Exposure Magazine Issue 90

A HARINGEY YOUTH PUBLICATION

free dec 07

KIDS WITH KIDS A true story of being pregnant at 13

ÂŁ0.00

issue 90

SAVED BY THE BELL Why school lessons just go on and on.

ON TRIAL Could you decide how criminals should be punished?

charlie camila

terry

camila

Camila Lopes, Charlie Aston, Terry Balson

beth

Editorial Team

Get involved Exposure is free and open to anyone aged 13 to 19 living in or around Haringey. If you want to get into journalism, design or film-making, get involved: The Bigger Shoe Box, Muswell Hill Centre, Hillfield Park, N10 3QJ Tel: 020 8883 0260 Fax: 020 8883 2906 Mob: 07947 884 282

Regrettably our office is inaccessible to wheelchair users but we will nevertheless make every effort to include your contributions.

Awards Postive Images Award for best magazine produced by young people for young people Purple Youth Award for best youth representation website London Electricity Londoner of the Year Award Nationwide Award for Voluntary Endeavour Phillip Lawrence Award Ed & F Man Award for Best London Youth Publication

Advertising If your organisation wants to get its message across to young people call 020 8883 0260

Printers Miter Press Ltd, Miter House 150 Rosebery Avenue, N17 9SR Tel: 020 8808 9776 is a registered trademark of Exposure Organisation Limited, registered in England no. 3455480, registered charity no.

1073922.

The views expressed in Exposure do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. (c) 2007. All rights reserved. ISSN 1362-8585

Sponsored by:

carmen jessica sam

emma

Opening times Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00

am am am am am

-

7.00 3.00 7.00 7.00 3.00

pm pm pm pm pm

Staff

info@exposure.org.uk www.exposure.org.uk

02

samantha

Josh B端y端kyilmaz, Samantha Harding, Sam Reinders

charlie

Charlie Aston, Emma Wills, Jessica Etherton-Baker

josh

Alex Maskill, Beth Hough, Camila Lopes, Carmen Mackenzie

alex

Contributors

Tottenham Grammar School Foundation

Andreas Koumi Enrico Tessarin Jon Golds David Warrington Aysha Tegally

Mirella Issaias Flo Codjoe Luke Pantelidou Gary Flavell Nick May

Disclaimer Exposure aims to give young people an independent voice which can contribute to the democratic process. We apologise for any offence caused by the way young people choose to express themselves.

While Exposure has done its best to check material contained within this publication, we cannot accept responsibility for inaccurate information provided by outside organisations. Organisations mentioned are not necessarily connected with nor endorsed

by Exposure.

Permission has been sought, wherever possible, for the use of copyright material.

Where contact has not been possible we hope that, as a voluntary organisation helping to educate and inform young people, it is acceptable for Exposure to use such material for the benefit of young people. If this is not the case please let us know and any such copyright material will be removed from future publications with our apologies.

social spider

Issue 90 December 2007 Look who’s talking The English language is being given a whole new twist as young people find different ways of using words. A recent update of the English Dictionary added 100 new words.

One of them was ‘crunk’.

In a world where adults are responsible for most of the decisions we often feel excluded from the things that really matter. We make a new language for ourselves to balance the system: the words we use are our own and relevant only to what happens in our lives. Only we can understand each other and adults are

no longer allowed to understand what we mean.

We never think of ourselves as having an effect on the ‘bigger picture’ – it seems impossible that phrases we casually use with our friends can be noticed by and accepted into ‘proper’ English - but our take on traditional English is slowly being accepted. People are willingly becoming involved in the dialect we have made for ourselves because the new words are growing increasingly persistent in modern culture; they cannot be ignored. Beth Hough

Rock me, Ayatollah Laura Hobbs dances across the cultural divide.

10

A Lesson in Living Boringly Yet another day at school for Alisha Bartlett.

Illustration by Tony Randall.

12

Youth Works Rory Robson works out youth workers.

Artwork and design by Janos Popp.

janos

16

Blacking out the Stars Natalie Gaylor is sick of celebrities.

Design concept by Tony Randall.

