Introduction to Youth Voice

By Adam Fletcher

"I care about this right now. Why should I wait to do something?"

"I can't ignore the challenges my family faces anymore."

"This affects our entire community and our entire community needs to take action."

This is the wisdom of youth.

These could be the voices of wise elders from around the world, speaking strongly about issues that matter. They could be the voices of parents, concerned about their children. Instead, they are comments from young people, speaking with the passion and wisdom that comes from their age. As our world becomes more connected through technology and marketing, more youth need to be encouraged to define who they are, where they are from, and what they stand for - and what they stand against. These young people are working with adults in their communities to create positive, effective, and sustainable change in the world today. Across the United States and around the world there is a growing movement that seeks to hear, strengthen, and empower young people. Young people are becoming active by making decisions, reflecting on learning, planning for action, and advocating for change throughout their lives, and throughout the communities they belong to. This is Youth Voice.

Defining "Youth Voice"

Lots of people in are talking about Youth Voice today. Over the last 15 years a grassroots movement promoting Youth Voice has emerged, counting among its ranks young people, parents, teachers, youth workers, researchers, and others. Politicians, government officials, and mainstream media are practicing using the phrase. But it seems like everyone has their own definition. When the phrase "Youth Voice" is used, it is usually meant to describe the perspectives of teens. Occasionally, the phrase includes younger children. The definition used in this publication is meant to summarize these different intentions: Youth Voice is the active, distinct, and concentrated ways young people represent themselves throughout society.

More than a Title

The Freechild Project illustrates how Youth Voice requires action. It is more than making kids heard - it is actually empowering children and youth with purpose. Youth Voice is more than a goal for young people alone; instead, it is an awesome avenue towards identifying and creating what is good for everyone, our common good. Engaging young people can build a strong sense of community, a commitment to civic action, and a passion for active learning. This book explores each of those outcomes, ultimately challenging readers to engage young people in order to strengthen democracy. Democracy is more than a buzzword, a political party, or an old-fashioned idea from history books. In our state, it is at the center of community, and in the heart of learning. Democracy is an action, an attitude, and a journey that provides a hopeful, energetic, and responsible future for everyone in our society, including young people, seniors, parents, little brothers, big sisters, neighbors, leaders, and everyday people. Democracy is vital to our individual and collective good, now and in the future. Democracy is for everyone, and so is Youth Voice.

Youth Voice Toolkit

The Freechild Project believes it is important to make everything about Youth Voice with young people, and to be as transparent as possible. We believe that by sharing the meanings of the language and exposing the underlying assumptions and myths about Youth Voice young people can work with adult allies to create supportive environments and meaningful relationships that honor their differences. The diversity among young people leads to different roles throughout their communities, and new principles within the Youth Voice movement help challenge discrimination and the self-defeating tendencies of well-meaning adults.

There have been several attempts to examine Youth Voice, and our measure places the keys to Youth Voices in the hands of young people themselves. The Freechild Project Cycle of Youth Voice and our Guidelines can be useful for planning; our assessment rubrics help summarize the power of Youth Voice. The number of organizations, publications and links have grown greatly over the last dozen years; our Youth Voice Toolkit acknowledges and builds upon their contributions.

Brazilian critical pedagogue Paulo Freire wrote, "Poor are those among us who lose their capacity to dream, to create their courage to denounce and announce..." We hope this collection of tools helps the Youth Voice movement dream, create, renounce and announce the power, possibility and hope inherent in intergenerational equity and radical democracy.

© 2010. Adam Fletcher owns the copyright for this material on behalf of The Freechild Project. You are welcome to print out this material for educational purposes only - you cannot make any financial gain from them without the explicit permission of the author. You may not photocopy any part of this material without explicit permission of the author. For more information write info [at] freechild.org 

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