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Health: Sex, drugs and a healthy lifestyle

5 mins read Health Youth Work
Coventry's forward-thinking Shadow Project sends youth workers into schools and colleges to deliver health lessons. Tim Burke finds out why this approach has been so effective in engaging young people and dealing with sensitive issues.

"That's not cannabis, that's just a bush!" complains one young man. He's one of a group of 15-year-olds from Coventry who are taking part in a school-based drugs information session called "Wicked Night Out", run by project worker Vicky Millard.

Millard has rearranged the classroom furniture into a less formal setting. Then having established ground rules, she uses cards with images and information about drugs that young people have to match.

The teacher stays in the background, helping with forming small groups, collecting cards and crowd control, if needed. A second card exercise raises issues such as spiked drinks, emergency contraception and how risky situations can be made safer. There is plenty of banter and swagger, but careful listening also shows more serious discussion too.

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