20

Street Justice Abbi Leskin on a punishing new scheme to stop crime.

24

tony rory tony abbi

alisha

laura

08

natalie

Articles

It’s Growing Inside of me Young mum Shanice Drewitt-Wilson tells her story.

03

Make bullying history HARINGEY YOUTH COUNCIL ANTI-BULLYING MARCH 22 November 2007

Hundreds of young people representing all of Haringey’s secondary schools went chanting, singing, screaming and whistling down Tottenham High Road to try and bring a stop to bullying. People stood staring from shop doorways; office workers leaned from windows; drivers honked horns; builders waved and clapped from rooftops; even bus passengers who’d been stuck behind the march for half an hour looked out with pride as they finally passed the young people bringing anarchy to Tottenham in support of one idea: to make bullying history.

04

05

Marawinner TRAIL BLAZE BOARD GAME National Award Winner

A board game about cannabis made by the Youth Offending Service and young people at Exposure has won a national prize at the Youth Justice Conference in Bournemouth.

Trail Blaze was named the best promotional work.

The game teaches young people about the legal and health risks of cannabis in a stimulating, but not that stimulating, way.

The

B端y端kyilmaz RUSH HOUR 3 Detective Lee gets into trouble while escorting Chinese Ambassador Han to the World Criminal Court Summit in Los Angeles. Detective James Carter, now demoted to traffic cop, is on hand to help and soon the mismatched pair are heading to Paris to do battle with the French police, the triads, and of course, each other. This film is a real hoot and will keep you hooting from start to finish.

Reel

BLADES OF GLORY Two rival Olympic figure skaters are stripped of their gold medals and banned from the sport for life after an embarrassing fight at the world championships. After three years off the ice one of them finds a loophole that allows them to compete again, if they can put aside their differences and skate together in the pairs figure skating category. Blades of Glory is one truly hilarious film and well worth buying on DVD. Josh B端y端kyilmaz

06

josh

jess

emma

camila

Skin creep SARA’S FACE Melvin Burgess

Sara is a beautiful and talented girl who thinks she is ugly and, even though she’s not poor, wishes to be rich and famous. When a rock star called Jonathan Heart offers her training, access to his contacts and the plastic surgery she thinks she wants, it’s like all her dreams are coming true. But Jonathan isn’t interested in Sara’s talents. What he really wants is her pretty face.

Sara’s Face is a great book because it not only made me reflect on myself but also on all the other girls around me. It made me feel better about my life rather then live dreaming about things that won’t bring me any good.

Camila Lopes

Girly chat TEENTALK FOR GIRLS Joely Carey These three books give great advice in a fresh, humorous, girl-to-girl way, and are recommended for those who keep on wondering.

Staying Cool is an A-Z on life. It gives advice on the issues teenage girls go through, like sex, drugs, inner beauty and family life. It has some good tips and ideas and helps you solve your problems in your own way.

Boys and Sex covers everything you need to know about the pressures that boys and sex bring to you. It’s a perfect book for girls who want to know all about dealing with sexual feelings and how to say no to unwanted sex. It gives you advice about becoming aware of your sexual feelings, your first steps towards sexual activity and taking responsibilities for your own actions.

This book is fantastic.

Body Changes gives you the low down on puberty and how to cope with the emotional side of things.

It covers everything from periods to being confident about the body you are in and how to look after it. It provides you with the answers to all the things you worry about as your body starts changing.

Emma Wills & Jessica Etherton-Baker

07

Rock me,

08

laura

Ayatollah Laura Hobbs does wedding dancing, Iranian style.

From what you read in the newspapers and see on TV you might expect Iranians to be kidnappers and terrorists about to launch nuclear weapons. You probably wouldn’t expect them to be good dancers.

When my dad marred Behnaz, an Iranian woman, I didn’t know quite what to expect. The wedding ceremony was relatively normal, and the only people acting oddly were my English family.

However, the reception the following night was one of the strangest experiences of my life.

