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'THE KICK' Project

Several young lives were lost on Croatian streets recently as a result of juvenile violence. Teenagers beaten up without reason have become part of our everyday news. Numerous families, peers and friends of victims, as well as those of offenders, have have been broken down emotionally, because offenders are also victims in a way, neglected either by their families or by society. By accepting a value system which exalts having over being, the system by which one becomes somebody thanks to nothing or, what's worse, thanks to the imposition of one's deviant qualities, we all become victims of a brutal, consumer materialism devoid of any spiritual value, mindset or critical opinion. Living in a time in which purchasing power is the only value category, we have no time for our children. It is the street and the media which, instead of us, provide their role models. The consequences are immeasurable. The streets, schools and playgrounds do not seem to be secure places for them anymore. In the territory of Split-Dalmatia County Police Department, every year about 350 juvenile delinquents commit a crime, while in the year 2007 the figures were as high as 427. In the last two years, Split prison has hosted a record number of minors charged with aggravated murder and robbery.
The support given to the families of at-risk juveniles, the psycho-social support offered to youth after they have served their sentences and the coordination of all the relevant institutions and experts is still insufficient in comparison with the figures we are faced with. The wider community usually reacts when it is already too late. Short-term, blitz analyses are made and soon forgotten until a new case arises.
In the meantime, our kids are exposed to a brutal terror by those of their their peers who lack any sense of empathy. However, do we not expose them to the same terror much earlier, in choosing having for them rather than being, on all educational levels? The aim of this action is to impose BEING: to act preventively in order to protect children so as to help them consider the value of their own and other people's lives. Prioritising this communicational model, we hope to encourage the parents and responsible institutions to deal with these issues long before we are confronted with their consequences.
We believe the cooperation between the PlayDrama Theatre and Most Association will provide an initiative that has a faster and more effective influence with regard to positively helping the young to become consciously aware and appreciative of their environments and one another. The Play, The Kick, together with the activities preceding and following it, speaks about these problems in a completely different and direct way, engaging experts in education and law, police specialists, and social and health care professionals, together with a number of local pupils and students. By providing cultural contents through the play, exhibition and the following discussions, we wish to encourage the young to take well-defined attitudes which they will later be able to express in school, throughout discussions with psychologists, art and drama groups and in the production of literary works. Our objective is to establish positive means and media of communication. We wish to oppose the culture of intolerance with the culture of dialogue.