“There are too many workers who sit idle in their positions and don’t prepare a succession plan. This can result in stagnation. Turning the program over to those who have been through it not only allows them to develop into professionals, but injects new ideas into the program,” a youth program officer remarks. If it comes clear now why we should include young people in our organization, how do we go about doing it? Here are two of the most commonly used ways:
- one-off consultations with young people on particular issues, for example one-off focus groups, surveys and forums
- including young people in your organization’s planning on an ongoing basis, for example on advisory committees and boards.
There is a large volume of literature that talks about the different forms of youth participation, and how some approaches have more benefits than others. All stress the need to take youth participation seriously. Do this, and even if your youth participation strategy is small in scope, it will still make a difference. In the quest for the theories of youth participation we can consider the following models:
- the participation cycle1
- the ladder of young people’s participation.
Here the common frustrations for young people may include feeling ignored, having their ideas stolen by others (usually adults), and lack of respect and not being treated equally. This is what happens when organizations don’t take young people seriously. These issues are especially important when you are working with vulnerable young people, including young people with disability, cultural or linguistically diverse young people, or those experiencing homelessness.
They face extra challenges in their daily lives, so it is imperative that they feel respected and valued. In this endeavor it is essential to set goals. What do you want to get out of involving young people in your organization? Identify what information you need from young people, and then develop strategies for obtaining it. You can involve young people when you need help developing ideas from scratch, and/or when you need feedback on a project that is partially or well developed. This may affect what approach you use. Developing an idea from scratch with young people is a great opportunity to get really creative.
We need to also promote diversity. Who are the young people that you want to talk to? When it comes to any youth participation, diversity is the key. Try not to set too many guidelines for who can and can’t participate. Young people are not a homogenous group. Whom you choose to speak to will always depend on your objectives, but give as many young people the opportunity to participate as possible.
There are lots of ways you can recruit young people to become involved in your organization. You can tap into your existing networks, such as clients and partner organizations. You can also advertise through schools, training institutes and universities. Another thing you can do is to promote through community and youth newsletters and papers or contact organizations that work with and support young people. And in our time it is also possible to have an online and social media presence and make your sites appealing to young people.
Ethical considerations will be very important in this task. There are some ethical considerations to consider when you are planning to involve young people in your organization. The key considerations are harm, privacy, and consent. Of course this list is not comprehensive. It is just a guide for further insights. When we say harm, any participation activity must protect young people from physical and emotional harm. This includes providing a safe location and safe transport to and from the location, and taking special care when talking to young people about sensitive issues. And if you are dealing with issues that may cause emotional harm, use trained staff and consider offering free access to counselors. The other consideration is consent. It is important that all young people give their informed consent before they get involved. Informed consent means that the young person knows their role, their rights and what will happen to the information they provide. Usually, consent is obtained by asking participants to fill out and sign a form. Sometimes this is not practical. For example, it is acceptable to assume that registering interest or completing a survey is indicative of consent. Just make sure that this is clearly stated and that your participants have the information they need to be informed.
When dealing with children and young people under 18 years of age, consent should be obtained from their parent, guardian. After all this you can monitor the feedback by providing young people with ongoing feedback until their involvement is complete and formally recognize their work. Tell them the outcomes of their participation, how their contribution will be used and what the end result is.
Make them feel involved in the organization as a whole. This will show that you take their participation seriously and encourage them to keep contributing and provide ideas for other projects. At last there comes evaluation. Before you approach young people, make sure you have planned how you are going to evaluate the strategy you have adopted. This way, you can get feedback on what was done well and what needs improvement. Important issue to consider would be if you achieve the goals you initially set; if the strategy you used provide you with the information you were after; and if the young people enjoy their experience and would they do it again.
Make sure that your evaluation is done from the organization’s and the young people’s point of view. In ongoing youth participation, regular evaluations of the same is sues will help you see how young people are making a difference and highlight any areas that need attention.