To avoid addictions and to know how to help those who are stuck in them – that is where Petr Kadlec leads children with his programs.
Petr actively involves the whole class into the program. Students themselves look for appropriate solutions to specific difficult situations.
At the beginning of the program for eighth and ninth grade students, Petr presented three stories of children who have fallen into addiction.
Adam was an athlete and had not a warm relationship with alcohol. But his girlfriend did. If he wanted to keep her, he got more and more into where her group of friends was. And that was a slippery slope.
Barbora had experienced a great disappointment from her mother. Growing up only with her, the loss of trust hurt her greatly, and so self-harm lurked outside the door, offering short-term relief.
Cyril was a rather withdrawn boy. Little by little, he fell into an addiction to computer games.
“Attention!” Petr warns students. “It is very easy to develop an addiction to almost anything!”
Against the backdrop of these stories, the Healthy Youth program began to unfold in which the children themselves sought to cope with similar pitfalls. After all, the story could happen to anyone! Gradually, ideas for solutions emerged. “As your group is, so will you be,” said Petr. “Yes – so let us beware of what those, we surround ourselves with, live by. Some groups of ‘friends’ may have to be abandoned.”
“Let’s invite Adam (Cyril) on a trip!” suggested the children. Petr complimented them on their solution.
However, he didn’t always explain everything in detail – so the children had the opportunity to get involved with their own suggestions. In the end, Petr acted out small skits with a few volunteers from the class, in which he represented a victim of addiction, and the children helped him out.
The program took place shortly after the schools opened to full operation, but still with mandatory respirators and face masks for now. You could tell the kids hadn’t been able to talk for a long time, and Petr had a full slate of programs this week.
Students listen carefully. Petr’s talk about addictions is very interesting and still relevant for all of us.
“Please, I need you to cooperate a little better,” he told the children after a moment of wrestling with the noise. He spoke calmly and sincerely and the atmosphere gradually improved.
What I really appreciate about Petr’s program is its simplicity. His stories are very real. It’s quite possible that someone who knows any Adam, Barbora or Cyril well from his own close circle was sitting in the class, or it could even be his own situation.
