Participation in Action: Sharing problems helps adopted teens offeradvice
Gabriella Jozwiak
Saturday, June 8, 2013
All teenagers have to cope with difficult emotions, but those faced by adopted children and young people can often be greater.
To address this, a group of young adopted teenagers from West Yorkshire have created a booklet for other young people to improve their emotional literacy.
Supported by Calderdale Council's adoption team, the group of six adopted 14- to 18-year-olds produced the guide during weekly meetings over two months. All the members had been referred to the council for extra support because of problems arising from their adoption placement. Calderdale's adoption support worker Robert Glover, who leads the group, says the council created the group so that the young people understand there are other teenagers with similar difficulties.
"They might have psychological difficulties based on early trauma, problems at school or with their adoptive parents. What they all share is a feeling of isolation," he says. "It also gives families some respite."
The young people on the project were drawn from 20 teenagers to have participated in the group since 2011. They have worked on other youth-led projects, including helping the council produce its statutory children's guide to adoption. They have also created an information pack on internet safety for adopted children, which includes guidance on issues such as contact with birth families, and a leaflet about attachment.
Glover says the idea for the emotional literacy project sprang from the work the group had done on attachment. "That work was quite hard-hitting because it involved things that happened when you were little," he says. "The emotional literacy project was intended to be more of a self-help guide."
The group began the task by discussing their understanding of emotional literacy. They talked about challenging experiences they had faced and what typical teenagers might go through. Jayne, a 16-year-old member of the group, said it was useful "to learn more about feelings and how they work".
By working with a local artist, they explored how to visually present their findings and advice. A journalist also helped them develop the language in the booklet so that it could be marketed to and understood by a wide audience. The group decided to include question-and-answer sections and a wordsearch, so young people could interact with the guide. It includes advice such as: "Express how you're feeling by talking to trusted people rather than bottling your emotions until you blow up."
Once the group had finalised the booklet, they sent copies to 30 secondary school students for feedback. They included a questionnaire to evaluate how helpful the information was for young people who were not adopted.
"About 90 per cent of the young people thought the booklet was interesting, eye-catching and said they felt better informed when they read it," says Glover. "They said it was more engaging than something an adult would have produced."
Glover says the process has helped the young people involved practically as well as emotionally. "The point of the group is that they look at issues that affect them. By doing that in a way that involves presenting information for others, it's a gentler way of exploring their own issues," he says. "In terms of their self-confidence, now that we have done several of these leaflets the group members are feeling much better about themselves. They now feel adults have more respect and time for them."
He adds that the experience has also given the young people valuable practical skills such as editing, marketing and decision making.
The group plans to include the leaflet with the council's adoption newsletter when it is sent to all adopted children in the area. They are also looking for new partners, such as schools or charities, that can produce more leaflets and send them to young people beyond the council area. "We know from our sample in local schools it's a useful thing for PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) lessons and for adopted children," says Glover.
One of the young team, 17-year-old Jade, says developing an understanding of emotional literacy has helped her "understand myself and others". "It helps you to learn how to deal with yourself and emotions as they come up," she says. "The adoption team group is like a family. We all understand each other because we have the same things in common."