“

We danced round in a circle, off beat and out of time

”

When I arrived at the restaurant it was nearly empty. Only my dad and Behnaz, my grandparents, my cousin Ruth and some new Iranian cousins were there. My new cousin Tara immediately grabbed me and said I should learn to dance. At nine years old she had not yet learnt that English people do not dance the same way as Iranians. It took several clumsily trips to the dance floor before, to my relief, she gave up trying to teach me.

People had travelled from different countries for the wedding, and they were genuinely happy for my dad and Behnaz.

I found myself hugged and kissed by several complete strangers. I smiled and pretended I was not confused. I asked my dad who these people were and he just

smiled and said ‘I don’t know - relatives of Behnaz I suppose’, and looking at a woman in a sequin dress, he said ‘She’s Behnaz’s aunt. I can’t remember her name so I just call her Aunty Honey Bear’. I still don’t know her real name.

As more people arrived the music started; everybody joined hands and started dancing. I found myself jammed between two of Behnaz’s cousins trying to keep a rhythm. We danced round in a circle, off beat and out of time: Iranian music is faster and more upbeat than British music.

The next song is English. Everyone sits down. Gradually the confident Iranians joined Ruth and I on the dance floor, and not able to dance in a circle, they resorted to copying my grandparents.

When it was time to cut the wedding cake, the dancing continued. A bridesmaid holding a deadly looking knife danced for us, moving the knife in intricate little motions she whisked it out of Dad’s reach. It turned out that it was an Iranian tradition, rather than a quick way to dispose of my dad (or starve us of cake).

Communication was a problem - with six different languages being spoken it was like a UN meeting. My dad’s wedding speech was translated by a helpful bilingual guest, but it was probably a blessing that many of the jokes were not understood: jokes about nuclear power and the even more culturally sensitive dancing did not go down so well.

The cultural differences between us were obvious. Other wedding receptions I had been to were calm and reserved: we ate salmon and sat at tables with white tablecloths and carefully arranged flowers. Iranian wedding receptions are actually fun.

09

A lesson in living

Alisha Bartlett waits for hometime.

I go to school knowing I’ll have a miserable day, but I still always go.

I wake up at 7.30 in the morning, get dressed into a monstrosity of a uniform that I am forced to wear, and try to make it look somewhere near presentable.

Then I have about a minute and a half to do my make-up. Then I run out of the door with a school bag, PE kit, and any musical instruments that I need for that day, most of the time forgetting something important.

As soon as I’ve shut the door I see the bus at the top of the hill and have to run to the bus stop, and on the days that the driver stops you have to get your Oyster card out which Is always at the bottom of your bag.

10

I have to force myself to enter the six hour prison that people call ‘school’. I go to my tutor room for registration, which is the most boring part of the day because no one has the energy to do anything.

Then you hear the bell and everyone drags their feet to the first lesson where

- my favourite “Lunchtime lesson of the day ” we are forced to listen to the teacher’s attempt to teach things they couldn’t care less about.

tony

alisha

BORINGLY

illustration by Tony Randall

Then its break and I head to the canteen where I meet up with my mates and joke and arrange where we are going to meet up for lunch. By third period I’m starting to have a better time, chatting to my friends about what they thought of Hollyoaks last night, reading the latest issue of Cosmo Girl, and sometimes doing some work.

Then lunchtime - my favourite lesson of the day. We all meet up and decide between chicken and chips or the bakery.

Then it’s off to the park where we chill until it’s time to go back. Brilliant.

We are met by those teachers who go out of their way to tells us that our skirts our too short, we are not allowed to wear patterned tights and we need to do our ties up - like their whole life is depending on it.

Then it’s fifth lesson - one more hour to go. I normally spend most of the lesson looking at the clock waiting for the big hand to hit 10. I try to leave as fast as I can.

I go to the bus stop where I wait for about half an hour to get home because I’m too lazy to walk. I get home and then it’s coursework, homework or any other time consuming piece of rubbish they’ve come up with to make my life even more of a hell than it all ready is.

I might hate school - the pushing, shouting, crowded corridors, horrible toilets and over-priced food - but I still go every day because I hope to be successful in life. School is just a game and the people that play by the rules come out on top, and the people that play by cheating lose. Bunking school may be fun at the moment, but later in life when I’m working in a job that I really despise I don’t want to look back and wish ‘if only I’d worked harder’.

