MYIP – Voices of the next generation

Direct youth involvement is an important principle of drug prevention work. It offers potential benefits both to young people and to the organisations that serve them; young people gain skills, experience and confidence, organisations gain a fresh perspective on youth culture, and are able to develop services which meet the needs of the groups they are trying to reach.

However, organisations need to clearly identify and articulate these benefits if young people are to embrace the concept of youth involvement.

In developing and delivering this project we believe that we have learnt a number of important lessons in working with young Muslims that will be useful to others trying to do similar work.

To access young muslims, we found the following strategies need to be considered:

1- The lead person (project manager/youth worker) needs to have very good community links

2- Partner with existing youth centres and youth groups

3- Make contact with madrasas (supplementary schooling in mosques) and community leaders

It would be very advisable to involve the families/parents right from the outset – this can be done at the project launch where parents are also invited to hear about the project and share their thoughts and any concerns. Parent involvement should be considered carefully throughout the project as the young people need to feel they can express their views and feelings openly. At these events it is also worth considering appropriate seating arrangements to meet religious and cultural sensitivities of the muslim community.

Parents and community leaders who work with young people would be invited so that they know what the project will involve and the timescale of the project. This is particularly important in order to avoid any clashes with existing projects that are also planned for the young people.

As with all work with young people its good practice to ensure consent forms are completed

The Muslim community is a very close nit community and parents will base their decision as to whether to involve their children on the organisation/s running the projects. Therefore in order to access and retain young people on the project, it’s imperative that the project and its partners are made known to community leaders and gain their trust through continuous engagement and transparency. Furthermore the language and ethos of the whole project needs to be familiar to the parents and community leaders involved.