Open University course centres on experiences of young Shankill men

"We were being made out to be things that we weren't - thugs, hoods."

Matty, a 16-year-old from the Shankill Road area of Belfast, is remembering the aftermath of violence and rioting that engulfed his community in 2021.

Now, those experiences are central to a new Open University course.

The course, called Why Riot?, is based on the views, opinions and lives of eight young men from the Shankill, who were pupils at Belfast Boys' Model school at the time.

Matty recalls the violence that erupted just a five-minute walk from his house when speaking to BBC News NI's The View.

"It was a bit surreal to be honest, I'd never really witnessed anything like that in my lifetime.

"Obviously I'd seen videos from the 90s and 80s, and during the Troubles and stuff like that, but I'd never really seen anything like that around me."

The road to Why Riot? began with the principal of Boys Model, Mary Montgomery - spurred on by concerns about some of her pupils in the wake of the violence, she got in touch with the ACT Initiative which is run by and works with former UVF prisoners.

Dr William Mitchell, from the initiative, said: "We thought it would be good idea to go up and share our experiences with them - the negativity of having a criminal record - and that's where the programme started."

That initial meeting in the school led to eight pupils subsequently attending a course in the ACT Initiative's office on the Shankill Road once a day for six weeks.

"I should add that they all weren't involved (in the rioting) - not all eight of them were involved, by their own admission some of them were," he said.

"But not all of them were, some of them tried to deter friends from getting involved in it.

"By and large, it was engaging in a relationship with them, building up some sort of rapport with them, getting to know them."

He added: "That gave me the basis of doing a series of facilitated workshops."

Dr Mitchell said the three things that emerged from the boys was their "understanding or their take on community, the choices they had and their aspirational levels".

According to him, the boys had told their headteacher that "nobody wants to listen to us, the only way you get your voice heard about here is to do something bad".

"At the time we thought that our voices weren't being heard by people and outsiders," Matty told BBC News NI.

"We were looked down upon, they didn't really hear our side of the story, didn't hear the thoughts of young Protestants from the Shankill."

And the collaboration with the Open University on the Why Riot? course was how the boys decided that their story would be heard.

The Open University's Dr Gabi Kent worked with Dr Mitchell and the boys to develop the course.

"I don't think we had a clue how we would do it, we just knew that we wanted to do it," she told BBC News NI.

"It's been a journey for sure and I've seen the boys grow over that period of time.

"These are eight young people that we've worked with but we have created something that we hope will have a much wider application."

And that wider application means the Why Riot? course - which can be taken online or on a mobile phone - brings in many topics that have a relevance far beyond Belfast.

"We had conversations about things like social media and hate speech and how do you deal with things online?" said Dr Kent.

"Their experiences shaped from the beginning all the way through to the end."

So Why Riot? covers topics like how to spot fake news, explore different opinions, think critically about life choices and how to work with others.

There is also a session on the Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford and how he used his voice to highlight food poverty.

"We've made something that's based on the experiences of these boys here on the Shankill but we've covered universal themes and skills," Dr Kent said.

"We're trying to give young people the skills of how to think, not what to think.

"It's critical thinking skills and reflection and that's a recurring theme running through."

Dr Mitchell added: "What I think the programme has done is have them think considerably about the choices they make in their lives."

But what about the eight boys?

Almost two years on, all eight are now in education, training or employment - including Matty who is back at Boys' Model taking his A-Levels.

He and some of the others are also volunteering in youth work.

"If you can inspire someone then you've done something right," he said.

And what is he hoping to inspire people that take the course to do?

"To go down a good path, maybe get a good education, be a good person."

But Dr Mitchell said that, more widely, there was still a lot to do to bring people together - including more integrated education.

"We still socialise apart, we still worship apart, we're still more or less employed apart and, most importantly, we're still educated apart," he said.

"If we don't start addressing as children our differences them we're doomed to repeat the past."

You can see more on this story on The View, BBC One Northern Ireland at 22:40 BST on Thursday, and afterwards on BBC iPlayer.