The Alexandra Youth Base is delivering its own brand of the concept, weaving messages about different styles of communication and body language into its weekly drop-in sessions.
The youth group had initially planned to deliver specific sessions about the different ways people communicated, which could sometimes be linked to gender or personality, youth base team leader Sharleen Stirling-Lindsay said. Some people communicated in a very direct and "black and white" manner while "others like a little bit more fluff", she said.
"This can sometimes be difficult for adults to understand and work with, and then we thought, ‘Well, if it’s hard for us to work out, imagine what it’s like for our young people’," Ms Stirling-Lindsay said.
The realisation prompted the resulting "informal, very casual" programme that provided messages about different styles of communication to help understand people’s different thought processes and delivery, she said.
Youth worker Marcene Weir said those messages were being woven into the youth base’s weekly drop-in sessions. It was decided introducing them in "a casual way" would work better than formal, sit-down sessions.
"These guys are sitting down at school all day. They don’t want to come here [youth base] and then have to sit down and be told things again. So we decided to just do it casually while we were doing other things, like having ‘a yak’. It was just about starting conversations really."
So far, the youth base had talked about body language and social cues and how it was hard to identify those if all day was spent online.
Other sessions would talk about personal care, and more about different communication styles.
Youth base member Shaun Bennett (14) said the "tips and tricks" were interesting and of value to teenagers.
"I’m getting heaps out of it. We’ve watched videos about different ways people talk to each other, done charade-type role plays and talked about how teens can be addicted to technology. It’s good to understand how different ways of communication are important, and how important it is to keep talking to each other face to face."
