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| Adam Fletcher facilitating a youth engagement workshop in 2012. |
Here’s 10 things you can do to promote youth engagement right now. These don’t require you to graduate high school, get a college degree, or change the whole entire world right now. Instead they are things you can do right now!
- Learn about Youth
Engagement. Did you know that Youth Engagement – or Youth Engagement – is
more than classes voting or school-wide meetings? Learn about Youth Engagement on The Freechild Project website, through Wikipedia, or through a number of
books. - Brainstorm what your organization
and community can do to change. The power of your imagination is an
incredible tool to use! Brainstorm different ways your organization or school
could be more engaging, and make a list or mind map. - Talk to other youth
about Youth Engagement. Ask your friends if they know about Youth
Engagement. Share your ideas about which changes your community can make, and
ask if they have any ideas themselves. Challenge them to ask you hard questions, and see if you can answer them, or tell them you’ll get back to them
after your learn more. - Find an adult ally.
Create a real youth/adult partnership with an adult to help your efforts. Engaging
an adult ally can make planning more effective and connections with other
adults easier. - Create a Youth
Engagement plan for your organization or community. Maybe your school or
the neighborhood nonprofit needs more Youth Engagement. Work with your friends
to make a plan for who, what, when, where and how Youth Engagement can be used. - Host a Youth
Engagement workshop. Invite other youth and adults in your community to
learn about Youth Engagement by facilitating a hands-on workshop.
Research Youth Engagement learning activities and use them to help participants
learn by experiencing democracy in education. Bring The Freechild Project to your community to train youth and adults. - Present your plan to community
decision-makers. Who makes decisions about how adults should treat youth in
your community or in schools? Teachers, youth workers, government workers, politicians, and school
board members can all effect Youth Engagement. Share your plan to them
one-on-one or make a presentation to local organizations, committees, and
others. - Present your plan to
community decision-makers. Who chooses which nonprofit organizations get
government funding or philanthropic donations? Present your plan to them, as
well as neighborhood association presidents, local businesspeople and youth
organization leaders. - Organize! If your
efforts to work with the community aren’t working, organize. Find other people
who care about Youth Engagement by sharing the idea every chance you get, and
ask them to join you in promoting the concept in your community. Then determine
a goal and take action to put Youth Engagement into action for everyone! - Find allies online. Having
a hard time finding other youth and adults who care? Look on The Freechild Project’s Facebook page or start your own group. People you can partner with
are everywhere, and sometimes it’s just a matter of asking!
Good luck – and remember to share your story with Freechild
today!
today!
CommonAction staff are available to train on Youth Engagement and much more. Learn what we can do for you by and call Adam at (360)489-9680.