Providing opportunities for youth to participate in democracy

This piece was published as a guest commentary in today's Denver Post, under the title "Getting our youth to participate in democracy." Here's a link to the commentary. 

How do Americans learn to participate in democracy? If you answered “civics class” you get partial credit.

Most school districts, including DPS [Denver Public Schools], require one semester of civics for graduation. Students learn about the structure and functions of government and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. But a recent report from the Carnegie Corporation, which funded the Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools between 2005-2007, indicates that because of increasing demands for accountability focused mainly on math and literacy, students have few opportunities to develop and practice civic skills such as identifying a problem, gathering evidence, reviewing and debating possible strategies and collaborating on solutions. They almost never learn the critical skill of budgeting.

Young people living in disadvantaged communities with lots of problems to solve have the most to gain by learning such skills. But if their schools can’t provide opportunities to acquire those skills, what other options do they have?

Obama administration will attend 100 "Roundtables with Young Americans"

The Obama administration is encouraging communities around the U.S. to host "Roundtables with Young Americans" to discuss community problems, identify solutions and share success stories. The President says he values solutions from young people, and to prove it his administration will attend one hundred of these roundtables as part of an initiative called "Your Future, Your Solutions: 100 Youth Strategies for Winning the Future."



Roundtable participants can submit the results to the White House Youth Team, which will compile them in a database of models that can be replicated in other communities. The Youth Team will follow up with participants to let them know about other opportunities to connect with the White House, such as web chats and conference calls.

You can find information about how to hold a roundtable and possibly get a White House visit here.

National Youth Summit: What happens next?

In February the U.S. Department of Education hosted the "Voices in Action: National Youth Summit' in Washington, DC. The summit was attended by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and quite a few other DOE and White House officials, along with 300 students and 50 adults from school districts and youth-serving organizations around the country. The summit was held to promote dialog about how to achieve President Obama's goal for the U.S. to lead the world in college completion by 2020.

The Forum for Youth Investment (FYI) has posted a page on the summit that includes video of the opening and a "Summit Sampler" written by Alison Beth Waldman, a recent college graduate who attended. There is also a link to "Ask Sec. Duncan," which allowed students who did not attend the summit to ask the Secretary questions and vote on the top questions. However, it looks like the librarians have taken over. Most of the questions appear to have been asked by adults, and the top five questions are all about school libraries.

It's great to see the White House and the Department of Education seeking input from young people. The question, though, is what happens next? Did students' words have any influence on the decisions that will be made by the federal officials who attended? How will we know? If students had been asked what they think the President's goal for education should be, would they have chosen the same one he did? Do students even care if the U.S. leads the world in college completion?

Again, it's great to see the administration reaching out to students. But it will be even more interesting to see the follow-up. The FYI summit page indicates that Alison plans to write more on "edutainment, 'streets instead of schools,' and what happens when we’ve already talked to our Senators?" Stay tuned.

Authentic Youth Civic Engagement: A Guide for Municipal Leaders

This resource is not exactly new--it came out in 2010. But it is an excellent guide for city leaders seeking to engage young people in the United States. The primary author is Cindy Carlson, who has directed Hampton, Virginia's Coalition for Youth. Hampton is probably the most well-known example in the U.S. of successful integration of youth into city and community decision-making. The guide is designed to assist local officials in taking four key steps to successfully engage young people:

• Develop a climate that is welcoming and inviting to youth;
• Develop an infrastructure that supports meaningful youth participation;
• Create a range of meaningful opportunities for young people to participate in local government; and
• Build youth-adult partnerships to support youth participation.

The guide contains a number of tools local leaders can use to begin and enhance their efforts at meaningful youth civic participation.

Authentic Youth Civic Engagement: A Guide for Municipal Leaders

Whale sanctuary seeks applicants for advisory council

NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is seeking to fill eight primary seats and eight alternate seats on its advisory council, including a youth member. According to Hawaii247.org, this would make the HIHWNMS one of the first sanctuaries in the country to include a youth member on its advisory council.

The council advises HIHWNMS management on resource protection, research, education and outreach programs. The all-volunteer council is made up of 17 voting members and 15 non-voting members. Members represent a variety of local user groups, the general public, and state and federal governmental jurisdictions.

The youth seat is being added to help the sanctuary appeal to younger community members. It is a non-voting position.

The application deadline is January 31, 2010. For further information visit the sanctuary website.

Whale sanctuary seeks applicants for advisory council