The Journey
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The Journey Young Men’s Program
In The Journey Program, we work through what it means to be a man in today’s world and how being a man can positively impact the lives of those around us.
The Journey is a multi-session Masculinity awareness program. The aim of the program is to introduce young men to a number of topics associated with ‘maleness’ and examine them in the context of masculinity. This being an ongoing journey with critical choices that need to be made.
Each session looks at a topic relevant to everyday lives of men and use discussion and activities to find key principles that can be used in a man’s life for the benefit of himself and for those around him. Sessions take the form of an informal discussion of topics, young people sharing their knowledge and perspective with others, and guests providing insight from mixed cultural backgrounds.
Why do we run The Journey program? To…
- Empower young men from diverse cultural backgrounds
- Provide a sense of meaning
- Encourage positive social impact
- Normalise emotions and their expression
- Recognise unique individual needs
- Understand ways to request further support from others
What do we talk about in The Journey?
- What is a man?
- The Hero’s Journey
- Role Models
- Men and Health
- Masks we Wear
- Fear
- Men and Women
- Responsibility
Other Details
Target Group: Male Secondary Students, typically young men between 14-16 years old (Year 9-10)
Program Delivery:
Number/Length of sessions adapted to group/school needs.
Requirement:
A classroom + may require a field visit/outdoor activity
Designed by:
STARTTS Youth Team
Maximum no. of participants:
15 per group
Inside Scoop
What have young people said about The Journey program?
“What did you learn from being involved in The Journey Boys program?”
I got to reflect back on the things I’ve done in my life and I thought about how to contribute to them and the way I’ve been acting toward other people
Since the program started in the start of the year, I wasn’t that good, my behaviour was bad, I wasn’t good at school, now I do all my work, my behaviour is good, I respect the teachers, learnt a lot about my behaviour and what I do at school
I need to have empathy and understanding for others who can’t do the same as me, and to respect others as well on the camp
I experienced how to be a man and challenges in life. To think about your life and how can you be real man […]. To face your fears and challenges yourself
It was really good, we spoke about stuff I have never spoken about with the people before. Like relationships and about like family, friends…
Not much people will stay quiet, but it just means they are trying to explain their emotions for you, that’s the most important thing I learnt
What have facilitators and teachers said about the
The Journey Boys program?
What did you notice about the Journey sessions?
We speak about a rites of passage for young men and in effect we said this may be a rite of passage or it might not. It’s up to you what you do with it. But it’s an opportunity to push yourself further towards to what we discussed as a man, in the context… we never say what a man is… but in the context of the program, it was an opportunity to embrace what had been said and push yourself to that point, as much as you decide to push yourself. And this gave, it mirrored what we talk about with the program.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to provide a microcosm. So thing that usually take a lot of longer to happen, you observe them within days. In saying that I think the work that has been done before, it came a long way. We are not able at the moment to see the result of that as these things will fall into place as these kids grow […]. But I think we planted a seed.
Overall, the most useful thing for them was for all of them to realize that they can push through adversity and get out of their comfort zone rather and really not be comfortable and not liking what’s happening but still being able to push that and will develop a lot of resilience and confidence.