In the framework of the European Program Enable www.youth-life.gr , a Hackathon for young people is now running.
A traditional hackathon has a group of programmers that work in a very short time frame to produce a software product of some sort.
The ENABLE Hackathon is not that type of hackathon. We are gathering young people over the summer to present a creation by September 27th.
Hackathon has the following goals:
- The encouragement of youth to cooperate together in groups (youth participation) and to create products which apply to their peers (peer to peer activity)
- The opportunity to deal with an everyday multifactorial challenge, in an holistic and positive way, (through management and encouragement), such as violent and bullying behaviors
- The chance of “expression” through technology, offering youth tech expertise and knowledge
In Greece, three groups have worked intensively for Hackathon's mission and have been developed with group names and principal ideas as follows. Logos of each group are also available-not yet for presentation.
1. Self C.H.E.S.S. (Cyber Help to Eliminate Silent Stories)
The acronym was inspired by the fact that we are all unique and independent units- “Self” and at the same time we live, function, and survive in a society of different people, with different roles, based in specific rules and behaviors -“Chess”.
We see ourselves as participants in a chess game, we have to decide every move while at the same time we consider the “moves” of the other participants. Our group consists of youth aged 13-17 years old.
2. MOS (Μy Οwn Space) The Hidden Dimensions
Our Group deals with the issue of Interpersonal Distance. Levels of Interpersonal Distance (intimacy, personal distance, social distance, public distance), are considered as “hidden spaces” among people relationships. Dealing with violence, violent behaviors, small and/or larger concentric cycles are shaped with a different aspect of approach.
Interpersonal Distance-My Own Space is a personal tool which:
- is individualized
- becomes necessary condition of human relationships
- may solve any condition, issue, subject by giving a selected location
- strengths self-confidence and self esteem of each individual
- limits loneliness and isolation
- becomes a way of reinforcing healthy behaviors
- becomes a personal and dynamic way allowing youth to develop skills such as decision making and problem solving
3. Active Observers-3B (Bye Bye Bullying)
The group, through a youth friendly and positive way addresses bullying using personal experiences and emphasizing in activating observers, as key persons.
Participants act as observers, and at the same time they try to deal with a number of incidents with debatable outcomes, through a wide range of typical dialogues, which take place in common places for youth, such as school, leisure and online environments.
At the same time, participants are asked to choose the most “appropriate” and effective way to deal with such incidents. A range of different forms of violent-bullying behavior are raised and examined (verbal, physical, sexual, psychological, online). Particularly, dialogues from the everyday school and personal life are used in order to suggest ways of dealing with bullying, while typologies of everyday personalities focus on various situations (e.g “smart guy”, “nerd”, “popular guy” etc.)