11

Youth Works artwork & design by Janos Pop

What young people really want from a youth worker, by Rory Robson

12

‘All Different, All Equal’ is the slogan of this year’s National Youth Work Week which has been celebrating youth work every year since 1993. But what exactly is youth work? And why should it be celebrated?

George Fuller, 15, recalls his time at a youth club as “A good place to make new friends and have fun with sporty activities planned by the youth workers”.

Ricardo Lettieri, 15, thinks of a youth club as “A place I would enjoy going to, nothing to do with learning as it would be somewhere I would go where I would try and take my mind off school”. And David Mordern, 15, thinks a youth worker should be ”Someone who is kind and fairly laid back. I wouldn’t want them to be like a teacher at a school”.

I think of youth work as something in a community centre somewhere where lots of teenagers have a good time with their friends and youth workers organise activities and help out the young people if they have any problems.

But according to the National Youth Agency, ”The main purpose of youth work is the personal and social development of young people and their social inclusion”. As you can see the definition doesn’t say anything about

Youth workers have to follow guidelines and have special training on how to treat young people and what activities to do.

This is why it is difficult to be a youth worker. They are not only working with kids who may have difficulties in terms of learning and behaviour but also have to follow government guidelines and the parents wishes too.

If it is run by good youth workers, youth work is an excellent thing. It gives teenagers something to do out of school time, and a place where they can socialise and learn in an informal way (which has to be good, especially if the teenager is not achieving at school).

janos

rory

the teenagers enjoying themselves or having a good time. The government see teenagers as stereotypically ill-disciplined and youth clubs as something to keep teenagers off the street.

But the name ‘Youth Work’ makes it sound like youths need working with, even though they might only be going to the youth centres to be with their friends and have fun. If this sort of name was used in everyday professions, psychiatric nurses would be called ‘mind repairers’, dentists would be known as ‘bucktooth fixers’ and a retirement home would be known as a ‘dump for unloved old people’.

Perhaps if they changed the name ‘youth work’ to something more subtle, it would increase the attendance at youth clubs and maybe even the number of people taking it up as a career. The government might want them to be called ‘guiders’ or ‘teachers’, but young people think of youth workers as more of a mate. So how about we put it somewhere in the middle and give youth workers a new name: ‘Matecher’?

definition of “The youth work doesn’t say anything about teenagers having a good time

”

13

nick

GALLERY

Send your artwork to: The Bigger Shoe Box, Muswell Hill Centre, Hillfield Park N10 3 QJ Tel: 020 8883 0260, Fax: 020 8883 2906, Mob: 07947 884 282, Email: jon@exposure.org.uk

by Nick May

15

BLACKING OUT THE STARS design concept by Tony Randall

Gossip addict Natalie Gaylor asks ‘could we give up celebrities?’

She did what?! He had an affair with who? How did she lose all that weight?!

Yes, I am a self-confessed celeb-aholic. I buy magazines brimming with famous faces on a regular basis, I browse gossip websites hoping to get a quick fix, and yes, I watch E! news to check if the latest scandalous rumour is true or just lies. I am so gossip-hungry because when there isn’t much real-life gossip in school I have an urge to fill the gap. But it’s not like I don’t have school work to be doing instead of reading the latest issue of Look magazine.

16

Evolutionary biologists claim it is natural for people to look up to celebrities who have earned success. Admiring someone who has achieved what you strive for can be a positive thing. It gives you a goal and something to work towards.

But if you’re striving for the fame of a Hollywood movie star, you could end up with crushed dreams.

