“The use of social media in youth work” is the title of a training course I attended in Gdynia, Poland. It was one week of interesting workshops, sightseeing, drinking coffee and having a lot of fun. That week was one of the best experiences of my life and you can find more details about it in the following article.
The arrival day was on Tuesday, 21st of September. One of the organizers, Karolina, hosted us in 110Hostel in Gdynia. Participants were from four states: Poland, Italy, Greece and Croatia. All combined, there were 20 participants.
On the first day of the training course, Wednesday, we get to know each other through several games and energizers. After lunch, we had sightseeing in Gdynia. The weather was good, so we also played some outdoor games. On the second day, we started workshops about safety on the internet and all the threats on the internet. We made a mind map and discussed each threat and how to defend ourselves. In the afternoon we hosted a journalist and we talked about media evolution from paper to internet. In the evening we held an intercultural dinner. Every country presented its own language, geography, music and food. It was indeed educational and fun.
Social media became a topic on the third day. First, we listed all that we could come up with. Then, each group chose two social media and researched about them on the internet. After that, we presented all the information we found. Also, we made informative material about safety on the internet and statistics that show the real situation about problems.
On the fourth day, Saturday, our topic was again hating speech. This time we had a word café discussion. There were three groups and three moderators. Each moderator had their own topic to discuss with every group and at the end, each moderator explained what have the groups concluded about that topic. In the afternoon we had the free time that we used to visit Sopot, the tourist destination on the Baltic Sea.
On the fifth day, we made materials for people working with youth to easily show and explain safety on the internet and hate speech. There were videos, presentations, quizzes and many more things done for that purpose. We also discussed everything that was done and made improvements.
On Monday, the sixth day, we visited one high school and we presented few things we made the days before. Also, we met the students and had a talk about our Erasmus project. After lunch, we went to Gdansk and had a city tour. It is a truly beautiful city with such touching history.
On the last day, we did a final evaluation and Youthpasses were handed. In the end, we did an Oxford debate on freedom of speech – is it truly without consequences. Some participants, including myself, departed home, and others took their flights the next day.
To summarise, I will give my impressions and opinions about this training course. I loved it. At first, I was not sure if I want to go, but finally, I decided to go. I definitely do not regret it. I met wonderful people from all around Europe, exchanged some knowledge that can not be found in any book and heard stories that deserve admiring. The organizers were excellent and the whole group was very harmonised. Of course, there are some things to improve, like the menu, but all in all, those are trifles. I can not wait to participate in the next Erasmus+ project!
Author: Kristijan Gaži
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