Last week, the London Peer Action Collective (PAC) officially launched the interactive film, XCLUDED, an exploration of youth violence, mental health and school support, to an audience of 250 people.
You can watch the trailer here:
The launch event at the Bernie Grants Arts Centre in Tottenham was hosted by Antony Forde, who developed the film idea in collaboration with the London PAC, and Debbie Ama Obeng, social action practitioner on the project.
A powerful keynote speech was delivered by Andrew Fuller, a trauma-informed trainer who works in primary and secondary schools across the UK. When speaking about young people’s behaviour in school, he said: “We can’t penalise the outburst until we understand the inburst.”
A key research finding was that young people felt that schools should focus on understanding and addressing the root causes and wider context to poor behaviour (e.g. home life, mental health issues, bullying) – a holistic, personalised approach should be championed when approaching the exclusion process.
The McPin team spoke on the night, with research director Vanessa Pinfold saying: “It’s vital that research leads somewhere and isn’t stuck in reports and academic journals.”
Co-produced by over 50 young people in Tottenham and Haringey, the short film turns peer-led research into a powerful learning tool designed to spark dialogue and drive change.
The young people speaking at the event talked passionately about the importance of consistency of support in the school system, and beyond. One young person spoke about how their research work and the creation of the short film made them feel connected with their community.
The stories the young people peer researchers heard during the research stages have helped to build the storyline of Xcluded. Peer researcher Jonathan said: “We hope this sparks change in your hearts.”
If you would like to organise a screening of Xcluded or invite the team to deliver a workshop in your school or youth facility please get in touch.
Want to read the research that informed the film? Check out the research report and the short research report.
About the Peer Action Collective
The London PAC partnership between The Peace Alliance and McPin has provided the scaffolding for young people to explore how school exclusions relate to youth violence, and to look for solutions. The McPin team has led on peer research, with the Peace Alliance working on community engagement and social action.
The Peer Action Collective (PAC) is a £12.7 million programme, which aims to give young people the chance to make their communities safer, fairer places to live. It is funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, the #iwill Fund (a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport) and the Co-op Group.
Read more about it on our PAC project page.
