Youth engagement a town hall priority

By Jennifer Hoegg

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

Facing another summer of stoned teenage troublemakers lounging around the town’s gazebo, council is looking for public input on how to encourage Windsor’s youth to engage in more positive ways.

A public discussion was planned for Jan. 30, but talks were kick-started by asking residents attending the Wednesday, Jan. 23 town hall meeting: How can we work with others to better engage the youth in our community?

Group facilitator Coun. Liz Galbraith noted that, “to a large degree, the youth in Windsor are pretty good kids. We’re only talking about a small group of people. Trying to steer teenagers in the right direction at a difficult time in their life is a difficult challenge for every community everywhere.”

Residents who participated in the group discussion on the question acknowledged that there is no simple solution. Suggestions for improvements included: peer mentoring; reaching out to untapped resources of adult mentors, such as seniors; recreational programming; looking at how other communities serve youth; reconstructing the town’s skateboard park; and engaging more parents in discussions.

One suggestion from the group that may affect future discussions is that of involving residents of West Hants in discussions. “The youth issue is beyond Windsor’s borders,” Galbraith said, “so anything we do has to include neighboring municipalities.”