The Voice of Young People on Safeguarding

This will be useful for people who are in danger and for those who need help. People may feel alone but if they can relate to someone, they may feel relieved. Firstly, we came up with a plan on how we will successfully complete an animation, we created characters of certain individuals, picked a theme song and we even discussed how the money should be spent, regarding advertising the animation.

We have a budget of £500 and would hope to spend £200 on Instagram as it is a bigger platform than other social media apps such as twitter. Furthermore, the other £200 should be spent on Facebook as the older generation usually socialise more on this app. The remaining £100 should be spent on Snapchat because people could share links, post on stories (etc).

To find out if the animation made a difference or an impact on people, we could carry out a survey at the end. We will gain different perspectives and adapt to this to future events. We should reflect on the document to make sure every voice is heard, everyone’s opinion is considered and everyone is safe.

written by young person

Within one week, learning how to make videos and the skills to edit videos were taught to most of us working for the Youth Service. We have realised most of the selling for the media must be via social media as to grab the most attention of our targeted audience of the young adults. This is also ideal, since the generation of young adults do not have any plans of reading a giant essay on social media, and would rather spend less time watching a video.

This has created a challenge for us in the team, since we only had a short amount of time to shoot this video and grab that audience’s attention. And although we learnt lots in terms of how to make videos, we believe the skills we have developed are the best in grabbing the attention of others.

Using certain software, we have created characters sharing similarities with young people. These characters are therefore relatable and using another software the movements and gestures.

I felt as though this experience was extraordinary, as I felt that learning these skills were exclusive to just the Youth Service. This not only also managed to lure some people out of their shell, it also gave us the chance to share countless ideas and possibilities on how to tackle the task at hand, and also shown us the opportunity to see how different people tackle each task differently.

This truly is an experience to remember, and something exclusive only to a few small groups such as ourselves. Team work is also a key skill here, and something that gradually improves with practice. Creativity skills are also a priority; although some of you might believe you lack the creativity, just speaking your mind and expanding your ideas are equally appreciated and relevant.

Not only were these skills taught through creating media, but given the current circumstances of Covid-19, it was a simple pleasure to be talking to each other and to see some of the team.

Written by Young Creator Lewis

At first, I was a bit worried that I was not going to be able to understand the process or get involved as I am not very creative digitally, however, I have learned some new things and been able to develop knowledge around creating digital content and the process behind it. seeing the young people’s ideas unfold and come to life has been a really really good experience for me as part of my placement. It has been quite rewarding to see the young people get involved and enjoy the experience so much.

Written by a Youth Work Student 

Fortunately, one such golden opportunity was gifted to me by the Cardiff Youth Service, as I was already in their Young Creators group. It was known as the Adolescent Strategy. It married my creativity with my fiery passion to deliver positive change to our society. At first, I thought my creativity could only be used as a showcase of art and paintings, but after undertaking this 1 week half-term project, I realised that I can use it to fulfil my duty, as a global citizen, to make the world a better place. 

And guess what? I got to make my city a better place via an exciting project, and in doing so, I received ingredients to make a Vegetarian Pizza as well as a £40 Amazon voucher as rewards! What more would you want for a 1 week half-term in lockdown?

The experience was definitely worthwhile as, not only did it involve us young people making a difference, but it also gave me experience at writing blogs, recording voices for characters and it also let me go behind-the-scenes and discover how an animated video goes from an idea to a finished product.

My favourite part of the project was choosing the right audio track – since I have quite a bit of experience with editing, I know that the audio can be the difference between an excellent video and a mediocre one. So choosing the right audio was important – eventually after a bit of browsing, we found the ideal track – bouncy and upbeat, which would help lift the viewers’ spirits.

Looking back at the video, I think the video will have a greater impact on young people, as there were a wide range of ages working on the production – the ideas and concepts that were proposed will possibly have a greater effect on young people, considering the fact that the ideas were suggested by young people – this will make the video more relatable and understandable for young people.

Overall I enjoyed the experience, of course it wasn’t the same as face-to-face, but it was the next best thing.

written by a young person