Residents group engages with youth

A group of Secret Harbour residents have joined forces in a bid to connect and empower local youths in the area.

Secret Harbour Youth Focus formed after an incident at a local shopping centre in May this year saw about 30 people involved in a mass brawl.

Young people in the area received significant backlash for their behaviour with nine people, including five aged between 14 and 16 , charged over the incident.

Passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of local youths, resident George Scicluna took to social media to voice his opinions after the incident.

“I recognised that we need more opportunities in Secret Harbour for young people,” he said.

“The beach provides a wonderful resource but it’s just not enough to keep all young people engaged and off the street.

“We need to be proactive in engaging and empowering our youth, then we don’t need to be reactive in responding to incidents that come around as a result of boredom and frustration.”

With the support from councillors and Warnbro MLA Paul Papalia, the group meets fortnightly and is starting to shape ideas about how to positively empower local youths.

“The first step in the process is engaging our young people and finding out what they want to see in Secret Harbour to keep them active, engaged and motivated,” Mr Scicluna said.