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By Michael Esposito

9th March 2010 11:05:34 AM

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TEENAGERS of Mitchell Shire have been the focus in a new bushfire preparedness plan.

Broadford Secondary College students will address issues affecting teenagers in bushfire-prone areas in an effort to engage a demographic often overlooked in bushfire plans.

Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students will undertake the extensive project, called “Teenagers in Firezones”, with a $50,000 grant secured by the Mitchell Community Recovery Action Group (MCRAG), via the State Government.

VCAL co-ordinator Paul Campbell said students would interview community members and fire experts to create the multimedia project, expected to be completed by late August.

Teacher and MCRAG member Sue Sedawie said the project had potential to be a vital document for teenagers in the area.

“This has enormous potential to unite young people and more senior people in our community to strive to be part of something, which may actually save some lives,” she said.

“It also has the potential to raise the self-esteem of students participating in it.

“This booklet will be written by teenagers for teenagers in the community. It will endeavour to engage teenagers to be responsible members of their families as well as their communities.”

Ben Hardman, Seymour MP and parliamentary secretary for bushfire recovery, said the project points toward a feeling in the community that people need to take ownership of their safety in vulnerable areas.

“The big thing that’s come out of the (Black Saturday) fires is that we need to take responsibility for ourselves to be able to survive the fire, but also to reduce some of the trauma that goes with it,” Mr Hardman said. “From my involvement and many other people’s involvement on the day and since, I think we would all look differently at how we prepare for a bushfire in the future. We all got a bit of a wake-up call about how powerful they are and what they can do.

“A booklet like this will obviously assist in making this happen. I hope it will live on for future generations.”

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