The term ‘celebrity’ means ‘one who is celebrated’. In our society it is an overused expression for people who are famous for just being themselves rather than for benefiting our society in some way, like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie or people made famous by reality TV. Why is it we are reading about these victims of the surreal life which accompanies fame and fortune? Haven’t we got enough problems of our own to deal with?

do not “Celebrities live in a parallel

universe invented by Heat magazine

”

While we focus on the latest celebrity socialite to succumb to the pressure to have a boob job or to slim down to a size zero, our own lives are being pushed aside. Most people want to escape into the artificial world of celebrity gossip to take a break and escape from their own lives. They want to forget about their mounds of unfinished coursework, their

tony

natalie

Today we’re hungrier than ever for shocking pictures of Hollywood actresses stumbling hammered out of nightclubs or snorting cocaine in the back of their cars. We find pleasure in glancing at photos of our favourite stars out and about off-duty, seeing them picking up their dog’s business or dropping off their dry-cleaning. Well, shock-horror! Celebrities are in fact, normal people, and do not live in a parallel universe invented by Heat and OK! magazine.

student loans and their complicated love lives. This is understandable, but facing up to these problems head-on would prove more successful. Will power is a must and you know you’re on your way to a steady recovery if you can admit you have a problem.

A world without fame would force us to live our own lives: instead of tuning in to another repeat of Newlyweds on MTV on a Saturday night, we would have to put down the remote, get up off our comfy behinds, step away from the sofa with our body shape cast into the cushions and – gasp – lead our own social lives!

By worrying less about other people’s relationships we might even get more time to worry about our own.

17

Horrorscope

by Carmen Mackenzie

18

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Mar. 21 - Apr. 20

Apr. 21 - May 21

May 22 - June 21

You’re jealous of everyone: your friends, your family, even your pets. Get a hold of yourself! You’re crazy.

You’ve been thinking a lot about the things you’ve done - put that stuff out of your mind: life is for living not for regretting.

You’re desperate to make a big change. Change is good, but not if it’s just for the sake of it.

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Sept. 24 - Oct. 23

Oct. 24 - Nov. 22

Nov. 23 - Dec. 22

Taking more chances is starting to pay off - your love life is good and will be for a long time.

Life seems dark right now, with trouble following you everywhere but don’t worry things always get better.

You’re getting greedy , but it’s not good for you. Your greediness could cost you the thing you value the most.

huw

george

amos

carmen

images by Amos Niamke, George Barrow, Huw Macdonald

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

June 22 - July 23

July 24 - Aug. 23

Aug. 24 - Sept. 23

Your romantic powers aren’t at their peak right now. True love seems very far away, and it probably is.

You’re spending too much time at home. Get out, meet up with friends and enjoy yourself away from your house.

You’re wearing yourself out. You need to spend more time in bed. Get some sleep before your tiredness begins to show.

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

Dec. 23 - Jan. 20

Jan. 21 - Feb.20

Feb. 21 - Mar. 20

Has everything been going just a little bit too smooth? Prepare yourself - things are about to get bumpy.

If you don’t love yourself how can someone love you? Well, that’s what they say, but it’s not true.

Stop wasting your time hating - most people don’t even care what you have to say about them.

19

Street

20

abbi

Justice

Abbi Leskin on a new scheme where communities decide how people should be punished.

Do you feel safe walking down graffitiadorned streets wondering whether everyone you pass is a potential mugger?

Now you can feel a little bit safer because the government is introducing Community Justice Courts - and next year, Haringey will be one of three London pilot sites.

The Community Justice Courts will be set up in existing courts with the aim of reducing crime by trying to stop people of all ages re-offending. They try and combat anti-social behaviour by working with and listening to the views of all members of the community.

The idea is that “offenders see the effect of their behaviour ”

In one innovative part of the scheme, the community decides what kind of unpaid work the offender will do, usually something related to the offence they committed. “For example,” says Jen Bracher, the Haringey representative for Community Justice Courts said, “If they did criminal damage, their unpaid work might be scrubbing graffiti off walls. The idea is that they see the effect of their behaviour and the work involved in fixing it.” It might also provide offenders with a sense of pride and accomplishment in their labour and positive contribution, meaning they wouldn’t want others to destroy or deface the hard work they had done.

The unpaid work scheme is coupled with examining why the offence may have been committed, looking at their lifestyle and educational needs and trying to resolve the problem to make sure they don’t offend again. “The courts deal with different problems such as drug and substance misuse, personal theft, environmental damage and criminal damage,’ says Jen. “They also offer other services to help solve debt, housing and other problems that may have caused the offenders to commit a crime.”

