Right: Max, Avi Bernshaw, and back, Trevor Green, Kirsten, Annemarie and Melinda Nguyen dabble in the art of Manga cartooning. Picture: Meagan Rogers.
By Sarah Schwager
A LIBRARY workshop has highlighted a deeper issue about a lack of activities for teenagers in the City of Casey.
A Manga cartooning workshop at the Hampton Park Library was fully booked as teenagers from around the city rushed to fill the 32 places available. Manga is a popular Japanese style of cartooning
Run by artists Treyzuka and Ezo from professional company Oztaku, the teenagers involved in the three-hour workshop had a fantastic time, according to organisers, each coming away with their own finished portrait.
But Hampton Park Library manager Carol Bathie said the workshop could have been filled six times over.
“We had to turn a lots of kids away,” she said. “The Friends of Hampton Park Library paid for the group to come out after recognising a need for that age group.
“We will definitely be doing it again. We do run a lot of programs over the school holidays but they are usually for the younger age groups. For us they tend to be a little more of a finicky age group and it can be a bit harder to put an activity on for them.”
The issue has been highlighted this year with the introduction of a Blue Light Disco in Cranbourne to try to address that need.
It was also raised particularly around the coastal suburbs with locals highlighting a lack of infrastructure such as skateboard ramps and entertainment for their teenage residents.
The workshop also highlighted the popularity of the growing art form.
Ms Bathie said the organisers of the program really enjoyed the session as well, as all the kids really wanted to be there and so they could get a lot more done as opposed to some school sessions where not all kids were as keen to participate.
