{"id":14102,"date":"2020-01-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/vid-eigum-ad-na-til-allra-barna\/"},"modified":"2022-10-25T09:02:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T09:02:34","slug":"we-have-to-reach-all-the-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/vid-eigum-ad-na-til-allra-barna\/","title":{"rendered":"We must reach all children."},"content":{"rendered":"

Geir Bjarnason, the Sports and Leisure Officer for the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, has a varied and rewarding role. He has been working in youth affairs in the town since 1988 and not only knows them better than anyone, but his sincere interest in the welfare of children and teenagers shines through in everything he does in his job. The local paper Hafnfir\u00f0ingur spoke with Geir.<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Geir's remit covers the town's comprehensive prevention programme, Healthy Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, and sports, youth and leisure activities. He says that the current arrangement is characterised and determined by synergistic effects, such as the fact that good sports work is also good preventative work. \u201eAdministratively, these projects fall under my remit, but I also have committees and councils that are my political support base. The Sports and Leisure Committee makes decisions on that, then there's a steering group for the health project and the Town Council for the development and operation of sports facilities. The aim in itself is always to create a good framework and a guiding principle for our children, so that they have good access to leisure activities, whether that's music school, the Scouts or sports.\u201c <\/em>says Geir. <\/p>\n

Foreign children experience Icelandic reality<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent years, the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur has expanded its discount\/leisure grant scheme and raised the age limit for participants to eighteen. Geir says this has proved successful, and the only thing that has been requested which has not yet been possible to add is language tuition for new residents. \u201eIt is not a leisure activity and therefore not our responsibility. However, there are many other options available, and physical activity is not a key consideration.\u201c<\/em> An attempt is being made to reach children from foreign backgrounds. Many of them come from countries where different emphasis is placed on sports and extracurricular activities alongside school. \u201eThere can be financial reasons, a lack of a support network, or difficulty getting around. We want to find ways to allow them to try courses free of charge for perhaps six months. So that they can connect with Icelandic reality and learn more about the community. It can't be expensive and inaccessible, and as things stand, there are four activities that can be done at no cost, because the 4,500 kr\u00f3na grant is sufficient. These are scouting, golf, table tennis and badminton.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

Esports are important<\/strong>
Geir points out that the contribution from the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur is positive and encouraging, and that an effort is made to coordinate actions and encourage individual initiative in the widest possible range of areas in order to increase diversity and mobilise the community into action. In this way, the provision of projects is driven by interest and dynamism. \u201eThere is a great deal of active work going on in Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur. For example, we have the youth centre Hamarinn and want to have an esports area there for those who don't feel at home with other pastimes. We have to reach everyone, not just the elite athletes. Computer games that were played at home in isolation were thus brought to the surface and recognised as esports, and have become part of the sports community. It's so important to bring these social aspects into the work. The esports clubs are doing a great job of creating a team spirit that these kids become a part of.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Electric<\/p>\n

A fantastic generation of young people<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having been involved in social affairs since 1988 and thus having a good comparison, Geir says that young people today lead healthier lives than, for example, 20 years ago. \u201eThere have always been problems related to anxiety and mental health, but they just weren't as apparent as they are now. Nowadays, children take part in so many activities and are less likely to use drugs. A fantastic generation of young people is growing up. Although the PISA survey says something about reading and reading comprehension, there are so many other things that also matter, and we are particularly concerned about the social aspect. We want to reach those 4-5% who seem to be doing really badly and get them involved in youth and leisure activities. Everyone benefits from social interaction and physical activity.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Youth<\/p>\n

Prevention starts with the family<\/strong><\/p>\n

Geir would finally like to make a special point that the condition of the city centre groups has been very good this winter. \u201eOne measure of whether the youth work is having a real impact is the formation of groups. Grouping was most pronounced at Fj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, and then in pockets here and there around town. One of the highlights of my job is seeing this success. Parents\u201c walks from each school also strengthen the bonds and play an important role. When parents look after their local environment and their children, and nurture them with care and attention through active communication, the foundation is a good one. It is then the responsibility of the local authority to ensure a family-friendly environment, which also has a positive impact on the lifestyles of children and teenagers.\"<\/em> Geir says at last. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geir Bjarnason, \u00ed\u00fer\u00f3tta- og t\u00f3mstundafulltr\u00fai Hafnarfjar\u00f0arb\u00e6jar, hefur fj\u00f6lbreytt og gefandi verkefni \u00e1 sinni k\u00f6nnu. Hann hefur starfa\u00f0 a\u00f0 \u00e6skul\u00fd\u00f0sm\u00e1lum \u00ed b\u00e6num s\u00ed\u00f0an 1988 og \u00feekkir \u00feau ekki bara manna best, heldur sk\u00edn einl\u00e6gur \u00e1hugi hans \u00e1 velfer\u00f0 barna og unglinga \u00ed \u00f6llu sem hann sinnir \u00ed starfinu. B\u00e6jarbla\u00f0i\u00f0 Hafnfir\u00f0ingur r\u00e6ddi vi\u00f0 Geir. Starfssvi\u00f0 Geirs spannar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frettir"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14102"}],"curies":[{"name":"WordPress","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}