In five workshops last year the Guardian and her team spoke to 42 children and young people in state care about what the term ‘respect’ means to them.
‘We wanted to give the young people the opportunity to speak about the important relationships in their lives without being too prescriptive, so we chose the theme of respect’, said Guardian Pam Simmons.
‘The young people responded brilliantly with a flood of ideas, text and images that were honest and perceptive and, occasionally, very funny.’
The question then was how to report back to the consultation participants in a way that was itself respectful and would be read by other children and young people, and by adults who wanted to know.
‘The RESPECT booklet, I believe, genuinely embodies the spirit of our conversations with young people, joyous and exuberant but capturing significant truths and insights.
‘Its bright imagery and bold text can be enjoyed by anyone and its robust spiral-bound construction will make it especially useful for adults in engaging, one-on-one, with children and young people of any age and ability.’
‘The boxes from the printer will be arriving any day now and we will rush some copies of the booklet to the participants and the agencies that facilitated the consultations before arranging for wider distribution,’ she said.
The Guardian’s Office greatly appreciated the work of Time for Kids, CREATE SA, Muggy’s, Key Assets and Metropolitan Aboriginal Youth and Family Services in partnering with us on the workshops and the support of Families SA staff.
