One-day summit a success
May 23, 2006

More than 100 young people from schools throughout North Shore City turned out to share their ideas at Converse '06, a one-day summit to talk about crime during Youth Week 2006.

Held at ActivZone, the successful, adult-free summit saw young people exchange ideas during workshops on topics including Does the punishment fit the crime?, Beating boredom, and Graffiti.

North Shore City Council's community advisor, Pam Baillie, says speakers, including Hector Kaiwai, a Massey University researcher who relates criminal activity to social deprivation, and Mike Puru, were highlights.

"It was great to listen to the fresh ideas everyone was coming up with, and get caught up in the energy and enthusiasm they generated. We are planning a follow up to the summit to brainstorm some ideas for projects that will tackle some of the underlying causes of youth crime that were identified," she says.

A celebrity debate on It's cool to be bad was another high point of the day. The four-person teams included Shane Cortese and Mikey Havoc.

North Shore City's other event during Youth Week was Libel, organised by North Shore Libraries and also held at ActivZone. The event was packed, with more than 300 young people enjoying live bands, dance performances, X-Box games, and using the internet café to check out North Shore Libraries new teen web pages.

Artwork done on the day during a demonstration by Disruptiv Art will be touring North Shore Libraries soon.

ENDS

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