Introduction

Youth crime prevention is a designed community programs that help keep away young people from committing crimes (Ssamula, 2015). Such community programs may not necessarily be correctional centers but schools as well. This paper discusses findings based on observational interviews, documents, and experiences on Toowoomba Flexi School. The school is an addition of Centenary Heights State High School and is a responsive learning environment giving pertinent instructive chances and breaking the pattern of withdrawal. The program in Toowoomba Flexi School is intended to build the quantity of instructively 'in danger' learners finishing the Senior Phase of Learning with a reasonable and continued progress pathway. The key quality result is drawing in and working with youth through escalated case management works to overcome detriment and poverty.

The work and the philosophy of Toowoomba Flexi School

Being an educational Centre, Toowoomba Flexi School improves the learning outcomes of the learners through its partnership with the community. The culture of Flexi is built on respect and trust indicated by the teachers (Flexi School, 2019). It focuses on what young people can do, their strengths and capacities not necessarily looking at their limits. This helps the learners have control over their lives and have respectable relationships. Flexi also emphasizes hard work and this has made it one of the best schools in Australia. Its main focus is inclusivity where learners are allowed to take part in all activities within the school environment (Burton et al., 2017). The curriculum of Toowoomba Flexi School is designed to accommodate all kinds of learners as it has incorporated both co-curricular and extracurricular activities (Flexi School, 2019). As the Annexe of Centenary Heights state high school, it allows learners to study, take part in bands and it exposes them to the field of careers.

The curriculum of Flexi school is designed in a manner that offers a wide range of subjects. Educated unemployment which is the major issue affecting the youths is curbed by this. Youths are taught the content depending on the job market requirement. Creativity is also enhanced by the variety of subjects offered in Flexi thus making the young people productive in society (Burton et al., 2017). Experimentation and improvisation bring about this creativity and this makes the young people realize their potentials and work towards strengthening themselves (Flexi School, 2019). Extra-curricular clubs like peer support, peer mediation, harmony day and week, Eco-action gives young people a platform to share their experiences and find solutions to some of their problems. These clubs also raise money which they use to buy furniture and other resources thus accommodating a large number of students. Sporting activities within Toowoomba Flexi School enable the youths to realize their talents. Basketball, cross-country running, martial arts, netball, rugby, and soccer are sports offered by Flexi and it's a renowned champion of basketball for both boys and girls (Burton et al., 2017). The students can use their talents to build themselves and earn a living through them especially by participating in award-winning competitions. Through this, they can derive their livelihood and become independent later in future.

The Toowoomba Flexi School and Youth Crime Prevention

According to Balderson & Martin, (2011), youth positive development model tends to the six life areas of work, training, connections, community, wellbeing, and innovativeness.

However, the two important assets that young people need are learning and a sense of belonging which is well outlined in Toowoomba Flexi School's objectives. Flexi has reliably given chances to youngsters who are confronted with noteworthy social and passionate hindrance making it hard to connect completely in school. Understudies originate from a wide scope of circumstances over the region to get to the novel contrast that Flexi offers. According to Mulholland, (2008), education, just like one provided in Toowoomba Flexi School, is one of the factors that help prevent crime and promote a culture of lawfulness. The fact that learners come from a diversified cultural background, this helps them to take part in training on the advancement of a culture of harmony and peacefulness Commonwealth of Australia (2009). Toowoomba Flexi School has passed on the significance of building versatility among youngsters and youth through deliberately focused on exhaustive instructive projects that effectively include youngsters and every single pertinent partner. One of the subjects that learners are taught is ‘studies of society and environment', which exposes students to the depth of the importance of peacekeeping, conflict resolutions, and more importantly, dangers that come along with committing crimes. (Mulholland, 2008).

Another important area in which Toowoomba Flexi School help in youth crime prevention is through sporting activities, which is one of the co-curriculum activities the school offers. Research studies propose that sports can interface youth to positive grown-up good examples and give positive advancement opportunities (Mulholland, 2008), just as advance the learning and use of fundamental abilities. Besides, notwithstanding the physical action and positive wellbeing impacts it gives, sport is a generator of social capital, assisting with activating the society by advancing inclusion, harmony, and collaboration just as culture development in the community (MacIntosh et al., 2016). The Toowoomba Flexi School’s both intra-school and inter-schools sporting activities engages learners into a meaningful activity and helps them keep focused in life while keeping them away from committing crimes (Carmichael,2008). The youths, actively participating in sports, may not have time to engage themselves in drug crimes which may cause them to further get involved in crimes such as robbery, rape, and any other form of crime. The Toowoomba Flexi School has successfully demonstrated its ability in enabling positive behaviors and building all-rounded youths who can effectively participate in the community activities that promote a crime-free society. It also promotes self-examination and offers opportunities for the youth to fully realized their full potential and personal development.

