Youngsters need positive solutions

It's a gorgeous May afternoon, blue sky with wisps of cloud. Broken glass from a smashed car window glimmers in the sun. On the other side of the street, beyond the rusty bars that surround it, a chunky yellow digger thumps away at the Chapelfields Community Centre.

Problems such as anti-social behaviour and crime in York are being tackled in a number of ways, but does the long- term future for our communities look any brighter than the remnant of Chapelfields Community Centre?

Although a purpose-built Community House is planned as its replacement, this still represents a further gap in provision, if only temporarily, for the community as a whole and young people in particular.

As suggested in the Evening Press feature 'Most people here are wonderful' (May 20) it is the one per cent, the minority who caused the riot in Chapelfields.

Yet this is modern Britain and it is no accident that we have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe. I know all too well the escalating drug problem, having been drawn into that scene at a very early age, having spent two years working with Arc Light and, perhaps most emphatically, through having made my film Stranded: On Cloud 9.

In my latest documentary A Sign Of The Times? I explore drugs, alcohol use, crime and anti-social behaviour among young people. These are prevalent, even in the estates of a vibrant tourist city such as York.

I approach a large group of teenagers. They see me walking towards them holding my camera. Once the initial tension is broken and I explain I am making a film, they begin to talk. A 15-year-old girl explains that drugs are readily available on the estate, "pot, acid, ecstasy, speed... anything you want... from a few people." The group is not untypical of large gatherings of young people in different areas all around York. They are bored, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. On this occasion there are five girls, two giddy with alcohol, and two teenage lads building cannabis joints, looking cautious about my motives.

I'm interested in what they think about drugs and crime. So I ask them: what do teenagers know about heroin? "Smack?" snaps one of the girls. "Yeah we know a few smack-heads. Some of them are okay like, we knew them before they got addicted." She pauses. "They're a couple of years older than us."

"They are f***ed up" says another teenager, plucking up the courage to speak.

He was right, these people need help. The film I am making looks at needs in the community and the lack of provision to help and support people.

One of the services which helped drug dependants was the Chapelfields needle exchange and drop-in centre. It worked with the Salvation Army and Compass to help meet the needs of the local people, providing clean needles and advice, minimising harm and the risk of disease via needle sharing.

"It was good because you had somewhere you could go and share your problems", a local service user told me, "they were very supportive, I was starting to deal with my drug problem." So it is jarring to discover the successful needle-exchange and drop-in project closed last December after its second year.

Services such as this not only help heroin users begin to address their problems, but also benefit the wider community, reducing the likelihood of discarded paraphernalia on the streets.

"While the needle exchange was operating in Chapelfields there were no reports of needle finds in the area", says Carol Bishop of Compass. Several needles have been found in Chapelfields since the closure of the service.

Rose Wall, chair of Chapelfields residents' association, knows how vital such services are and she and other members of the community have been fighting for the service's continuation.

"It makes me angry," she says. "The service was working, I don't understand why it had to stop."

Although my exploration began in Chapelfields, I want a broader picture so I am taking my camera to various places around York.

It's Sunday and early evening, and I stop in the village of New Earswick. Again I'm confronted with a large group of young people, this time standing in a bus shelter. Again they are drinking and smoking cannabis. They don't appear to be rowdy or causing any problems, but you can sense the potential for alcohol-induced trouble.

"We have nowhere to go," they tell me, "so we chill here, in the bus stop, or on the green". The words are becoming familiar and the lack of youth provision appears evident. Slightly nervous, they agree to talk more if I return later in the evening. "We will have some Dutch courage by then." On my return hours later I learn that there was an incident, someone has smashed a bottle in someone's face.

Those who witnessed this tell me the incident was alcohol-fuelled. Three 12-year-olds describe the events, pointing to the shops where it happened. I challenge one about the effects of drinking, asking what he feels about it, not expecting him to reply: "I drink all the time." Maybe it was all an act, he was just saying these things because it made him feel grown up. Nevertheless, he points out alcohol has positive and negative aspects, telling me "sometimes it makes you feel good".

As well as the police we have new measures to make communities safer places to live such as Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Community Rangers. Incidents such as stabbings and violent crime, often induced by influences like drugs or alcohol, are unacceptable and the police have a responsibility to deal with this.

However, society as a whole surely has a responsibility to these young people as well to change a growing pattern of anti-social behaviour.

Are there not more effective pro-active, long-term projects in place to combat these growing problems? Are the young people of today unreachable?

Young persons substance misuse worker Paul Coxon has worked with kids for more than 20 years as a teacher, and now he is involved with 'at risk' young people in York.

"If you are going to take drugs, alcohol or offending out of a young person's life, you have to put something back in to plug the gap," he says. He believes giving young people more opportunities makes a positive difference to their lives. "It's about empowering them to make healthier lifestyle choices."

With programmes such as PAYP (positive activities for young people) young people are involved in an array of educational and recreational activities to support them and divert their lives from crime and drugs.

"Activities open a gateway for discussion with young people", explains Paul, "and not just about drugs and alcohol, about personal problems as well."

The youth service has many projects which make positive steps to changing the way these lives are heading.

"Diversionary activities are effective, the councils PAYP scheme has shown this," agrees Coun Andrew Waller. However, having worked with young people myself on similar projects using film and media, it is clear that for those with limited opportunity there is still not much on offer.

This is modern Britain and even in York an Ecstasy tablet can be bought for as little as £2. Teenagers tell me they are easily available and part of what they consider 'normal life'. New measures are being taken by Central Government to control alcohol related crime among adults using police resources.

But isn't it about time we looked at changing the future of our city with a long-term approach rather than just policing the surface outcomes of crime, drugs and alcohol misuse and anti-social behaviour?

How quick society is to pull the trigger in judgement. Are we not a product of our environment, conditioned by our surroundings, our backgrounds and certainly by our increasingly influential media? These young people are our future and we have to work together, involving them at the core, to make the effective changes that are required to make a lasting, positive difference.

Kevin is still working on his new film. If you have something to say contact him at: Brightsparksmedia@yahoo.co.uk

Updated: 09:54 Thursday, June 03, 2004