Mitigating the impact of substance abuse has been at the centre of front-line youth work for many years. While much attention these days is focused on climate change, fake news and radicalisation, the drug problems that were front and central of youth policy and action in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, are still considerable today and front-line youth workers are expected to respond to these persistent problems with little in terms of training support to develop new methodologies for addressing the problems that are somewhat exacerbated by the social media habits of youth today. For the youth of today technology is ubiquitous. Over time technology has fused itself with learning, both in education and personal development. Smart phones, tablets and laptops are just some of the devices that are frequently used by a large proportion of the population of Europe, particularly young people. In 2016, 91% of young people in the EU made daily use of the internet. (Euro Stat). As countries increasingly move toward more relaxed drug laws, the role of educators and in particular front-line youth workers will become the main focus of public services who wish to prevent drug abuse. The VIDA project will develop and pilot a completely new type of drugs awareness training through the provision of innovative interactive inforgraphics addressing the 3 key themes of Problem Definition, Appropriate Response Actions and Prevalent Problems Today. 4 infographics will be developed for each thematic area resulting in a suite of 12 infographics each one focusing on a clear, succinct message. While these infographics will obviously have a direct impact as simple posters or images to display or share through social media, the real innovation of the VIDA project is that each of the 12 infographics will contain a QR code which leads directly to a fully interactive version with a range of different learning resources embedded as videos, audios, quizzes, puzzles, digital breakouts, WebQuests, etc. Each of the 12 interactive infographics will comprise a combination of at least 3 or 4 different learning resources that address the specific topic chosen. This will help to ensure that all learning styles can be catered for and that the learning outcomes can be reinforced throughout the learning experience. To support the implementation of these resources the project will also develop an In-service training programme for front-line youth workers to build their skills to develop interactive infographics; a Peer leadership programme to support a new cohort of peer leaders to harness the full potential of the interactive infographics developed and build their knowledge about the key themes being addressed; an Online interactive portal - VIDA MOOC that hosts all the learning materials developed and is accessed through QR code contained on the hard copy infographics developed. By the end of the project: - 12 interactive infographics addressing drugs awareness issues will be developed in 5 partner languages - 30 front-line youth workers will complete the pilot of the in-service training programme - 30 young people will complete the peer leadership programme - 250 young people will engage with the interactive infographics developed through the online portal provided
We wanted to develope material that is easy for individuals or in a group use. We wanted to make the material easy to reach out and go through and use in different situation as an individual, or in a group or in a community. The material is available through the online and for the user it is easy to print it out as a physical poster.
Raising more awareness of drugs impacts by developing virtual materials for the youth workers and youth themselves as a peer leaders. Young people use basic internet skills 20% more than the average for the whole population. Our attitudes have collectedly shifted and so with it has the role of parents, educators and youth workers. They are no longer the escorts of information. Instead, they are now tasked with providing the necessary skills to enable young people to apply critical thought, reason and structure to the information they gather from a vast multitude of sources. Tools for drugs awareness: 1. Problem definition: The role of drug type and patterns of use in drug related harms, Who it impacts and where it impacts to gain understanding of the social costs of drug problems, Early warning systems and key indicators. 2. Appropriate response actions: Contextualizing factors and influences such as public attitudes and legal framework. Promoting harm reduction: how to help an individual and establishing the importance of individual and community well being. 3. Prevalent problems today: Information on new psychoactive and synthetic drugs, addressing the misuse of medicines and the dangers of the dark web.