What is youth engagement?

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by Polly Padgett7 views·Updated Nov 22, 2021
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  1. This is the first e training module on
  2. youth engagement brought to you by connecting Spartanburg.
  3. What is youth engagement?
  4. This module is broken into four parts.
  5. The definition
  6. meaningful engagement,
  7. the benefits and possible resistance
  8. defining youth engagement.
  9. The term youth engagement is frequently used to describe any activity
  10. that requires youth adult partnership,
  11. but this fails to address the core component
  12. of making these interactions meaningful and empowered.
  13. A better definition.
  14. A better definition of youth engagement that places emphasis
  15. on empowering youth is to involve youth in responsible,
  16. challenging action that meets genuine needs with
  17. opportunities for planning and or decision making,
  18. affecting others.
  19. This definition can still be a little vague, so let's unpack it.
  20. Yeah,
  21. making it count
  22. to engage youth is to create opportunities for youth
  23. to exercise their voice by making important decisions,
  24. allowing them to take on responsibilities and making space
  25. for them to improve outcomes for themselves and others.
  26. True,
  27. uh huh
  28. meaningful engagement,
  29. viewing youth as partners is critical to meaningful engagement,
  30. affecting change occurs through collaboration where you
  31. and adults benefit and learn from each other.
  32. Let's go over the corporate schools.
  33. The first one being choice
  34. allowing teens to make choices that impact themselves and other teams.
  35. The second would be voice
  36. teams have a unique voice that deserve to be heard and acted upon.
  37. 3rd, we have participation.
  38. You need to be actively involved to empower them in their decision making.
  39. Lastly governed.
  40. Giving youth opportunities for leadership roles.
  41. Breaking that down choice is not only decision making,
  42. but seeing the impact of said decisions.
  43. This helps to build decision making skills
  44. and youth and encourages feelings of agency
  45. giving teams a voice, allows them to act as consultants on their area of expertise
  46. themselves,
  47. participation allows teams to feel active in their communities
  48. and this looks like creating plans,
  49. implementing them and evaluating them with the help
  50. of an adult to achieve their goals.
  51. Finally, sharing leadership opportunities, gives teams a safe space to lead.
  52. Okay,
  53. okay,
  54. okay,
  55. the benefits of these engagements,
  56. Youth engagement can be a powerful tool for youth and adults and here's how
  57. benefits for you.
  58. Youth can gain civic skills and knowledge, better social and emotional skills,
  59. a greater sense of efficacy and belonging
  60. vocational skills,
  61. knowledge of community and its institutions and so much more.
  62. Mhm
  63. benefit for adults. Adults can gain the ability
  64. to experience an eligible youth firsthand the perception of youth as partners,
  65. increased feelings of effectiveness and comfort with
  66. youth and relating to their work with you
  67. in an understanding of youth needs and concerns
  68. and so much more.
  69. Yeah,
  70. resistance.
  71. Youth adult partnerships can be hard work because of resistance,
  72. but the benefits
  73. of overcoming these barriers outweighed the resistance.
  74. Imagine
  75. barriers
  76. seeing youth as valuable partners can be challenging for adults,
  77. teens are young and ever changing, leaving many adults
  78. to diminishing the importance of their decisions.
  79. Yeah.
  80. These negative attitudes,
  81. behaviors and assumptions that some adults Kerry is called adult is um
  82. overcoming occultism is key to interacting with you on a genuine level.
  83. Yeah,
  84. yeah.
  85. For more resources, check out act for youth dot net and connect spartanburg dot org.
  86. Yeah.
  87. Yeah.