Apart from co-curriculum activities, Toowoomba Flexi School provides extra-curricular activities, for instance, peer support and peer mediation as well as youth mentorship programs.

The strengths and limitations of what Toowoomba Flexi School does with youths

Both extra and co-curriculum activities are key in Toowoomba Flexi School where, community, clubs, and mentorships programs are emphasized. This has offered an opportunity for many youths to be mentored and provided a platform to nurture their talents. Since it was started in 1998, a lot of youths have benefited from these programs both from within Bell Street Mall and beyond (Flexi School, 2019). This school is also based on solid connections among staff and between staff and learners. The teaching and support services staff take the time to get to know each learner and they all derived their morale in the motor ‘when a teacher learns to care, a student cares to learn'.

Flexi is improving learning results for its different scope of understudies and keeps on working in organizations with guardians, carers, and various esteemed local groups to help this change. Flexi has reliably given chances to youngsters who are confronted with critical social and passionate drawbacks making it hard to connect completely in school. Understudies originate from a wide scope of circumstances over the area to get to the exceptional contrast that the school offers. Another strength is that the schools admit a few learners that the school can manage effectively (Burton et al., 2017). The resources, therefore, are sufficient and each learner gets fully exposed and molded into an all rounded-person and can be able to tackle challenges in life, contributing to the community building while disengaging in any form of crime.

The ability of Flexi school to embrace diversity makes it a good organization. It has got over seventy senior secondary schools which cater for learners who dropped out of mainstream schooling because of one reason or another. These students are also mentored by a group of old men and women who help them to get skills in both numeric and literacy. They are trained in other projects which need a hand on skills. It is therefore notable that like other organizations and agencies, this one also embraces marginality. It also accommodates people of all kinds regardless of the districts they are from, their family background, and financial status. It provides equal services to all sorts of people (Flexi School, 2019). However, despite all these strengths, there are noticeable shortcomings within the Flexi school. Maintaining the standards of discipline for many students from different backgrounds becomes challenging. Making integration systematically to suit the students from mainstream schools become more challenging as they may feel dissatisfied leading to depression. Some students may end up harming themselves. Increased tension, immigration, and exclusion may pose a great challenge to the students joining this school. This is because some are looked down upon by those who came to schools earlier.

Those used to the environment make the new students feel hopeless (Flexi School, 2019).

Conclusion

Through a partnership with the community, Toowoomba Flexi School have, and continues to transform the lives of many youths through both academic, co-curriculum, and extra-curriculum activities. The mentorship programs and counseling, sporting, and clubs engage learners and build them to be all-rounded persons who can positively contribute to the community. The programs are enhanced through learning life skills, guiding them to achieve their potential while offering counsel to those that are psychologically challenged. All these programs purpose to build a positive life and shape the youths while helping them to keep away from committing crimes. One of the strengths of this organization is the relationship that is built between the school staff and the learners and which contributes to a conducive learning environment. There is also good cooperation between all the stakeholders it's embracing diversity which facilitates the learning process. However, there is some weakness in the manner in which the standards of discipline for many students from different backgrounds are maintained. At times making integration systematically to suit the students from mainstream schools become more challenging as they may feel dissatisfied leading to depression.

References

Burton, L. J., McDonald, K., & Postle, G. D. (2017). The Toowoomba flexi school model: one size does not fit all.

Carmichael, D. (2008). Youth sport vs. youth crime – Evidence that youth engaged in organized sport are not likely to participate in criminal activities. Active Healthy Links Inc.

Commonwealth of Australia (2009). A stronger fairer Australia: A new social inclusion strategy, launched 28 January, 2010, retrieved 8 February, 2010, from http://www.socialinclusion.gov.au/Resources/Pages/ Resources.aspx.

Flexi School. (2019, April 4). Centenary Heights State High School. https://centheigshs.eq.edu.au/curriculum/subject-areas/flexi-school

Mulholland, E. (2008). What Sport Can Do – A True Sport Report. Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport

MacIntosh, E., Parent, M., & Culver, D. (2016) Exploring the community and external-agency partnership in sport-for-development programming. European Sport Management Quarterly, 16(1), 38-57.

Ssamula, M. (2015). Criminal Socialization and Career: A Review of Social Learning Theoretical Perspectives. Humanities & Social Sciences, 41

Watts, S. J., & McNulty, T. L. (2013). Childhood abuse and criminal behavior: Testing a general strain theory model. Journal of interpersonal violence, 28(15), 3023-3040.