Is mandated youth participation in decision-making a reality or a utopia?
The mandated participation in decision-making of the broad young society is a non-real utopia.
Putting Real Youth Participation Into Practice
Youth participation in decision making can be enabled by creating an environment in which youth are valued, in turn, may help move communities toward a Positive Youth Development approach to meeting the needs of young people. Through that approach, all youth are provided opportunities to be involved in, and supported by, the community.
Preparing for, Planning, and Implementing Youth Participation Efforts
As approach to involving young people, the following are steps in implementing effective youth participation initiatives as strategy points/ indicators can be observed:
1. Analyzing Organizational Readiness for Youth Participation - reflecting on the impact of Organizational leadership and management styles on youth involvement efforts.
2. Developing a Youth Participation Plan- as part of a youth involvement effort the plan may include the following in the design and implementation plan;
• Identifying projects and activities that could fit into the organization’s goals for its youth-adult partnership efforts
• Choosing and training the staff responsible for implementing the effort
• Identifying staff and outside resources who could provide orientation and training to youth and adults as part of the initiative
• Designing a process for recruiting young people and/or adults to participate in the effort
• Establishing a timeline for implementation
• Creating a process for sharing information about the effort
• Obtaining advice regarding liability issues
• The organization then could identify the resources needed to put these components into place and develop a strategy for obtaining the support
3. Implementing the Youth Participation Plan – this can be attained by designing youth participation projects that are tailored to the needs of young people which embrace the following;
• Involve youth in projects that move quickly from the planning stages to action
• Give young people roles in which they are likely to succeed
• Give youth responsibilities that help them build relationships
• Create structures to support youth serving on decision-making bodies
4. Involving Young People Who Have a Variety of Experiences - reaching out beyond the “high achievers” to other youth whose participation is often not requested for a variety of reasons
5. Selecting and Training Adult Participants - for participation in youth-adult partnership projects, a well-planned process for recruiting, screening, and providing orientation and training to these individuals is important. The following factors are helpful;
• Recruiting and screening - Conduct outreach to publicize the youth involvement effort among adults from a range of backgrounds and the screening of candidates
• Training - Providing adults selected for participation with an orientation
6. Providing Orientation to and Support for Young People - a process for offering an orientation to young people, identifying youth roles, providing them with support and training, and giving them opportunities to talk about their experiences. Some tips can be observed;
• Offering an orientation
• Identifying youth roles
• Providing support through a well-trained adult mentor
• Providing training
• Debriefing
7. Promoting Youth Involvement Efforts in the Community - sharing information in the community about youth participation efforts can help build positive images of young people and in turn provide individuals and the world we live in with ideas on ways they might tap young people’s talents and energy.
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