YMCA AlternatiVe Suspension Programme

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  For hundreds of youth in Bermuda, succeeding and even staying in school can be a challenge. This reality has a major social impact. Adults who do not have a high school diploma:

• Earn approximately 15% less than those who graduate;
• are more likely to be unemployed;
• have a shorter life expectancy;
• are more likely to suffer from depression;
•  are more likely to be arrested or incarcerated.

School dropout is a national crisis. School suspensions and other disciplinary measures are early indicators of a student’s potential to disengage from school. YMCA Alternative Suspension is a dropout prevention program designed to counter these risk factors 

School suspensions can be a setback for both the student and the school.  Too often, suspended students end up feeling isolated and excluded from their school and social environment.  This only serves to increase their academic disengagement. Lack of social and emotional skills are often at the root of the behaviours that result in suspension. The YMCA Alternative Suspension program uses this time of crisis, while students are away from school, to build social competencies and uncover the root causes of the suspension, to help participants harmoniously integrate back into school life.

The YMCA Alternative Suspension program is the only program of its kind. The proven model aims to reduce the number of repeat suspensions and decrease behaviours that can result in suspension. The program’s curriculum is comprised of educational workshops, individual assistance, schoolwork, and complimentary group activities.

Working in partnership with schools to provide an alternative for students who would otherwise be sent home on suspension; this model is designed to ensure rapid intervention for students experiencing academic and behavioural difficulties.  Schools can refer students any day of the week, for a period of three to five days.

Participants are 12 -17 years old, with particular emphasis on students in their first years of secondary school.  This is a crucial period in a young person’s development and happens to coincide with challenges that can be brought on by the passage from elementary to high school.

The program is designed as an out-of-school intervention model where bonds of trust are built between a student in crisis and a significant adult figure; the program youth worker. The objective with each participant is to understand their challenges and to empower them with the tools needed to build resilience, and prepare for a successful return to school. The program works on the issues the youth is experiencing through small group workshops, one-on-one meetings, and referrals to other community-based activities and services. There is also an important academic component; mornings in the program are dedicated to quiet supervised schoolwork.