by Liz Maund, Youth & the Law Project
The Youth & the Law Project (YALP) operated from 1986 until 1991 in the Macarthur region of Sydney, using action research methods with young people to bring about community change and crime prevention. In this article, Liz Maund, a YALP Project Officer, discusses the different stages young people are at when they attend youth forums and workshops run to establish youth action groups.
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The way you approach youth action projects will depend on the stage of development of the young people you are hoping to involve. In our experience all young people are responsible, caring human beings, capable of commenting on their environment and of carrying out projects to improve it, but they often need to start this involvement in different ways.
The starting point depends on how the young people you are working with perceive their ability to change things, and on the faith of adults in their capacity to act sensibly and responsibly, given relevant support, skills and information.
We believe that young people go through 4 major stages in attempting to bring about community change, and that your approach to youth action needs to be adapted to reflect these stages.
The stages we have identified young people moving through are:
apathy > interest > ideas > action
1. Apathy
Brought about by living in a world which does not recognise their ability to change society. This is particularly true of young people who are seen as under-achievers. Youth services are traditionally geared to direct, guide and structure ideas and programs for young people rather than encouraging them to act responsibly for themselves. Parents and the education system (as the major system which impacts on young people) often reinforce this view by taking responsibility for young people rather than encouraging them to be responsible for themselves.
Thus we often take away from young people the chance to 'have a go', make mistakes in a supportive environment, and develop their skills and confidence around real life issues.
Young people at this stage will attend a forum or meeting for a variety of different reasons, most of which have little to do with community issues. They may attend because their friends are going, to get a day off school or because an adult suggested they go. They will need plenty of time, talking and group activities to move onto the next stage: interest. The forum or meeting will also have to be catered to their interests and needs: often small-group, talking and paper-based workshops will not succeed with young people at the apathy stage. Instead, you could use skills sessions appropriate to their group culture (eg. bushwalking, sports, music, mechanics, food, religion etc). Above all, make sure they have fun.
2. Interest
At this stage young people have ideas about things in their community they think should be different, but no real expectation that they might be able to bring about change. This is the stage where a youth forum is most useful, as young people are asked their opinions about issues and given an opportunity to participate in developing a solution to a problem.
Young people at this stage will come to a forum or meeting with a focus on problems that others (such as government, youth workers, the system etc) should solve, rather than a focus on solutions that they might be involved in.
Again they will need time and encouragement to move to the next stage, with activities structured enough to keep the group focussed on the issues and allow them to see how their understanding of an issue has developed. Suggested activities: Brainstorming, drama, art and discussion can be used to develop understanding of issues.
3. Ideas
This stage is about identifying ideas to solve problems. Some young people will attend meetings and forums already at this stage: full of ideas and ready to move on. Others will move to this stage through the processes you set up. This can be the most difficult stage for both the young people and the workers, as it is the biggest challenge to the tradition of adults fixing things on behalf of young people. The young people will often say: What can we do about unemployment, murder, lack of entertainment, the education system? As adults we are tempted to either agree that they can do little, or to offer our own solutions.
At this stage the young people need encouragement and time to develop their own ideas. Several sessions may be necessary before they move to the action stage.
4. Action
At this stage the young people start to develop a plan of action to carry out their ideas. Ideally this process will begin before young people are asked to commit to an action group, as young people are more likely to join a group if they have a greater understanding of what might be involved in belonging to that group.
Sometimes young people are on such a high after coming up with ideas that they do not want to get down to the details of a plan. And sometimes they come up with action ideas that are difficult to achieve. Trying to develop action plans around difficult action ideas may only serve to reinforce any feelings of inadequacy: in these cases it is preferable to leave the action plan until the project group meets later.
Notes
From The YALP Book, published by the Youth & the Law Project (YALP), Youth Forum Limited, funded by the Law Foundation of NSW. (The book is out of print and the organisation no longer exists).
Opinions: are the author's and not necessarily YAPA's.
