Youth voice is a fairly common neologism to refers to the distinct ideas, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and actions of young people as a collective body. A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. ... Attitude is a key concept in psychology. ... Knowledge is information of which a person, organization or other entity is aware. ... Action, as a concept in philosophy, is what humans can do. ... Popular use of the word youth refers to a person who is neither an adult nor a child, but somewhere in between, scientifically referred to as an adolescent and, in most English speaking countries, commonly referred to as a teen or teenager. ...

Background

The term youth voice is often intended to group together a diversity of perspectives and experiences, regardless of backgrounds, identities, and cultural differences. Alternately, the plural forms of either word are usually intended to recognize plurality and diversity of experience, as in youths voice or youth voices. The concept is traditionally acknowledged by community and classroom educators and youth workers; it is increasingly employed by politicians, researchers, and mainstream media. Mass media is the term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ...

Student voice is an increasingly common neologism that encapsulates the spirit of youth voice in the context of schools. Whether expressed in the course of learning, the process of decision-making, or the passion of self-advocacy, student voice acknowledges the unique position of the learner as an informed contributor in teaching, learning, and leadership throughout education. // Definition Student Voice is a neologism describing the distinct perspectives and actions of young people throughout education focused on education. ...

Historical background

The history of youth voice parallels the history of humankind. According to Christian tradition Jesus Christ was just 12 when he began his effort to educate his community about his spiritual beliefs. In the Middle Ages a 14 youth of 14 called Joan of Arc led armies into battle. The current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso was only 6 when he was identified as the next spiritual and political leader of Tibet. Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, referred to as Christ. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanne dArc,[1] (1412 – 30 May 1431)[2] was a national heroine of France and is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. ... This article describes the Dalai Lama lineage. ... Tenzin Gyatso is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama. ...

Modern background

In modern times youth voice has been manifested in several movements. The current youth activism trend began in the United States in 1899 with the The Newsboys Strike. The US has seen continuous interest (although not sustained) in youth voice since that time, with particular upsurges: Youth activism is best summarized as youth voice engaged in community organizing for social change. ... On July 18, 1899, the tensions between newspaper and their distributers aka newsboys over a ten cent price hike which had started late the previous year came to a head with a mob attacking a delivery wagon in Queens. ...

Two girls wearing banners with slogan "ABOLISH CHILD SLAVERY!!" in English and Yiddish. Probably taken during May 1, 1909 labor parade in New York City.

• Mother Jones 1903 "Children's Crusade" against child labor in mining
• The 1930s' American Youth Congress, which rallied for education and jobs for youth
• The 1950s' Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which organized for civil rights for African Americans; additionally, throughout the 1950s and 60s sociologist Margaret Mead actively promoted deepened understanding and engagement of youth voice.
• The 1960s' (Students for a Democratic Society and Youth Liberation of Ann Arbor, which both sought for greater access for youth throughout America's democratic processes
• The early 1970s' National Commission on Resources for Youth, which was a government effort to prove the validity and necessity of youth participation in government and schools.

Throughout the 1990s and into the new millenium, a growing number of nonprofit, educational, and governmental programs around the world claim to advocate and/or engage youth voice in a variety of ways. They include YouthBuild USA, National Youth Rights Association, and youth councils around the world. The United Nations has heavily proponented youth voice through its Youth Unit, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Articles 5 and 12. A number of academics, authors, and advocates also proponent youth voice, including cultural critic Henry Giroux, activist/author William Upski Wimsatt, critical pedagogue Peter McLaren, and anti-racist/feminist/anti-imperialist theorist bell hooks. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x699, 149 KB)Photograph shows half-length portrait of two girls wearing banners with slogan ABOLISH CH[ILD] SLAVERY!! in English and Yiddish, one carrying American flag; spectators stand nearby. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x699, 149 KB)Photograph shows half-length portrait of two girls wearing banners with slogan ABOLISH CH[ILD] SLAVERY!! in English and Yiddish, one carrying American flag; spectators stand nearby. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Yiddish (Yid. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: Big Apple Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... Mother Jones Mary Harris Jones (August 1, 1837 – November 30, 1930), better known as Mother Jones, was a prominent American labor and community organizer, and Wobbly. ... // Child labor or labour is the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom. ... American Youth Congress (AYC) was an early youth voice organization composed of youth from all across the country to discuss the problems facing youth as a whole in the 1930s. ... The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (or SNCC, pronounced snick) was one of the primary institutions of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. ... Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist. ... SDS Button Logo The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was, historically, a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the countrys New Left. ... Youth Liberation of Ann Arbor was an organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ... According to the Forum for Youth Investment, from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, the National Commission on Resources for Youth embarked on a national effort to expand opportunities for young people to assume active, responsible roles in their communities. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... YouthBuild is a non-profit organization based around giving unemployed young American adults (between ages 16 and 24) a chance to help rebuild their community, as well as give them opportunities to advance their education and sense of responsibility for both their community and themselves through Co-Counselling-based leadership... NYRA logo The National Youth Rights Association is the largest Youth Rights group in the United States, with several thousand members. ... Youth councils are an example of youth voice engaged in youth-led decision-making. ... The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. ... The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international convention setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. ... Henry Giroux, born September 18, 1943, is a US cultural critic. ... William Upski Wimsatt (born 1973 in Chicago, Illinois) is an artist, journalist, author, entrepreneur, multi-issue organizer, philanthropist, organization-builder and lecturer. ... Peter McLaren Peter McLaren is internationally recognized as one of the leading architects of critical pedagogy worldwide. ... bell hooks at talk for Intercultural Center bell hooks (born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952) is an African American intellectual, feminist, and social activist. ...

