About Youth Participation
A workshop on youth participation was held during a Conference organized by The International Association for Adolescent Health in Washington, March 2000.
This workshop mainly tries to show the benefits of youth participation for youth and for the community, and how to do it.
The benefits of Youth participation for Youth
- Training for the leaders/professionals of the future
- Self worth-ability to do things for themselves and others
- Healthy for youth, inter-class solidarity
- Identity formation
- Self-esteem
- Training & competence
- Building life projects
- Staying connected
- Empowerment
- To be heard, participate in development
- Recognition in community as positive members
- Can take the lead in new areas e.g. sexual minority youth
- Peer mentoring, training to be next leaders (South American e.g. of the next government)
- Humour-energetic, creative inspiration to adults
- May (we hope) bring changes to issues that are important (not just to youth)
- Increases their responsibility
- Education of adults
Benefits of Youth participation for the Community
- Visibility of youth issues
- Inspiration to community members
- Helps community to mature
- Accountability
- Anxiousness of community members due to new issues raised by youth... forces community to address these issues
- Reduction of violence
- Control of intergenerational conflicts
- Energy, passion
- Hope for future
- Community cohesiveness
- Community innovation
- Forces community to ask youth about their needs
- Training for everyone
- Youth leadership
- Communication improves
- Happiness
- More visibility of ecological issues
- Guarantees future development community
- Increased communication and dialogue
- Enables service providers to adapt services to meet needs of youth appropriately
- Economic development
The following notes are additions to participants lists created in the workshop.
Outreach and Recruitment
- Methods of recruitment: radio/television
- How to recruit/Incentives: training for youth/recognition
Communication & Role Clarity
- Flexibility
- Youth speak-youth-friendly translation from 'adult' language
- Facilitation
- Direction
- Mentorship
- Confidentiality
- Youth establish own roles in conjunction with adults
- Ground rules/expectations
- Respect
- Listening
Nitty Gritty
- A buy (from youth) in to meetings
- Logistics-honorariums, awards/recognition, follow-up/follow-through
- Delegation
Developing Sustainability
- Skills and support - evaluation and measurable outcomes
- Commitment - high turnover of youth, mentorship
- Resources - matching funds, co-location (site integration), genuine collaboration
- Quid pro quo - trade, bargaining, I'll scratch your back...
Barriers and Sustainability
- Timing -right place, right people, scheduling
- Commitment : participation options, creativity, flexibility - age, culture, community, experience
- Bureaucracy : solutions may seem extreme or strange, expectations, cultural differences, culture shock
- Vision
Summary by Sarah Brandon, Youth net, Ottawa.