Program: Youth
and Art Community Program
I. Introduction
Children
today are exposed to crimes, violence and other problems. Statistically,
800,000 to 1,000,000 teenage girls become pregnant each year. In the last 6
years, the murders committed by juveniles 16 years old and under have increased
by 96%. Everyday, 15,000 teens will use drugs for the first time. Every 4
minutes a youth is arrested for an alcohol related crime. Everyday 3,500 teens
run away from home while every 2 hours a youth is murdered. The homicide rate
for 14 to 17 year olds has increased by 165%; and every 7 minutes, a youth is
arrested for crime (Teens, Sex, Crime, n.d.).
These
are all alarming and unless the government and the community takes the
initiative in changing the lives of the youth today, these statistics will
continue to rise and more and more children will become victims of crime, drugs,
abuse and violence. Others, as they are exposed to drugs and violence, will
have no choice but to live a life of crime, such as joining gangs or selling
drugs.
The
Youth and Art Community Program is a youth based community center for arts
designed to address the problems of the youth of today by exposing them to art.
It also offers an alternative lifestyle for the youth who might otherwise be
involved in gangs, street crimes and violence. The program is designed to
create and operate a Youth Art House: A Youth Community Art Center for every
local community.
As
a center for arts for the youth, it offers art education for the youth of the
community. At the same time, it is a place where the works of arts of these youth
are showcased. It will also offer art groups where the youth can join and be a
part of even after they have completed their classes.
II. Mission,
Goals and Objectives
Most
crimes and violence are results of teen anger management issues. According to
teen management professionals, most teen angers are from emotional problems
such as fear or rejection or failure (Teen Anger, 2004). Thus, the main
objective of this social program is to provide the youth different art
activities so that they will learn more about their interest as they express
themselves in a constructive and creative manner. They will be taught to use
art as a medium of self expression. Then, as they learn from the activities,
they develop higher self esteem and will grow up well adjusted.
Second,
it is aimed at providing the youth different groups where they can join and be
accepted without the risk provided by gangs. According to the 2002 National
Gang Trends Survey (NGTS), there are more than 24,500 different street gangs in
the United States
and more than 772,500 of the members of these gangs are teens and young adults
(Teen Anger, 2004). These groups will be of different interest, such as poetry
group, painting groups, dance groups, etc. and they are aimed at reducing the
risk for children in joining gangs.
Third,
the program also aims to address the different problems facing youth of today,
such as teen pregnancy, drugs and hate crimes in school. These issues will be
integrated to some of the activities of Youth Art House, such as in themes for
photography, painting, writing and others.
Lastly,
the program aims to showcase the different works of its artist so that it will
serve as inspiration to the future youth of the community. At the same time, by
showcasing the works of its young artists, it will foster community support,
cooperation and unity. It will also create community awareness of the problems
facing the youth today.
III. Program
Design
Under
this Youth and Art Community Program, the Youth Art House, as a center for arts
for the youth of the community will initially offer different classes for arts.
These are Fine Arts classes: drawing, graffiti, mixed media and painting; Media
classes: funky photo, beat making (music composition, such as hip hop), music
recording, photography, photo shop and video production; Performance classes:
hip hop, dance, acting, stage production and theater and DJing. The classes
will be open to all youths in the community.
The
second part of the program is showcasing the talents of its artists. The Youth
Art House will have yearly art contest with varying themes which are about the
issues the youth faces at present. For instance, in the month of January, Youth
Art House will have Youth Teenage Pregnancy Painting Contest. Since there are
different classes, a monthly competition will be held with varying issues or
themes. This will address the third objective of the program, which is to
educate youth about the issues they are facing today.
The
third part of the program is the showcasing of the works of the Youth Art
House. In some classes, such as in painting and photography, the Youth Art
House will hold exhibitions on a regular basis. Again, the same teen
problem/issue themes will be followed. In some classes, such as in acting and
stage production, full length performances will be performed regularly, and
again with the same theme.
The
fourth part of the program is the continuing education of the youths. The class
is just the initial part of being a member of the Youth Art House. After
finishing the courses, a member may choose to join the groups, such as the
theater group, painters group, etc. These groups will continue to meet
regularly and have their own created activities. For instance, the theater
group may choose to stage Shakespeare play for Christmas while the hip hop
groups may choose to enter competitions, such as the US Hip Hop Championship
and hope to earn the chance of competing in the World Hip Hop Championship
(Pell, 2007).
IV. Guidelines
and Financing
The Youth and Art Community Program
shall create the Youth Art House for all the interested youths of the community
aged 9 to 18 years. The government shall provide the building or will rent a
suitable place for the Youth Art House. It may also choose to contact private
companies or individuals who can loan their place for tax deductions. The
government shall provide regular, but minimal funding for each Youth Art House.
The fund shall only cover the staff and operational cost for each Youth Art
House. Thus, the staff cost for the Art House, from maintenance to teachers to
supervisors, will be shouldered by the government but volunteers from the
community will also be sought, especially those who are qualified to teach the
different classes or to be the moderator of each group.
Each
Youth Art House is designed to function on its own with minimal supervision
from the government. It shall operate as a small school with its own
administrator, board members and teachers. It shall create its own programs/activities
that are suitable for the community. It shall seek support from the local
community in terms of additional funding.
Each
Youth Art House must solicit support from the local community, including
businesses and corporations within the community for additional funding. These
are all tax deductible so that the community will be more open in its support.
It may also conduct fund raising activities to fund its additional projects,
such as expenses for joining of competitions.
V. Evaluation
The success of the program will be
measured not by the achievements of the students nor by the prestige the
particular Youth Art House because that is not the objective of the program.
Yearly, it will be evaluated based on the statistics on teenage crimes, gangs
and other teen related problems within the community. In under the five year
period, should statistics show that the teenage problems have not been reduced
as expected, the program will be deemed a failure.
Works
Cited
Pell, M.B. 2007. Glendale hip-hop group to compete in national
competition. The Arizona
Republic.
Retrieved 7 March 2008 from
http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/0720gl-footklan0721.html
Teen Anger and Teen Violence
Statistics. 2004. Family First Aid Help For Kids.
Retrieved 7 March
2008 from
http://www.familyfirstaid.org/teen-anger.html
Teens, Sex, Crime, n.d. Troubling
Truths. Truth Talks.org
Retrieved 7 March
2008 from
http://truthtalks.org/whytruthtalks/faithstatistics.htm
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