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Mia and ‘Sarah'(Image: Alex Seabrook)<\/p>\nThey have bravely spoken out about the barriers facing young people in the city, as statistics show nearly 700 are in a similar positionMia and ‘Sarah'(Image: Alex Seabrook)<\/p>\n
Two Bristol teenagers have shared how knife crime and mental health struggles led them to drop out of school with no GCSEs. The two 17-year-olds spoke about the barriers facing young people and why hundreds their age in Bristol are not in education, employment or training.<\/p>\n
Last month a committee at Bristol City Council<\/a> heard how nearly 700 teenagers aged 16 and 17 aren\u2019t in education, training or employment, with bad buses and blas\u00e9 businesses cited among reasons for the high number<\/a> of young people not working or studying.<\/p>\n Poor public transport means some people on the outskirts of the city struggle to access colleges or jobs, while getting work experience can be hard with many firms in the city reluctant to offer opportunities. Speaking to the Bristol Live, one young woman said school exclusions make her feel like she\u2019s been \u201cstopped from wanting a future\u201d.<\/p>\n Another young woman said \u201cschool was the last thing on my mind\u201d after two of her friends were murdered last year<\/a>. But a local charity is running an inspiring programme to help teenagers like them get back into education.<\/p>\n Mia’s story<\/p>\n Mia got kicked out of two schools but started doing the NEET programme with the Robins Foundation, the Bristol City FC charity, in January this year and has volunteered for an open day too. She has been out of education since December last year. Her ideal career is becoming an air hostess, but there are obstacles getting in the way of her fulfilling that dream.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI got kicked out of mainstream school in Year 10, and then probably three months into Year 11 I stopped going to school. I was with this boy and I wanted to go to South Bristol Skills College. He went there.” The emotions of their subsequent break-up escalated and led to safeguarding issues, she explained, meaning she was not allowed to attend that college as hoped.<\/p>\n Mia added: \u201cAround the time that was all going on, I had just been moved into supported living. Originally I got moved out of Bristol for about a month, and that was really hard because I didn\u2019t have any of my family or friends around. I\u2019m adopted anyway and that went a little bit wrong. It wasn\u2019t just them saying \u2018you need to leave\u2019, it was kind of joint because I wanted more independence.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there were no placements available in Bristol at the time, so I got moved up to Gloucester. I live in Kingswood<\/a> now, still in supported living. I don\u2019t like having staff in the house, it\u2019s so annoying. They have to follow all these rules but I find it controlling. When you\u2019re in care it feels like they have control over you. Every single thing literally gets written down.\u201d<\/p>\n A common problem across Bristol is school exclusions, which can block young people from getting onto a good path in life. Schools are facing calls this week to stop excluding pupils<\/a>, partly due to worrying links to knife crime and gang violence<\/a>. And even though Mia has turned a corner over the past few years, she still can\u2019t attend the college she wants to go to.<\/p>\n Mia added: \u201cI want to be an air hostess, but I can\u2019t do any courses on that. The course that I want to do is at the college I\u2019m not allowed to go to. It doesn\u2019t feel fair because it feels like I\u2019m being stopped from wanting to have a future just because of one person at that college.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarah’s story<\/p>\n Sarah (not her real name) was friends with both Max Dixon and Mason Rist, who were murdered in January last year<\/a> in Knowle<\/a> West, although she was closer with Max. Before that, her mental health suffered during the pandemic, with severe paranoia.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI struggled really badly with it, because I wasn\u2019t familiar with losing anyone yet. There were a lot of court trials and stuff going on which I attended and school was just the last thing on my mind. So I just packed it in and was like \u2018I can\u2019t do it any more\u2019. I didn\u2019t go back for Year 11 or my GCSEs.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mental health took a massive turn in Covid. I couldn\u2019t be left alone in the house. I used to climb out of my bedroom window because I thought someone was in the house. I wouldn\u2019t walk to the shops because I thought someone was following me. I struggled in Year 10 and I was in and out of school.<\/p>\n \u201cI was doing really well in Year 11 and then I lost my friend in January. Then it was the last thing on my mind to even think about going to school. But I go to college now with a group that I really like. I do sports media, which I really love. It\u2019s uplifting, in a way. The anxiety and stuff is still there, but it\u2019s got a lot better since starting college again.\u201d<\/p>\n This September Sarah has just started Year 13, and has been back in college for just over a year now. While most colleges don\u2019t accept people without any GCSEs, one exception is Boomsatsuma, an education provider based in Bristol which specialises in creative and digital industries. They also give maths and English lessons, so people can resit their GCSEs.<\/p>\n Boomsatsuma is launching a new supported internship pilot this September, too. Sarah also volunteered with the Robins Foundation for five years and has begun doing paid work there. In the longer term, she hopes to become a travel journalist.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cMost courses ask for a certain amount of GCSEs. I know I\u2019m not the only one who came away with none. I\u2019m lucky that my college let me sit them there. I\u2019m still resitting them now, like a year and a half later. That\u2019s one of the biggest barriers is kids not getting the qualifications they need to do the course that they want.<\/p>\n \u201cThey might have had no interest in school whatsoever. I didn\u2019t frankly, in Year 8 and Year 9. Some colleges are like \u2018if you didn\u2019t get the grades, that\u2019s your problem\u2019. [Boomsatsuma] offers a lot of one-to-one help with mental health, and the staff are really good. Even if it\u2019s not what I want to do, it\u2019s still aiming for what I want to do in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n