience of achievement they’ll be more inspired to do that in the future.” |
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