The Importance of Youth Voice
The voice of the next generation is the voice of your future congressman or doctor, artist or activist. That’s why including their voice in youth programming is so important.
When you were young, where you were in programs at your church, after-school, a summer camp, or a sports team?
Did those programs value the importance of youth voice?
Did you ever have an opportunity to share your opinion/views and then they were implemented? If so, how did that feel?
When I was involved in programs as a young adult, I was always too shy to give my input. However, I saw that the input of my peers was implemented in whatever we were to do next as a program, especially in the volunteer program I was (and still am involved in). This made me feel good.
Now that I am a Youth Programs Coordinator with Virginia Community Voice, I want to make sure that all the young people we work with feel they can share their voice and opinions and see their ideas implemented. In fact, that’s now my job.
“No youth voice = no youth participation.”
Think about this - not listening to what youth has to say leads to an abundance of disenfranchised youth, who feel like their voices are not important.
The reality is that youth are the future of the next generation and with them being silent, nothing can be accomplished. Too often youth feel as if their voices do not matter, when in fact, they need to be heard.
The other reality is that without youth voice, youth programming would be complacent.
Youth are the next leaders of our communities and I believe their voices should be the primary factor in how youth programming is designed.
Youth should be able to voice their views and opinions while in youth programming because they could be the spark that implements positive change.
Most importantly, how will we know what youth need, or what works and what doesn’t work without hearing what young people have to say?
Good youth programming usually implements the voices of their youth participants and utilizes the thoughts and ideas that youth have. By doing such, you not only get an understanding of what youth want out of the program, but you get a better program overall.
In short, no youth input equals no youth participation.
Here’s how youth voice improves programs:
The impact of youth voice in youth programming is beneficial to facilitators and co-facilitators of these youth programs because it gives them (the facilitators and co-facilitators) an idea of how to better run these programs and a better understanding on what the youth like and dislike about their program.
Youth voice in youth programming is essential to curating a working program that not only involves the youth but implements what the youth has to say. This can save everyone time, money, resources, and lead to greater impacts for youth.
At Virginia Community Voice, we have two youth programs — YEER (Youth Empowerment through Eviction Research) and ARCA (Art, Racial Reconciliation, and Civic Advocacy).
Both YEER and ARCA are two programs that really implement the importance of youth voice in youth programming, eliminating the stigma that youth don’t care.
YEER and ARCA both encourage their youth to give their input and uses the feedback to better improve upon their programs.
For instance, during the duration of ARCA’s summer program this year, we received suggestions from the participants on better food choices for our in-person sessions, we used those suggestions to weigh out food options and chose one for our following in-person meeting.
Every youth program should be like that, using a system of asking questions, evaluating answers, and picking the necessary solution to making sure both the youth and the facilitators are happy.
If you are interested in joining the YEER program — now is the time to sign up! We are recruiting youth right now for our next project, which kicks off in the spring.
Do you, or a young person you know, want to be part of a program where youth voice is centered?
Learn more about YEER here.
In closing, the value of youth voices is something to keep in mind when considering any program for yourself or young people in your life, because youth voices matter.
Shakirah Jones
Shakirah is the Youth Programs Coordinator for Virginia Community Voice. A resident of Richmond’s Southside, Shakirah first got involved with RVA Thrives in 2017 during our first community listening process. Shakirah is also an artist, musician, and writer. Contact her at shakirah@vacommunityvoice.org.