PONS!

A low-threshold child- and youth-oriented individual case counseling from a cross-phenomenon perspective on experiences of racism, sexism, exclusion, bullying or violence is not yet anchored in Berlin. In order to install such a service in the future in close cooperation with youth work, PONS! held initial group discussions with various actors in 2021 and tested short-term counseling sessions as needed. In addition, PONS! has already made contact with children and young people in the district through a lifeworld-oriented political education program. In addition, the necessary service structures and methodological approaches of a mobile counseling office were discussed together with youth workers in a workshop. This resulted in a concept for a mobile counseling office for Berlin-Neukölln in cooperation with youth work at the end of 2021.

Counseling in conjunction with youth work

PONS! was intended to be a flexible and youth-oriented counseling service for children and young people in Berlin-Neukölln who are affected by discrimination, exclusion, bullying or violence. The mobile counseling service aimed to empower young people who are affected by attribution and affiliation conflicts. In addition, PONS! wanted to strengthen a discrimination-critical, open exchange between children and young people with different experiences and sensitize them to misanthropic messages and content.

Mobile workshops and counseling services for children and young people

In the work of Cultures Interactive with children and young people, it has been shown time and again that talking about one's own experiences is a central building block for the prevention and avoidance of radicalization with regard to inhuman and violent attitudes. This is what Cultures Interactive is building on with PONS! Through mobile youth culture workshops, in which a lifeworld-oriented political education and youth cultural practice are closely linked, initial, in-depth conversations with young people were created. The processing of one's own experience of discrimination and empowerment serves at the same time to prevent authoritarian actions and attitudes.

The mobile youth culture workshops took place in different youth facilities in the district. Methods of gender-reflective as well as inclusive youth culture were used, as well as principles of cross-phenomena political education and narrative conversation. Special attention was paid to the need for gender-sensitive offerings. The mobile workshops offered space for an initial exchange, for example on issues related to gender, origin, living together, democracy and politics. At the same time, group dynamics could be observed and, in the best case, directly reflected upon. This resulted in starting points for further counseling sessions with children and young people.