Youth Open House - Groupes virtuels - Communauté

Message

De:	"Kirsten Jordan" [ Profil ]
Sujet:	Why do we participate?
Envoyé:	Jul 9th, 2007 - 17:12:02

	Before I delve into what I feel may be a reason for why youth participation is important and highly necessary I would just like to say that my perspective may not be as informed as others' as I am just slowly educating myself on this topic...(I only recently started working here and becoming familiar with this field!) I believe that youth participation or participation on any level helps to instill the values and confidence an individual will need to take with as they navigate through the life cycle. By being a part of decision-making processes at a younger age, we are helping build up confidence, self esteem, teaching youth the importance of being responsible members of society, and also offering them the chance to practice the skills they will need to definitely need to have. By ignoring a youth's voice we are teaching him or her that their opinion does not matter. Participation as a youth also, to me, does not mean that each youth will become vocally involved as an activist in promoting awareness of key global issues. Participation can occur on many different levels and each person is unique as to what makes them tick. Footsteps, one of the groups at the YOH, is a great example of how youth can participate and engage on a more creative level. Maybe they are not "formally" participating, but they are creating a movement of interest...perhaps I digress now! As for the question what would youth be doing if the organization wasn't there? Well, I guess we only have to look at statistics for this question, especially in terms of North America where there so many social problems. Research has shown that an individual will be less likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex or violence, if they are a youth participant. Just some random thoughts! Kirsten

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