There are many ways you can get involved in the Community Justice Courts with magistrates going to schools to give talks, a mock-trial competition, a workshop at Tottenham Hotspur football club, Inside Justice week coming up, and many more events planned for the future. “If you want your opinion to get heard by the community justice courts then the best way is to get involved with local authorities because we’ll be working very closely with them,” says Jen. You could even do work experience at the courthouse.

For more information on Community Justice Courts and future events contact Jen Bracher on 020 8273 3817 or 020 8273 3808 or email Jennifer.bracher@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

21

y n o A

by Carmen Mackenzie, Camila Lopes & Jessica Etherton-Baker illustrations by Michael Broad

I’m 16 and I just found out I’m pregnant. I don’t know how I’m going to tell my mother or how my boyfriend is going to react. I’m so scared. What if he leaves me?

What if my friends are ashamed of me? What if my mother asks me to leave home? How am I going to study and take care of a baby? It’s the end of my life.

You have to talk to someone, and quickly. Go to the sexual health clinic at St Ann’s and let someone talk you through all your options. Then whatever you decide to do, at least you will make an informed decision. Your mum might be mad at you, but she’d probably be more upset if you didn’t tell her. And if your boyfriend leaves you, or your friends are ashamed, then you’re better off without them.

I’ve been going out with my girlfriend for a while now and I bought her a really expensive present for her birthday. That’s when things started to go a bit funny.

Now she’s always got something else to do when I want to see her. and she ignores most of my calls and texts. I love her and I don’t see her at all. What can I do?

When you have feelings for someone, and they have the same feelings, but their feelings aren’t for you they’re for the things that you buy them, it can be very upsetting. Whatever you do, don’t try and win her over by buying her something even more expensive. Instead, leave her to love things, and find someone who loves people.

michael

jess

camila

carmen

I have this friend who won’t speak to me anymore. We were all in the park and as the joker of the group I was making them all laugh. My mate started telling me to shut up because she was going to wet herself, and I thought she was just saying that, so I carried on.

But she actually wet herself and ran home! She hasn’t spoke to me since.

She should have just tried to laugh it off and it would have been forgotten about (except for sometimes being mercilessly teased for having wet herself that time in the park). Now she’s so embarrassed she doesn’t think you’ll ever want to be with her again, and it gets harder to talk to you the longer she waits. So call her up and invite her out (for a really boring night with no laughing).

Now that the weather has got colder I have got a difficult problem that I don’t know how to handle. It concerns a very sensitive and delicate part of my body: my feet.

Ever since the temperature dropped my little toes have been freezing. They’re cold enough to make my eyes water, except it’s so cold my tears turn to ice. What can I do?

Get some furry boots you idiot.

,

,

IT IT ’S

GROWING

INSIDE OF

ME

24

T

’S GROWING

INSIDE OF ME

Shanice Drewitt-Wilson on being 13 & pregnant.

From the day I had sex up until the day I gave birth I had my periods every month like normal, so could I be pregnant? No? Well that’s what I thought.

I went to the doctor complaining of a stomach ache and vomiting. They said I must have a virus and sent me home with Pepto-Bismol, which isn’t supposed to be used by pregnant women.

I discovered my pregnancy one night just before going to bed. Something moved in my belly. I poked it back and it kept moving and moving and moving - I knew it was coming soon. I was so scared and alone, although I didn’t have to be. I thought I couldn’t talk to anyone because no one would understand what I was going through and everyone would judge me - call me a ‘slag’, ‘ho’, or ‘loose’ because that’s what all the girls having sex at that age were being called in school.

I carried on as usual, except I had to drop out of PE because I was getting out of breath easily. I blamed it on my asthma and even lied to the doctors so they gave me a sick note. I was doing a good job of hiding my pregnancy. I carried on hiding my secret, still not thinking about it, just blocking out the situation.

