UniTeen
Social Issue
Challenges faced by disadvantaged children
Team Name
inara
Team Members
Leung Lok Yin Janice
(Diocesan Girls' School)
Chung Yan Lok Joyce
(Diocesan Girls' School)
Lam Chi Yau
(Diocesan Girls' School)
Siu Ka Yee
(Diocesan Girls' School)
Introduction of the idea
Our service targets are all secondary students in Hong Kong. Nowadays, many young people, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, may lack familiarity with their local community and surroundings. Besides, their social circles are often confined to classmates and family members. By creating a platform for passionate and like-minded individuals to collaborate on projects aligned with their interests, we aim to facilitate connections between young people and those in their neighbourhood. This initiative not only expands their social circles, it also fosters a sense of community, support, and empathy among them.
Pain points of the affected community
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, young people’s social desires cannot be fulfilled, particularly in terms of socialising within their neighbourhood or with peers outside of school. This lack of social interaction and connection with those in their neighbourhood highly affects their development of social skills, especially as they set foot into society.
The problem that aims to solve
Socialising with those in our neighbourhood is crucial for young people as it expands their social circles, satisfies their social needs., and exposes them to diverse perspectives. Through collaboration with neighbours from various backgrounds, they can gain a better understanding of different viewpoints. Building bonds within the local community also creates a support system, fostering a sense of belonging and contributing to a safer and more connected neighbourhood. Ultimately enhancing teenagers’ social, emotional and cognitive development, which is crucial for their successful transition into society.
Introduction of the innovative elements of the idea and how it can help solve the aforementioned problem
Overview:
Generally speaking, there are four stages to our idea.
* Stage 1 - Form a community
- recruit interested young individuals of our neighbourhood to join this campaign through promotions such as social media posts and word of mouth etc.
- formation of an online community through platforms such as discord and instagram
* Stage 2 - Assisted projects/activities
- the first milestone of this campaign can be something more simplistic and assisted; a tentative example would be a one-day shop keeping experiences, where the group can collaborate with smaller shops of the neighbourhood to experience what it is like to work with each other
* Stage 3 - Create an original project
- together, the team is expected to come up with original ideas, related to their chosen interest/prompt, and go through with it
- prompts may be art, service, technology, sports and food
* Stage 4 - Sustainable project development
- in order to keep this campaign sustainable, long-term plans and projects are preferred → the aim of these plans are to benefit the neighbourhood / district they live in now, as to fulfill the desire to strengthen the sense of belonging of teenagers to this community
- the team can then think of long-term goals, and build long-lasting friendships and bonds within the community
How to respond to needs:
As we focus on the social needs of teenagers, we would like to set-up a community of passionate and like-minded individuals to engage in projects of their own interest. After recruiting interested members, different sectors would be available for them to choose from (e.g. arts, service, technology, sports, food), and the small groups can come up with projects related to their theme to work on throughout the year.
New innovative approaches: A mix between online and offline community. We would like to set-up an online space for teenagers to chat safely and effectively. A good example of this would be a discord server. This way, individuals can still strengthen bonds online despite being too busy to hangout all the time. However, we would still like to facilitate and ensure offline meet-ups, so real-life friendships can be built and projects decided can run smoothly.
Utilise resources: Online platforms, such as discord servers and apps like instagram, have built in functions for group communication already. Community centres, local shops and open areas in different districts can also provide a location for projects to be run.
Positive impacts: By setting up an online and offline community, we would like to connect teenagers with similar passions, yet do not have a way of knowing each other. A community can also facilitate communication, and teenagers would be able to chat and build friendships through having projects that are their common topics and working together.
Team capabilities
- experience in setting up a self-coordinated sales stall/company
- skills in the use of technology (opening an online community to connect)
- experience in service programs
- possible inter-school connections
- expertise in different aspects & interests (eg music, sports, dancing etc.)
Existing and available resources
- readily available online communication platforms
- open areas (at different districts) of communities / estates
Organizer
Founding Partner
Supporting Organizations