Applications

Youth voice has many applications, as mentioned above. In communities, youth voice is acknowledged through youth service community youth development, Youth activism, and Youth councils; in schools, youth voice is heard in service learning, democratic schooling methods, and student activism. Other methods for acknowledging youth voice include engaging young people in city planning, program evaluation, community organizing, government advisory boards, nonprofit leadership, news reporting, and paticipatory action research. Youth service is tantamount to any volunteer community service activity conducted by any person under the age of 25. ... Community youth development, or CYD, is a philosophy emphasizing the uniquely symbiotic nature of youth development to community development by situating the two practices in a common framework. ... Youth activism is best summarized as youth voice engaged in community organizing for social change. ... Youth councils are an example of youth voice engaged in youth-led decision-making. ... Service learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful community service. ... A democratic school is a school that centers on democratic principles and participatory democracy with full and equal participation from both students and staff. ... Students occupying Sheffield town hall over the introduction of higher education fees Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. ... Urban, city, or town planning, deals with design of the built environment from the municipal and metropolitan perspective. ... Evaluation is the systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone. ... Community organizing is a process by which people are brought together to act in common self-interest. ... Participatory action research, or PAR, is the process of engaging the subjects of research as researchers for the purpose of developing reactive projects based in their findings. ...

Criticism

There are numerous detractors to both the concept of youth voice and the practice of gathering, invoking, extolling, or otherwise hearing youth voice. Perspectives range from what some call the inherent noblesse oblige involved: that is, listening to youth voice involves adults feeling "humble" enough to "stoop" to the level of youth. There are also a number of concerns regarding the diversity of the youth who speak, as well as the reception of those who listen. In French, noblesse oblige means, literally, nobility obliges. Noblesse oblige is generally used to imply that with wealth, power and prestige come social responsibilities. ... Diversity is the presence of a wide range of variation in the qualities or attributes under discussion. ...

See also

• community youth development
• critical pedagogy
• collaborative learning
• Democratic Schools
• youth participation
• The Freechild Project
• Take Children Seriously
• National Youth Rights Association
• Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
• Global Youth Action Network

Community youth development, or CYD, is a philosophy emphasizing the uniquely symbiotic nature of youth development to community development by situating the two practices in a common framework. ... Critical pedagogy is a teaching approach which attempts to help students question and challenge domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate. ... Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers. ... A democratic school is a school run after democratic principles with full and equal participation from both students and staff. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... The Freechild Project logo The Freechild Project (or Freechild) is an international non-governmental program founded in August 2001 in Olympia, Washington, USA by community organizing activists from the youth voice, youth-led media, and youth rights communities. ... Taking Children Seriously, or sometimes simply TCS, is an educational philosophy founded by the libertarians Sarah Fitz-Claridge and David Deutsch. ... NYRA logo The National Youth Rights Association is the largest Youth Rights group in the United States, with several thousand members. ... Young Religious Unitarian Universalists, or YRUU, is a youth organization that exists within the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association), an organization of Unitarian Universalists in the United States of America and jointly with the CUC(Canadian Unitarian Council) in Canada. ... The Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) is an international network of youth NGOs working to incubate global partnerships and increase youth participation. ...

External links

• CommonAction - Youth engagement in schools and communities
• Youth On Board
• Youth Service America - Youth Voice
• Survey of International Youth Involvement
• TakingITGlobal Voice - Youth involved in decision-making processes
• Youth Activism Project
• Collegiate Forum, the first international student-run policy center
• What Kids Can Do
• The International Voice, a youth-run human rights newsmagazine
• At The Table
• Online Teen Magazine, helping youth voice their opinion
• School Survival, an online community for young people who hate being forced to attend school.
• SoundOut - Promoting youth voice in schools
• The Roosevelt Institution, a student think tank
• The Youth Innovation Fund
• Uth TV, Original media created bt youth for youth.
• The Wellspring, a web log about youth affairs opportunities in Australia and at the United Nations (UN).
• TeenSpeak Online, a web-based commentary and opinions site designed for teenagers and written by teenagers.
• Surveys for Teens, an online resource for fun teen surveys.
• StandUp For Kids National all-volunteer program for homeless and street kids and at-risk youth North America