Feb
Meet the Outreach Team! – Gangs, Guns, and Cyber Safety with Adriana Dewar
Have you ever played Grand Theft Auto or watched Scarface or Goodfellas and wondered, “Are gangs really like that?” or “Does Calgary have gangs like that?”.
YouthLink’s Community Partnership and Outreach Lead, Adriana Dewar, can tell you all about it. “Social media, TV shows, video games, they do a good job at presenting this notion that gangs offer a very glamorous lifestyle,” says Adriana. “But the reality is it’s a very difficult life to be involved in. People end up losing their lives, and family members end up suffering some severe repercussions from the actions and choices of those that are involved with it.” Working closely with CPS’s Gang Suppression Team (GST), Adriana created and piloted YouthLink’s Community Outreach Gangs and Guns presentation. The program focuses on providing information about current gang activity in Calgary, de-mystifying common myths and misconceptions about gangs, and dives into some of the risks and consequences of illegal firearms and weapons. “The properties unit at CPS gave us a glimpse into what weapons are being seized off the streets,” Adriana explains. “There’s a lot of creativity that goes into creating these dangerous weapons that are being seized off individuals. Youth especially are adapting everyday objects to create different weapons.”
In addition to the Gangs and Guns presentation, Adriana has also done
extensive research to help create the Outreach Team’s Cyber Safety presentation. “With cyber safety, people want to know how they can stay safe online because technology is in everything that we do. It’s something that we can’t escape anymore,” says Adriana. When asked what people’s biggest misconception about cyber safety is, Adriana
said that many people believe that “If you delete it, it goes away”.
“I think it’s important to understand if you’re a youth, what you post now can impact your opportunities in the future,” she explains. “As an adult, especially if you have your own children and you’re posting about them, that could potentially impact them in a way you didn’t intend.”
About YouthLink’s Outreach Programs, Adriana says the mission is to help
people “realize that we’re here to help and we’re happy to do whatever we can to increase awareness and provide information, or to just be those individuals that people feel comfortable talking to about these topics.”
YouthLink’s Community Outreach programs, including the Gangs and Guns and the Cyber Safety presentations, are available to book through our website. All our programming is created in conjunction with specialists through CPS to ensure accurate and up-to-date information. We have presentations for various age groups, ranging from youth to seniors.
For more information about how to book, visit our Outreach page.
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