Youth participation

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Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their communities.

Coinage

Youth participation, also called youth involvement, has been used by government agencies, researchers, educators, and others to define and examine the active engagement of young people in schools, sports, government, community development and economic activity.

In 1975, the National Commission on Resources for Youth in the United States defined youth participation as:

...Youth participation is the involving of youth in responsible, challenging action that meets genuine needs, with opportunities for planning and/or decision-making affecting others in an activity whose impact or consequence is extended to others— i.e., outside or beyond the youth participants themselves. Other desirable features of youth participation are provision for critical reflection on the participatory activity and the opportunity for group effort toward a common goal.

In 1995, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) established a definition of meaningful youth participation as:

Meaningful youth participation involves recognizing and nurturing the strengths, interests, and abilities of young people through the provision of real opportunities for youth to become involved in decisions that affect them at individual and systemic levels.

In these forms, activities may include:

• Youth councils
• Participatory action research
• Youth-led media
• Youth-targeted political organizations

Youth participation often requires some measure of student voice or youth voice, as well as youth/adult partnerships. Results are often measured by youth development goals, academic outcomes or returns on social capital. They may take the form of civic engagement, youth rights or intergenerational equity.

See also

• Youth voice
• Youth empowerment
• Community youth development
• youth movements
• Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Articles 5 and 12
• Youth sports
• Association of Young Americans

Examples

• Collegiate Forum, the first international student policy center
• The Podium: A Collegiate Journal, where tomorrow's leaders speak today
• The Wellspring, a web log about youth affairs opportunities in Australia and at the United Nations (UN).

Wikipedia information about Youth participation This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Youth participation". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.