GLOBAL YOUTH FORUM

In Week 7 of Term 4, twelve Year 9 students were given the opportunity to participate in a ‘Global Youth Forum’ over three full days. Students joined over 1000 other participants from Victorian schools and international schools in Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, and China. The program was run by the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) and University of Melbourne and funded by the Victorian Government. Representing Geelong High were Charlie Harper, Josh Hobbs, Ethan Hobbs, Georgette Roswell, Charlee Pearson, Gracie Whitworth, Phoebe Sortino, Charlie Whykes, Jackson Fillipi, Tre Callanan, Jaxon Heikkila-Taylor and Immogen O’Shannessey.

The forum consisted of Zoom breakout sessions, daily goal setting, brainstorming, teamwork and listening to guest speakers. Students were asked to focus on goals such as creative thinking, critical thinking, communication, and care for others. The guest speakers included Ahmed Hassan (Young Australian of the Year, Victoria) and Sizol Fuyana (Young NT citizen of the year). Guests shared their stories of identity and explained the work they do as young leaders. In the Zoom breakout sessions with other schools our students discussed the meaning of identity, culture, belonging and what it means to be a global citizen.

It took a day for our Geelong High team to gain confidence and find their voice but by day two everyone was madly taking notes, openly communicating their views, listening to others, and learning new ways of thinking. I, as the teacher watching our young representatives was very proud of their positivity and the respect they showed others.

I asked the students how they found the forum and what they felt they gained from the experience. Below are a few of their responses:

“I learned how much racism can affect others and their daily lives.”

“I had a lot of fun talking to people from other schools.”­

“It gave me a different way to look at the world and how we treat others.”

“The program made me want to meet more people from different communities.”

“I loved how we all worked together to do things and learnt new things from people from other countries and here in Australia. I think that I might volunteer for some more things now since I had a great experience doing this.”

“I think that doing this was a great thing and might help me get a job and is good to have on the resume.”

Anna Wild