Hong Kong teens make drug awareness videos to engage their peers
Three-year project by KELY Support Group, a youth charity, also aims to teach participants leadership and life skills
Teenagers may not always respond well to parents and teachers lecturing them about the dangers of drug abuse, but what if the advice came in the form of engaging videos made by their peers?
Organisers of a drug awareness programme based on youth leadership believe they have found an effective way to prevent substance use among teenagers.
ExCEL is an acronym for express (Ex), connect (C), educate (E) and lead (L). It was launched in 2016 with support from Operation Santa Claus, an annual charity drive organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK.
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The three-year project, targeting vulnerable young people mainly from ethnic minority backgrounds and facing drug problems and issues of inequality, will also receive funding from Operation Santa Claus this year.
Students taking part in the programme are expected to develop the skills and knowledge needed to create culturally appropriate drug awareness information and decide how best to promote it to their peers who are more at risk.
“It’s a great way to offer students participating in the programme a role where they can design something that they know their peers will be interested in and that they will engage with,” Hampton said.
The Chinese children dancing away drug addiction
The awareness programme was designed based on evidence that showed that peer-led initiatives had been successful, she noted.
