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Youth Studies Australia v.16 n.3
September 1997

Outlook of rural secondary students: A preliminary case study in North Queensland, by Lisa Bourke
Youth Studies Australia, v.16, n.3, September 1997, pp.11-16.

The opportunity to complete secondary school is something most Australians take for granted. However, finishing high school when the local school does not offer anything beyond Year 10 is more difficult. The financial cost and psychological difficulties of boarding school suggest that students in rural schools which do not offer Year 12 are less likely to finish secondary school. This study addresses the issue of completing Year 12 when it requires attending boarding school, by investigating the perspective and plans of students facing such a situation. Results indicate that many more students plan to finish high school than actually do, and that the intention of finishing high school is more common among younger students as well as girls. Other attitudinal, behavioural and cultural issues are explored as explanations of these differences.

Development of the Teenage Cancer Peer Support Program, Canteen, by M. Carr-Gregg, C. Olsson, J. Toumbourou & G. Bowes
Youth Studies Australia, v.16, n.3, September 1997, pp.22-26.

With current medical technology, many young people diagnosed with cancer are able to be cured or given extended periods of disease remission. While treatment regimes are meeting with considerable success, the diagnosis and treatment of cancer is nevertheless often met with experiences of anxiety and despair. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of referring patients to cancer peer support groups to assist those adjusting to a diagnosis of cancer. More specifically, the development and structure of the Australian Teenage Cancer Patients Society (CanTeen) is discussed in detail.

Adolescent role-players in medical education: Learnings and reflections, by Carey J. Denholm & Stephen Wilkinson
Youth Studies Australia, v.16, n.3, September 1997, pp.27-30.

Attaining a high level of practical physician/patient communication skills forms the basis of effective clinical assessment and patient support. This project aimed to foster the development of communication skills in fourth-year medical students through the involvement of selected and trained senior medical students and adolescent role-play patients. Senior students became skilled in providing peer feedback, video debriefing and analysis and fourth-year students developed skills, knowledge and awareness of effective patient communication. Through the involvement of ten trained adolescent patients, realistic patient scenarios were developed and enacted. Details outlining the nine-week instructional unit are described.

The Questacon-Myer Project: Science for street kids, by Joanne Codling
Youth Studies Australia, v.16, n.3, September 1997, pp.31-35.

The Questacon-Myer Project was set up as a feasibility trial to find out if hands-on science activities could reach disadvantaged young people. The QMP consisted of four different projects in 1995-96, plus an additional program in Canberra in 1997.
The study found:

  • Disadvantaged young people can be engaged by interactive science and are willing to show curiosity and interest.
  • Science and technology are relevant to young people and help increase awareness, confidence and employment opportunities.

When offering programs for disadvantaged young people:

  • The right environment is crucial - disadvantaged young people seem to relax and join in fastest in familiar places where they feel comfortable.
  • A familiar location makes it easier - the hardest problem with the programs was getting a group to regularly attend.
  • Be interactive - information should be delivered in a hands-on format.
  • Be flexible - programs, supervisors and expectations must remain flexible.
  • The right presenter makes all the difference. A presenter must be able to develop rapport with young people and be creative and adaptable
  • It takes time to set up a new program. Because communication works by word of mouth, it may take months to get a semiregular group to come.

Community Accountability Conferences: A collaborative project between police and schools, by Alexander Morey & Helen Bruce
Youth Studies Australia, v.16, n.3, September 1997, pp.17-21.

Between mid-1995 and the end of the 1996 school year staff at a high school in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia conducted a collaborative pilot project with local police to deal with minor offending behaviour occurring within the school. The pilot developed a process called the Community Accountability Conference which supplemented the school's behaviour management process and had as its aim "to provide an effective way of dealing with breaches of criminal law that occur within a school setting when a decision has been made by persons involved not to deal with the offence through the justice system".
Over the period of the pilot 24 Community Accountability Conferences were held with an overwhelming positive response by participating victims and perpetrators. Of the 24 perpetrators involved in the conferences only one reappeared with a similar offence within the school's behaviour management process.

Homeless young people in Australian children's fiction: 1991-1995, by Maureen Crago
Youth Studies Australia, v.16, n.3, September 1997, pp.36-46.
This article briefly summarises some representative research and expert opinion on youth homelessness. It examines the representations of homelessness in 11 novels and two picture books of Australian origin, published between 1991 and 1995.
The article explores these fictional representations (with comparisons to actual research) and describes the authors' interpretations of: why young people leave home; where they live; how they manage to survive; whether they had other options; the way they feel love and friendship; the homeless against the world; and whether they have hope for the future.