New accredited training to help Jewish youth movements promote healthy relationships

Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA) has launched a new training programme for youth movement leaders and staff ahead of summer camps this year. 

The half-day course will help identify how to prevent harmful behaviours and promote healthy relationships and consent.

With thousands of Jewish teenagers taking part in overnight camps and trips abroad with youth movements this summer, the launch comes amid growing parental concerns about young people navigating relationships and boundaries away from home.

The programme is focused on prevention and proactive support and has recently been delivered to youth leaders at Bnei Akiva, FZY and RSY, with more expected to take part.

Jamie Smokler, 22, leading FZY Israel tour as a madrich (leader) said: “What I noticed most from leading previous camps, was this really strong culture around being away from home with your age group. There’s a big focus on forming relationships. A lot of them wanted to find a girlfriend or boyfriend, or at the very least have a kiss on the last night of camp.”

He adds: “Especially in Israel, where you’re mixing with groups from other countries – you’ve got Israeli, American, and Australian teens around the same age. It’s almost like throwing them into a kind of Love Island scenario, where everyone’s looking for someone and it ends up creating drama and problems.

“You hear the teenagers using phrases you’d only get on shows like Love Island – things like ‘going for a chat,’ which has a totally different meaning now. When I was their age and on tour, no one said that. It was just, ‘Should we go talk?’ or ‘Can I speak to you for a minute?’ But now that kind of TV language has crept in subconsciously and is shaping how they behave.”

Smokler, who is starting a doctorate at Glasgow Caledonian University in September, says of the JWA course: “A lot of the questions were about the legal side of things – stuff they just hadn’t been taught. They didn’t know what was legal or not when it came to relationships or even social interaction. That’s why having proper support and training for madrichim (leaders) is so important; it gives us the tools to respond to those moments in a safe, informed way.”

Madeleine Teper, a 20-year-old fellow FZY madricha currently leading FZY Israel tour, also took part in the JWA course.

A Birmingham University psychology student, she said: “I think COVID has really affected how teenagers interact with each other. Some are really confident forming relationships and speaking to people, while others have barely spoken to the opposite sex.

“That gap feels even wider since the pandemic.  At that age, they’re in such a vulnerable place. They’re going through so many changes, moving from being children to becoming teenagers, starting to figure out their independence.”

She added that programmes like the one run by JWA are essential. “They help us build safe, supportive relationships with young people and make sure we know how to handle situations if they arise.”

Michal Benjamin, Bnei Akiva’s national director, said: “The CPD training delivered by JWA was incredibly valuable and has meaningfully enriched our professional development this year. It enabled us to further strengthen and refine our camp materials, helping us build on our existing safeguarding practices to ensure an even more enjoyable and inclusive summer for all.”

Programme co-author Ilana Hutchinson, JWA’s director of outreach and prevention, says: “This training empowers senior leaders to take action and embed a culture of consent across their programmes, while giving youth leaders the tools to support young people in building healthy relationships at a pivotal point in their development.”