An evaluation of the impact of a NYT drama project on the paretning skills and rehabilitation of young offenders.

The experiential nature of this course enabled participants to explore and experience the issues they are likely to face as young fathers in prison, whilst incarcerated, and on release. The experiential learning methods used in Child’s Play were identified as particularly suitable for bodily-kinaesthetic learners, and are very useful with groups that are likely to have low literacy levels, such as these participants.

Child’s Play was facilitated by the National Youth Theatre (NYT) in April of this year between 29th March and 5th April 2007, at Rochester Young Offenders Institution (YOI) in Medway, Kent.

A team of up to five National Youth Theatre facilitators worked with thirteen male young offenders aged between eighteen to twenty-one for five days, to explore parenting skills and work towards a sharing event to which their children and families were invited.

Nine of the participants had children, one was a step parent and the remaining three had younger siblings. The ages of the children ranged from a few months old to three years old – siblings were up to thirteen years old.