Youth exchange 10/09/2024 – 19/09/2024 in Ommen, The Netherlands.
We are happy to announce that one more amazing youth exchange has been completed successfully. The
project “Breaking Free from Modern Addictions”, united 40 participants from Italy, Greece, Lithuania,
Spain and the Netherlands. The youth exchange was organized by the Dutch organization Stichting yEUth
and took place in Ommen, the Netherlands from 10 to 19 September 2024.
Aims & Objectives of the project
This project aimed to create a safe space for participants to share personal experiences and explore
together the local realities regarding psychological addictions and in particular all aspects of internet
addiction among young people in different countries. Moreover, the project wanted to try to identify the
reasons why someone gets addicted to the internet, as any form of addiction is a mask behind which a
different core problem is hidden.
More specifically the objectives were:
- Clarify the differences between habit, on the one hand, and abuse, dependence on the other.
- To learn and recognize the signs of developing psychological addictions, including internet addiction, in themselves and others.
- To inform and understand the different expressions and the extent of internet addiction in the participating countries, thus obtaining a global picture of the problem and the particular needs of each local community.
- To realize the complex causes of the phenomenon and the fact that behind every addiction a deeper problem is hidden.
- To cultivate acceptance and understanding of individuals suffering from an addiction and actively contribute to solving the problem.
Workshops & Activities of the projectInfo Box
Through this project, participants had the opportunity to get better in some key competencies such as
multilingual competence, personal, social, and learning to learn competence. During the project, they
worked with many educational methodologies and explored the topic of modern addiction through non-
formal activities. Participants learned about modern and old addictions, the causes and impact on society,
families, and individuals. They had to fill short movies, TikTok, do theatrical plays to express themselves,
and make deeper research on the topic. They also had the chance to work by themselves and had time to
think and reflect. Fun activities were also part of the agenda, since every night a different national group
hosted participants in their countries and presented to them their culture and traditions. Overall, it was
a successful project that left participants with new knowledge, new friendships and unforgettable
moments.
