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Know your self-worth, youth advocate urges peers - Conference aims to help young people understand importance of identity

Published:Tuesday | May 22, 2018 | 12:00 AM

A distorted view of identity among some young people in St James has propelled Nicholas Campbell and the team at the International Worship Center and Faith Ministries in the parish to host a youth conference, which will be held on Friday through to Sunday of this week.

In an interview with The Gleaner, Campbell, who is the youth director at the church, indicated that he has observed that a number of youth are hurting and need an avenue to express themselves.

"We go to a number of schools and a frequent question that I am asked is, how do you recognise your identity?" he said.

"So I recognise that a number of our young people are lost and need to tap into who they really are. There are those who are distracted, and many of them complain of not having a parent who is willing to listen to them and give them advice, and so these are some of the issues we want to deal with at the conference," he continued.

Campbell noted that the conference will go beyond what happens in church to encompass practical activities, including discussions on conflict transformation and leadership.

"The upsurge of violence within our city (Montego Bay) also played a part in us planning this conference. I was looking at the age group who was doing the major crimes and these persons would have dropped out from third form. These youth became my target," he said

"At the end of the conference, I want persons to know who they are and their self-worth. The real deal will come after the conference, because we plan to do follow-ups just to assess how well they are applying what they learnt at the conference."

A concert, which will be held on Sunday, will include artistes such as Kevin Downswell, Marsha Daniels and Kevin Smith.

jodi-ann.gilpin@gleanerjm.com