Antrim school students learn Respect
More than 450 students from St Benedict’s College and Antrim Grammar School have taken part in the Respect Programme, funded by the Housing Executive.
A total of £3,500 was provided from the Housing Executive’s Community Safety fund for new text books, E-books, worksheets and student surveys, which were adapted during lockdown.
Developed by the Children’s Safety Education Foundation, the project teaches teenagers about the consequences of anti-social behaviour and crime - including hate crime - on communities.
Issues of health and wellbeing and the safety of young people are also tackled.
Michael Fitzgerald, from the Foundation, who works with schools to deliver the programme, said; “We encourage young people to challenge stereotypes, think about citizenship issues and also consider opposing viewpoints.
“This helps them deal with problems they encounter in everyday life such as peer pressure, bullying and personal safety - life-skills that can be difficult to convey through normal teaching channels.”
The Housing Executive has supported the delivery of the Respect Programme in a dozen schools across Northern Ireland in recent years, with thousands of students taking part.
Ciarrai Reilly, Community Safety Manager, said: “We want to empower young people to make positive choices and play an active role in their community.
“It is the sixth year we’ve funded this community safety project, which uses real life situations to demonstrate how everyone in our society deserves to be, and should be, respected.
“This year, St Benedict’s College and Antrim Grammar School, are helping their pupils get to grips with anti-social behaviour issues in a constructive way.”
Pamela Devlin, Head of Department for Learning for Life and Work at St Benedict's College said: “The Respect Programme covered a wide range of important, relevant and engaging topics.
“Our pupils enjoyed taking part in class discussions and exploring the activities that accompanied each theme.”
Louise Aitcheson, Antrim Grammar School said: “We have been very grateful for the resources we received from the Housing Executive.
“The Respect Programme tackles many of the current issues our young people face and it really helps us to better prepare our pupils for life beyond school.”