• Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission and Vision
    • The Youth Workin’ It Team
      • Shae Pepper, Managing Director
      • Stephen Pepper, Operations Director
    • Recommendations for the Youth Workin’ It Team
  • Youth Work Resources
    • How To Plan A Youth Retreat Book
    • 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas
  • Contact Us

Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

  • Youth Group Games
  • Session Plans
  • Fundraisers
  • Youth Retreats
  • Life Skills
  • Interview Skills
  • Scavenger Hunts
  • Would You Rather Questions
  • Program Administration
  • Policies & Procedures
  • Youth Participation
  • Group Agreement

Central To Our Youth Work Should Be YOUTH

September 2, 2011 By Shae Pepper 12 Comments

Youth Participation
Don’t have youth just sit there while you make all the decisions

Adults generally (and yes, I am making a generalization here) tend to fall into one of two camps when it comes to dealing with youth.

Those that feel that youth don’t really know what’s best for them yet because they are still young and those that feel that when a youth hits 12 or 13 and those hormones kick in, they’re best left to their own devices to figure things out and make their mistakes “because that’s what teenagers do”.

One view negates the responsibility of young people to learn, make informed decisions and follow the road, no matter where the consequences (negative or positive) may take them.

The other view abdicates the responsibility of adults in the lives of youth (parents, teachers, youth workers, youth ministers, etc). The responsibility to teach, give information and provide a safe environment for making informed decisions and supporting young people along the road with the consequences (negative or positive) that they may find themselves in.

Neither serves young people to their best advantage or helps them reach their truly highest potential.

I’ll be honest with you. Five years ago, I fell heavily into one of those two camps. Anyone who knows the maniacal control freak perfectionist (I prefer ‘high achiever’ these days) that resides within me and may occasionally surface, knows that it was not the latter.

At some point I was conditioned to believe that young people didn’t know what was best for them and that adults are excellent decision makers. As an adult, I now know that to be less true than ever! Young people have the lion’s share of enthusiasm and great ideas – all they need are supportive adults to help them channel their passion in ways that help them achieve their goals.

But there is a third camp emerging within youth work practice. A group of youth workers that aren’t afraid to release some of the control over the young people in their programs. A way of working with youth that creates engaged, informed, compassionate and fair young people.

Youth Participation is becoming a buzz word among youth work practitioners. Basically, it’s based on Article 12 of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which says that young people have the right to be heard by decision makers.

Anyone who has ever had a relationship, boss, friend or barista will know that there’s a big difference between being heard and being listened to. The key is making sure that when you’re giving young people a chance to have their say that it isn’t tokenistic.

Roger Hart created a Ladder of Participation when working with young people.  The bottom three rungs are considered ‘non-participation’ and at the top of that non-participation list is ‘tokenism’. You might be engaging in tokenism in your youth work if you have one or two young people who are your ‘go to kids’ for all decisions that are made in your organization.

Or maybe you’re just using youth for ‘decoration’ on the stage during your church’s “Youth Service”, in which the young people have no say over the music, the sermon, the dress code, etc.

It takes time to unteach social norms. It takes time for adults to stop dismissing young people simply because they’re young. Youth Participation is becoming more important to all forms of youth work and youth ministry in order to fully meet the real needs, not just the perceived needs by adults around them, of young people today.

Question: Where are you and your organization on Hart’s Ladder of Participation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

501 Would You Rather Questions

501 Would You Rather Questions

52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas

52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas cover

How To Plan A Youth Retreat

How To Plan A Youth Retreat cover

Categories

Best Of Youth Workin' It
Book Reviews
Guest Post
Spotlight on Youth
Types Of Youth Work
Would You Rather Questions
Youth & Society
Youth Group Activities
Youth Group Fundraiser
Youth Group Games
Youth Retreat
Youth Work Program Administration
Youth Work Q & A
Youth Work Session Plan Ideas
Youth Worker Stuff
Youth Workin' It Stuff

Tags

Administration Balloons Boundaries Budget Christmas Communication Facebook Food Food Games Global Issues Global Youth Work Goal Setting Group Development Group Games Guest Posts Interview Skills Life Skills Parents Planning Policies and Procedures Relationships Relay Games For Teenagers Scavenger Hunt Ideas School Self-Esteem SMART Social Media Strategic Planning Team Building Twitter Up Front Games Volunteering Volunteers Water Games For Youth Would You Rather Youth Behavior Youth Cartel Youth Group Bonding Youth Participation Youth Retreat Center Youth Retreat Themes Youth Scavenger Hunt Youth Work Definition Youth Work Resources Youth Work Training

Search Youth Workin’ It

All Content © Copyright 2011-2025, Stephen & Shae Pepper, youthworkinit.com