Youth on board

Airdrie Board of Youth Affairs BY JILL IVERSON

In 2005, a group of Airdrie residents sought to enforce a youth curfew in the city to tackle crime rates. Concerned about their rights, a group of young citizens banded together in protest and formed Hyjinx. After multiple restructurings, we are now known as the Airdrie Board of Youth Affairs, or ABYA for short.

Wrapping up 2020 with our vaping initiative (in which we played a role in amending the smoking bylaw), we’re starting 2021 by making ourselves more accessible to young people as a means to advocate on the issues that matter to them.

This means hearing from you directly via our new community forum. Below we’ve outlined the three most significant issues we think are affecting young people.

Are we missing something? We implore you to have a conversation with the young people in your lives.

Let us know if you have any community issues or concerns that directly impact Airdrie youth. Go to ABYA.ca and write to us in the community forum.

SOCIAL SKILLS AND ISOLATION “In regard to social cues and judging how to act within an environment, youths today need some guidance on how to act in both the real and virtual world.” - Muhib, Chair, third-year university student

“Poor social skills can lead to increased risk [to] mental and physical health. We should embrace ‘talk less and listen more.’ Socially isolated children are at risk of poor social skills. To build these skills, therapy and counselling in the most extreme cases are important. Youth should focus less on the virtual world.” - Zohaib, general member, Grade 7 MENTAL HEALTH “Mental health maintenance is vital. By improving on what we already have, we can ensure that youth have proper access to services and resources for their mental health. By forming strong and trusting connections, we can effectively help youth and give them someone to talk to.” - Jack, general member, Grade 10

“In a constantly evolving world, one with abundant choices and no definitive direction, any one of us can feel lost or that we’ve irreversibly changed our future. It is very important that we look after the mental health of the youth in our community to help strengthen the leaders of tomorrow” - Kaigh, secretary, third-year university

TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD “Especially for those without responsible adult figures, the skills associated with independence (cooking, repairs, finance) are lost. This makes for a delayed and difficult transition to independence and adulthood.” - Hitomi, vice-chair, first-year university student

“Given the current global climate, there is real concern for the youth of tomorrow. In these formative years of critical networking, whether that be in a classroom, laboratory, or a jobsite, present online restrictions require organizations to redevelop their delivery methods to assist youth in skills otherwise currently being neglected.” - Alex, social media director, second-year university student life