SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – The Lionistic Year July 2019-June 2020 was observed as the “Year of the Youth” under the theme “Our Children/Our Future.”
In view of the then increase in disturbing incidences of violence among the school-going population, Past President Lion President Oralie Boirard and the Sint Maarten Lions Club undertook as their Signature Project the hosting of a Youth Forum to provide the young people the platform to speak, collaborate and recommend solutions for their identified priorities.
The first phase in this initiative involved the launching of an online survey where the youth were encouraged to participate in sharing their experiences in everyday life and express general sentiments about youth issues on St Maarten.
The survey was developed around the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and served to gauge our local youth’s knowledge about their rights and whether their rights are being protected.
The Survey was conducted from Feb 24, 2020 to March 15, 2020 and targeted youth ages 11-19. Students were allowed to complete the survey during school hours. While the 316 respondents to the survey do not represent a high percentage of our school going population, it is significant to note that youth violence and bullying were the most common responses to what the focus of the Lions Club, and by extension the public, should be. This corresponds to the fact that 46% of students indicated they do not feel safe at school.
Due to the ongoing restrictive measures in place related to the pandemic, the Youth Forum Event, originally scheduled for May 2020 has been postponed and plans are in place to hold a Virtual Panel Discussion in the1st quarter of 2021, amongst the youth.
The Lions Club remains committed to sharing a summary of the findings of the survey with the stakeholders (schools that participated) and the general public.
For the full viewing of results of said survey, please access via link https://bit.ly/lionssxmyouthsurvey.
The Youth and Education Committee of Sint Maarten Lions Club wishes to thank:
- Ms. Iris Hakkens, Youth Survey developer.
- Parents, for encouraging their children to participate
- School boards and school managers, for allowing the students to participate in the survey at school.
- PJD2-FM 102.7 talk show host Mr. Wendel Moore
- Philipsburg Broadcasting
- Teen Times for supporting the Youth to partake in the Survey.
This project is part of the Sint Maarten Lions Club’s 50th Anniversary celebration for 2020-2021 under the them “50 Years of Dedicated Service and Commitment to our Community”. The Sint Maarten Lions Club celebrated 50 years of existence on Saturday December 12th, 2020.
If you or your place of business is interested in contributing to upcoming Sint Maarten Lions Club projects you can donate via https://sxmlionsclub.org/makeadonation or make a direct deposit or wire transfer to the Lions Club of Sint Maarten WIB account USD 62710106 or NAF 62710104.
