EDMONTON- “It targets a demographic that’s very easily influenceable,” said Faraz Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Canada.
The national association, also known as MAC, is hosting a two-day youth empowerment conference at the Telus World of Science this weekend. Over 165 kids from the Capital Region, aged 9-14, attended the Knowledge Empowers Youth Spirits convention. The topics range from self-confidence and peer pressure to bullying.
“This age demographic is battling with issues of self-confidence, self-esteem, bullying and they don’t really have a lot of resources- and they need to be empowered,” Ahmed said.
To promote a more free and open atmosphere for the children participating, parents were not invited to the event.
“What you’re seeing right now is because the kids are feeling safe, they’re in an environment where they’re not being judged, they can open up – they can have fun and they can really speak about how they feel,” Ahmed added.
While Saturday’s event was primarily attended by Muslim students, students of all faiths and ethnic groups were welcome.
“We believe in a strong Canadian community and that is what our goal is. To bring the people here, bring in the youth here and educate them so when they go out they can be productive in their society,” Ahmed said.