Amidst the fury of debate over issues as important as drugs and crime, there is one group in the community who haven't been heard and yet whose opinion is most relevant.
Young Australians, particularly those who are teenagers and young adults are the ones most affected by crime and drugs and yet it is their voice that has been ignored.. and for too long.
How can a proper, reasoned and balanced debate take place on the issues of crime and drug use and abuse without the input of those Australians who are most affected by crime and who are the biggest users of illegal drugs.
How can we address the problems caused by crime and drugs if we don't attempt to find out what is driving young Australians to become more involved in drug use and the drug trade.
How can we reduce the incidence of youth crime if we don't know why young Australians become involved in a whole range of illegal activities.
There must be reasons and with the reasons comes at least a guide to solutions.
There are reasons and young Australians are very aware of them. There are solutions and young Australians are continually developing ideas and programs that reach to the heart of the problems.
Despite that, the only Australians below the age of 25 who are invited to have input into national strategies on crime and drug abuse are the high achievers, the prefects and sports stars who don't encounter problems with drugs and crime and whose vision is distorted by their status in the adult community.
If Australia is to make any headway in finding solutions to the most taxing problems confronting our society then Australians and especially the Government and community leaders need to hear and take note of the opinions of those young Australians who in their everyday life, deal at the street level with the issues of crime and drugs.
You can help to make this happen.
Today's generation of young Australians differs fairly dramatically from their predecessors. Born into an era of contradictions, marked by affluence and unemployment, they have no obvious daemons to exorcise from our society.
While previous generations had a sexual revolution to fight, a war in Vietnam to stop and the militarist/imperialist attitudes of society to change, today's youth are struggling to find ways to express the values of their generation and to make their mark on history.
The issues of importance to this generation of young Australians revolve around re-establishing hope in a future that promises little in the way of meaningful engagement in society, in managing and effectively harnessing the personal freedom gained for them by the kids of the sixties and in understanding the issues and developing solutions to the problems that drive young people to become involved in anti-social behaviours such as drug abuse and crime.
This generation of young Australians knows what it has to do and many teenagers and young adults are trying their best to be heard.
One such group is Australians Advocating Change. Born in Brisbane this group is a network of school aged Australians who meet and communicate regularly to discuss the issues of most importance to young Australians, to identify their problems and develop worthwhile and effective solutions.
The Youth Alliance is not made up of the highest scholastic achievers, community leaders or sports heroes but rather of ordinary Australians who are concerned for the future of their generation and who want to have a say in the making of decisions that affect their lives now and into the future.
ATAC knows why Australian children take drugs. They know why young Australians become involved in crime and they have developed their own ideas of the best approach to solving these problems.
But they need your help to be heard...
There is only one vehicle that allows the views of young Australians to be heard and considered by the entire community and that is the mass media.
Electronic and print media has the facility to reach almost every Australia, regardless of where and how they live. Radio, television, newspapers and the internet permeate every aspect of our lives and provide the only public forum available with the scope and capacity to be effective in disseminating opinions and solutions.
The media, however, is not a public service and its facility for expression and dissemination of ideas is primarily available only to those wealthy enough to be able to afford to buy space in newspaper and advertising time on radio and television.
There are two opportunities that do exist though for young Australians to use media to reach the wider community and that's through effective media relations and through the production of community service announcements.
Media and public relations campaigns work by supplying newsrooms with information that may be described as `news'. Its an imprecise method that can result in misinterpretations and misreporting but at the same time may be effective in directing public opinion or introducing new concepts into community thinking.
Community service announcements, are on the other hand, very effective and worthwhile.
The community service announcement is the method by which media meets its licensing obligation to provide a level of community service.
Many groups in the community produce community service announcements. Usually thirty to sixty second in duration, for electronic media, most community service announcements are produced on behalf of not-for-profit organisations such as charities and advertise annual or special appeals or raise issues of importance to the community.
Radio and television stations include community service announcements in their normal advertising schedules, filling in blank spaces not already occupied by paid advertising.
While in the major centres, such as Brisbane, only a very limited number of community service announcements are used, in regional areas the network affiliates such as Seven WIN, Ten and Prime are more than happy to use a large number of community service announcements and they continue to air them for months, guaranteeing widespread audience coverage.
Community service announcements or CSA's as they are called in the media, may address any issue in almost any way and ultimately it is up to the media outlet to decide if they will give any particular CSA airtime.
For ATAC, community service announcements represent the most effective vehicle for disseminating their ideas and solutions to the problems of crime and drugs through the entire Australian community.
The CSA could be their vehicle.. but they need your support to produce and air their announcements.
To assist ATAC to share their ideas with our nation, a trust is being established to provide the funds required to produce a series of community service announcements that express the feelings and opinions of Australian's youth about drugs and crime and propose solutions for the community to consider and debate.
The trust will be established by ACRO, the Australian Community Safety and Research Organisation.
ACRO is a not-for-profit organisation that works to develop crime prevention programs and in particular programs relevant to young people. In Queensland and other states, ACRO has established programs that engage young people in debate about the social problems facing their generation, facilitated the development of solutions and assisted in their implementation at a local level.
It was through the work of ACRO that the first group of young Australians formed their discussion group which eventually led to the establishment ATAC.
The ATAC Trust will accept donations of money and services to help the group have a voice in our community. The Trust is not-for-profit, its administrators are volunteers and all donations are used for the production and placement in media of community service information.
ATAC is currently seeking assistance to produce three community service announcements, primarily for use in electronic media.
The first of those announcements tackles the problem of drugs and has attracted support from the Australian music and entertainment industry.
Leading Australian actor and voice over specialist, John Stanton, has agreed to provide the voice overs for all CSA's produced by ATAC.
Music production house, Absolute Audio, has agreed to digitally remix the sound track for the first CSA and Good Audio Sense has provided no-cost support for voice-over recording.
The script, actors, storyboards and production assistants have also been provided free of charge.
What's needed now are the production facilities, editing services and to cover tape and distribution costs.
In all, ATAC needs around $60,000 to produce and put to air its first series of three community service announcements.
It's not a lot to ask to provide a new perspective on the drugs and crime debate, to introduce a new range of ideas and concepts into the debate and to propose proactive and effective solutions to these problems.
It's not much to give a voice to an entire generation.
In addition to the various production and acting services provided free to ATAC the group has also attracted support from the public and media relations industry.
As a result ATAC is able to offer a return for support in the form of positive media publicity for those involved in the project.
ATAC plans to begin a public relations campaign once it has sufficient funding to produce its first round of CSAs. The campaign will focus on the work of the Alliance and will provide a wide range of opportunities for supporting businesses and individuals to benefit from their connection with the work of the Alliance.
The three CSAs currently being planned are only the start. The Alliance hopes to continue producing commercials and programs that give young Australians the opportunity to be heard and to have an input into all public debate on practically all issues in the community.
As recognition of the work of the Alliance grows, so also will the level of exposure for its sponsors and supporters.
Would your business benefit from being linked with a very worthwhile social program that promotes the views of young Australians.
Do you care about the future for your children. Do you want them to participate in debate on social issues and be interested and involved in developing our society.
If the answer to any of these questions is yes.. then please lend your support today to ATAC.
For more details call Clive Begg, Executive Director of ACRO, and discuss how you can contribute to a better future for all Australians.
ATAC, Australian Teens Advocating Change, is looking for new members and is hoping to create a network of young people from across Australia who will speak with one voice on important social issues. Click on the "MORE?" button below if you have any comments, suggestions, ideas or just want to be kept in touch about latest developments for ATAC.
