The YouthBet Photovoice Project

The YouthBet Photovoice Project was designed as an opportunity to give youth a voice by engaging them in a process of identifying and addressing how gambling issues uniquely affect youth through the creative medium of photography. 

 

 

 

 Working collaboratively with two community partners – the YMCA Academy and the Davenport-Perth Neighborhood Centre – youth were introduced to photovoice and the principles of photography, went on field trips to galleries and photo exhibits, learned about safe gambling practices from the YouthBet staff and youth workers, had photography lessons with a professional photographer, and were given disposable cameras to take pictures of their own perspectives of youth gambling issues. Youth took artistic and documentary-style photos, and some youth got even more creative and manipulated their photos with PhotoShop and developed short movies.  

 

Youth presented their photos to the group and identified how they documented or represented youth gambling issues and explained their intentions behind them. Participants then had the opportunity to share what they thought of each others photographs by engaging in a discussion using the SHOWeD method: What do you See here? What is really Happening here? How does this relate to Our lives? Why does this situation, strength or concern exist? What can we Do about it?

 

 Three goals for the YouthBet Photovoice Project were: 1) to engage youth as “youth gambling researchers” to document issues and concerns through photographs, 2) to provide a venue, through group presentations and discussions of photographs, for a critical dialogue of how gambling can affect youth and 3) to promote social change by reaching other youth and community leaders and sharing their photographs and issues of concern through presentations, exhibits and the internet.