Ten days after my fourteenth birthday, I started to get some bad stomach cramps like someone was squeezing my insides. I felt some wet on my bed. It was about 1.30 a.m. First of all I thought my period was coming. I turned on the light and there was no blood on the bed only a clear liquid dripping out of me. I ran up and down

the stairs about six times to the bathroom sitting on the toilet and getting towels. After about 15 minutes my mum came downstairs - she must have heard me - I was so frightened. She came into my bedroom and asked what was wrong - ‘I’m pregnant, mum!’ She just cried and cried and cried and said ‘My little baby went through that all alone!’

was no blood “There only a clear liquid dripping out of me ”

She called an ambulance still crying and it arrived around the corner from my house in two minutes. She told my older sister (15 years old at the time) that I had had an asthma attack and that she should look after my little brother until tomorrow because I was going to the hospital - I couldn’t even tell my sister I was pregnant.

I was driven to North Middlesex Hospital and asked a load of questions that I didn’t answer, and at the hospital I was rushed into the delivery suite. I fell asleep even though I was having these terrible, painful contractions. I just remember being woken up by a doctor with an African accent saying ‘Shanice, open your eyes - the baby is coming.’ So I had to start pushing - yeah, it was painful.

The epidural didn’t help. Finally, I had pushed out my beautiful baby boy.

25

UK Youth Parliament elections are taking place across Haringey from 28 January to 1 February 2008.

If you are 11-19, you can stand as a candidate and represent the voice of young people in Haringey across London.

To take part in manifesto writing

workshops, or to help run the elections, call Joyce Ogunjobi on 020 8493 1002 or email youth.office@haringey.gov.uk before 31 December 2007.

Directory Youth clubs

Mental health

Muswell Hill Area Youth Project Muswell Hill Centre, Muswell Hill 020 8883 5855

Antenna For black African and African-Caribbean young people 9 Bruce Grove, Tottenham 020 8365 9537 www.antennaoutreach.co.uk

Bruce Grove Area Youth Project 10 Bruce Grove, Tottenham 020 3224 1089 Wood Green Area Youth Project White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre 020 8489 8942 Broadwater Youth Club Structured sport-based programme Broadwater Community Centre, Tottenham 07870 15 7612 Triangle Twilight Bridge Club Structured youth project 93 St Ann’s Road, Tottenham 020 8802 1955 Sexual health 4YP Haringey Young people’s sexual health services including dedicated clinic, drop-in sessions and the 4YP bus www.4yp.co.uk 0800 1613 715

Haringey Young People’s Counselling Service Advice and support for young people White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre 020 8489 8944 Host General mental health care 312 High Road, Tottenham 020 8885 8160 Revolving Doors Agency Tackling the link between mental health and crime Tottenham Town Hall 07986 708 461 or 07779 098 269 www.revolving-doors.co.uk Victim Support Haringey Working for victims of crime 020 8888 9878 www.vslondon.org Housing

Young Mums To Be Course in Wood Green for teenage mums 122-124 High Road, Wood Green 020 8889 0022

Shelterline Shelter’s free housing advice line 0808 800 4444

Outzone Confidential information and support for lesbian, gay and bisexual young people www.outzone.org

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Programme of personal development 020 8826 9393

Disabilities Markfield Project Inclusive services for disabled and non-disabled young people Markfield Road, Tottenham 020 8800 4134

Volunteering

BTCV Millennium volunteers national volunteering programme www2.btcv.org.uk Employment and training

Drugs and alcohol

e2e Employment scheme 122-124 High Road, Wood Green 020 8889 0022

Step-Ahead For young people with drug or alcohol issues 40 Bromley Road, Tottenham 020 8493 8525

KIS Training Helping young people into employment 1 Ashley Road, Tottenham Hale 0871 200 2321

Cosmic For the families of people with drug or alcohol issues 0800 38905257

Haringey Connexions Centre Careers advice 560 High Road, Tottenham 020 8808 0333

Domestic Violence Hearthstone For people experiencing domestic violence 10 Commerce Road, Wood Green 020 888 5362

Harington Scheme Preparing young people with learning difficulties or disabilities for work 55a Cholmeley Park, Highgate www.harington.org.uk Junction One-stop shop for young people 2nd Floor, Wood Green Library 020 8881 7050 www.thejunctionharingey.co.uk

27