Sharing in education is helping develop good relations among young people at one North West school and they are hoping that they can pass on the benefits of an Headliners and International Fund for Ireland programme to the communities they live in to bring about a peaceful future for all.
Students from Knockavoe Special School are used to sharing their school space with others of different religions yet the wider community in the Strabane area is still largely segregated so they find that they don’t really mix with people of other religions outside of school.
Josh, 19, thinks the reason some people don’t get on with others is because of the way they’ve been brought up. He said: “They’re just taking after their mum or dad, it goes down the generations. I live in a Protestant area with no Catholics around but I’m friends with some Catholics. I wouldn’t mind being friendly with more if they were friendly to me. It would be good to live in a mixed area; you could see how people react to different things. If I knew a Catholic and they were dead-on, I’d let them into my house but not just any random one.
“At a mixed school, you find out about others’ religions if they like to chat about it, you can find out what others like to do in their spare time. I think I can do my bit for a shared and peaceful future by trying to get on and socialising, and by making loads of mates. The community should keep the peace, and the council. Also the police because they calm the situation down if anything does kick off. Dissidents are still blowing places up, trying to stop things getting further than they’re going.
“I wouldn’t like it if I walked down a street and someone started on me but that’s the way some people are brought up – it’s not the kind of person I am though.”
Stephen is a 17-year-old Protestant. He said: “Protestants and Catholics don’t get along where I live. I live in a Protestant area and I wouldn’t like to live in a mixed area because there’d be fighting all the time. It’d be too rough, someone might get hurt.
“At a mixed school you get to meet more friends. In the future, I want to get married, live in the country and work on a farm.”
Knockavoe Principal, Martina, feels young people have too often been ignored. She said: “There has been very little provided for them in the community, very few activities and safe places where they can go to meet friends and have fun and enjoyment.
“We need to give all young people a voice, what they think counts, ask them what they would like, find out their ideas, hopes and aspirations. Nobody likes to think nothing good lies ahead, we want our young people to live in a country where people can live side by side, but we also want them to live a country where they can get a job and become future leaders.”
Staff and pupils alike hope that in the years ahead, they can all reap the benefits of the seeds sown by sharing in education.
About this article
Christopher (17), Damien (17), John (15), Josh (19), Stephen (16) and Shanna (17) worked together on this project.
