Involve youth in your community
How to encourage youth to get involved
Young people are a big part of our communities and getting them involved in neighbourhood events and activities can benefit everyone. In order to involve youth in your community you need to work on developing interesting opportunities for them. Here are some ways to involve youth in your community:
- Open the doors for young people to come in. This means inviting youth to participate in a neighbourhood activity that you are planning, or to take part in developing a new one;
- Encourage youth participation in the decision-making processes for events or activities and encourage other adults to spread the word and invite youth into their programs and activities;
- Focus on diversity and involve youth who may not otherwise be included, like youth who are excluded because of language barriers or a disability;
- Identify activities that focus on the strengths that many young people have, like coming up with entertainment for an event, developing a social media page for the community, etc.; and,
- Organize meetings to fit their schedules whenever possible.
Benefits of having youth involved
Everyone benefits from having young people involved in community activities. Youth get the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge, and experience. This helps them to:
- Build self-confidence
- Learn to work with others, both their peers and adults
- Learn how to step up to leadership roles
- Develop a spirit of volunteerism and civic participation
Young people can also bring many benefits to your community activities. Youth are creative and technically knowledgeable and can contribute new perspectives, energy and different skills to help make your event or activity reach a wider audience and be more interesting to other young people.
Resources
The Kit, published by the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa is a compilation of the views of young people about programs and services for youth. It includes tips for working with young people and how to involve them in projects. Although it focuses on more formal work and programming situations, the information is a good first-hand view of how young people want to be treated and engaged.
http://www.ysb.on.ca/english/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=45
The Halifax Regional Municipality produces a Youth Engagement Tool Kit that contains practical information and strategies for adults to engage young people.
