In March, two workshops were held for educators and young people at the education center in Licata as part of the Drop-in project. The educational and aggregative center is located in the San Giuseppe Maria Tomasi Parish, in the peripheral Fondachello Playa district. In this context there is a strong need for constant attention from a prevention and education perspective aimed at avoiding degradation and deviant phenomena, and to improve the level of active citizenship and social participation.
The Drop-in project was selected by Con i Bambini as part of the “Fondo per il contrasto della povertà educativa minorile” (Fund to Combat Child Educational Poverty) which aims to support the transition to adulthood of adolescents, helping and stimulating them to build their own life plan. The Drop-in project has enhanced and valued two aggregative places for adolescents, spaces for educational relational engagement, in Licata and Marsala.
In March, two complementary workshops were conducted: one with the group of educators – from the Scout Group “Licata 2” and the Azione Cattolica Group “S.G.M. Tomasi” – with the aim of understanding their needs as educators and the needs, in their view, of the young people who attend the educational center’s activities.
The second workshop was conducted with a group of adolescents to listen to their perceived needs. With the young people, we went on a journey through emotions, those that represent us the most and those we struggle to manage; we discovered how boredom can hinder our motivation, how difficult it can be to share our vulnerabilities, how situations (social and non-) can generate different and contrasting emotions, and how anxiety can arise in various situations throughout our lives, from the beach to the classroom. This was the emotions workshop.
The young people were able to transmit valuable teachings: all emotions are legitimate, we just need to be able to develop the tools to manage them in a healthy way and avoid excessive and harmful reactions.
The two sessions, with educators and young people, have brought out the resources of this educating community, which, if supported, has all the potential to be and establish itself as a brilliant example of an educating community.
What emerged requires us in the coming years to commit to understanding, knowing and addressing the complex phenomena – especially the socio-emotional ones – that characterize our societies and the possibility of bringing together, as in this meeting, the various educational realities by involving and activating the participation of all.
The Drop-in project is co-financed by the Peppino Vismara Foundation and led by La Grande Casa Società Cooperativa Sociale (Milan).