STOP PRESS The Federation will co-host a talk by Michael Furdyk, the young co-founder of TakingITGlobal.org*, a global non-profit online community. Furdyk started his first Internet company, MyDeskTop.com, when he was 15. His second venture, BuyBuddy.com, helps users understand and purchase technology products. He advises Microsoft on how young people use technology and has been a consultant for large corporations including HP, Xerox and IBM. Co-hosts of the talk, on Monday 3 October, 5:30pm, Auditorium, 1/F HK Council of Social Service, are Microsoft and HKU. Readers are warmly invited to attend. Contact
Leadership 21 for further details, email leadership21@hkfyg.org.hk,
tel 2169 0255 * TakingITGlobal.org
is a global non-profit online community and Michael Furdyk has been
nominated one of the "20 teens that will change the world" by
Teen People |
|
There
have been recent media reports about the
problem of female gangs in Hong Kong but little investigation
has taken place. Since we are very concerned about the risks they are
running we conducted our own research. Federation outreach social workers
surveyed 70 girl gang members aged 13 to 20 and then our researchers
conducted in-depth interviews with 18 of them. Findings of the survey,
together with a detailed analysis of the interviews, have just been published.* |
|
Form
2 girls are at highest risk of being tempted to join gangs and this age
group should be the target for preventive work. There are now girl-only
gangs which did not apparently exist before and as gang members, they
can become involved in fighting, shoplifting, drug
trafficking and sexual promiscuity. However, they often do not stay long in the same gang and we can help some of them make a turn-around. The ratio of female to male gang members has doubled in the last 4 years. Correctional Services statistics show that the number of female prisoners under 21 has also doubled since 1994. The likely connection between these two phenomena deserves our serious attention and justifies further in depth work into such a neglected area. "Both schools and parents need to be alert for signs that girls in Form 2 have joined gangs. They are in a physical and emotional transition period and cannot always differentiate between good and bad influences." Prof Daniel Shek Tan-lei, Dept of Social Work, Chinese University of Hong Kong *HKFYG Youth Study
Series no 34 September 2005 |
|
|