Youth Voice = Youth Action

Photo: Biddeford students share stories they gathered for a class designed by Carolyn Gosselin.

I’m not sure at what age it happens, but at some point, you find yourself saying something about “Kids these days...” and it’s rarely the start of a compliment about the younger generation.

I routinely hear people complain about how teens are apathetic, consumer driven and that they would rather text with their friends than have a real conversation.

I’m writing today to share three stories from Maine that fly in the face of that common sentiment.

Just this week I attended a community forum in Biddeford, Maine where participants were voting on priority actions for downtown. It was a typical March night in New England (cold, snowy, rainy), and yet about 15 local teens came out for the forum to make sure their voice was heard as the City plans for downtown’s future. For many communities, this turn-out alone would be remarkable, but what makes it even cooler is that those 15 students were only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to youth engagement.

For the past two years, Biddeford’s high school students have been gathering stories about downtown, mapping and blogging about its assets, and holding discussions about its future. Well over a 100 students have been involved in the project to date. And the forum this week showed support for one of the issues the students have raised in the project: a place for teens downtown. Almost 50 percent of participants voted that this kind of “home base” is important to create in Biddeford (FYI, the teens made up 17 percent of the total participants, so many other people have come to see this as a need, too).

Two other Maine communities have similar stories. In Damariscotta, through a youth-designed survey, students identified the need for a place downtown for them to hang out after school. Within a year of that finding, the Damariscotta River Grille designed a special menu and place for young people. In Camden, a similar story unfolded in the creation of The Rig, which is a local hot spot for the town’s teens. The seed of its creation was planted at a community forum in 2009 where teens spoke up about what they wanted to see in town. Students played a leading role in designing both of these new spaces.

Three things stand out to me in these stories:

1. If you give young people a real say in their communities they will participate
2. They are capable of taking quick and effective action (faster than many community projects)
3. There are typically supportive adults backing them up—in Biddeford, it’s a local teacher; in Damariscotta, it’s a local restauranteur; in Camden, it’s local residents and organizations.

Feeling inspired yet? Ready to launch your own youth project?

Stay tuned to the Foundation’s upcoming announcements. We’ll be releasing resources on youth engagement in April as part of our upcoming Request for Proposals. Also, check out CommunityMatters for an upcoming call on youth engagement.