Exclusion criteria in a different way: “Only for young people” is the new name of a page on the Ebersberg district’s homepage. While young people are often left behind when it comes to access to clubs, films over 18 or buying strong alcohol at the supermarket checkout, here they are number one. Which does not mean that adults are not allowed to click into the page, as the municipal youth protection officer Ingo Pinkofsky recently reported to the members of the youth welfare committee in the district.
The model for the new offer of preventive youth protection is the Forstinninger Kifferbankerl. A QR code attached to the back of the small bench, which has long since become a meeting place for young people, links to a page with information and help on cannabis use. In the future, adolescents in the Ebersberg area should be able to access their page on the online presence of the district office in a very similar way. Even if in this case the ulterior motive is missing, that with such a code, attached to more or less secret meeting places, you can make it clear to young people that it is known what they are doing there – and that they are with a joint in their hand still move in a legal gray area.
The Corona period has increased the stress among adolescents
Psychoactive substances – not only cannabis but also alcohol – are of course also a topic on the “for young people only” page, but only one of many. If you get to the site via the QR code or via an active Internet search, Ingo Pinkofsky and his colleague Kerstin Meyer guide the visitor into the thematic blocks with a short introductory video. Hidden behind a blue and an orange speech bubble, which is divided into problems, worries and needs on the one hand and strength-makers, solutions and help on the other, the young people can then read what interests them.
“The dark and the light side of power,” Pinkofsky calls the two areas. It’s about stress, for example, “you don’t always believe it, but they’re really stressed,” said the youth officer at the committee meeting. And the Corona period increased the stress among the adolescents, “for a long time the young people were not an issue for politics”. A green button takes you to a general introduction to the problem, its definition and the most common causes of stress. In a short video, members of the Grafing Youth Forum have addressed the topic. Tips for self-help, links to professional help offers and a list of methods to find inner peace round off the point.
The thematic complexes are all structured in the same way. Loneliness and depression, violence, fears and risky behavior are further sub-items on “the dark side”, parallel to this there are references to sources of strength, finding one’s own strengths, healthy life, one’s own goals, protection options for special situations.
“We don’t want a side of adults for teenagers.”
Similar to the topic of stress, young people are called upon to make their own contributions, Pinkofsky explained to the committee members. “We don’t want a page from adults for young people, but the goal is to inspire young people so that they can participate themselves.” In order to increase awareness of the offer, they want to distribute promotional videos via TikTok and Instagram and approach all schools, youth centers and youth clubs in the district and advertise with posters there. The posters, or just the QR codes, should also be attached to known meeting points. “That with the QR code is brilliant”, the idea is to arouse curiosity, this “let’s see what’s behind it”.
According to Pinkofsky, the list of topics offered is far from complete, and suggestions from the meeting such as diversity, sexuality, dealing with anger or criminal offenses should also be included. The site still has room for many ideas – not only but above all from young people.