What does 'Youth Voice' really mean?
I wasn't sure what to write about - and realised that most of my upcoming articles will be youth voice related. So it dawned on me that this is another jargon word, so today, you'll read all about what this mysterious phrase really is.
I Googled the phrase to see what the real definition is, and found that it is ' young people having a shared role in decision making, beyond simply having a say in the final outcome'. This is accurate.
But I would also say that if you asked any young person, their responses would differ from one another.
I see youth voice as young people actively having a say in key decisions impacting their lives on a local, regional and national level. Youth voice is supposed to encourage the participation of young people in social issues, as well as show that our views matter.
Youth voice means something different to everyone. Some are happy with voting once a year in the annual consultation Make Your Mark; others want to speak to representatives and bring about change in the form of petitions or campaigns. Both are forms of youth voice and perfectly acceptable. Youth voice is about offering opportunities to young people, so they can choose how involved they want to be. It's ensuring that young people have a place at the table, because if we're there early on, we'll have a much better understanding of how things work when our generation comes in to power. And every key decision being made right now is directly impacting on our future.
So, the definition of youth voice is what you think it means. It encompasses young people and decision-making, but it's open to interpretation.
What does youth voice mean to you? Let me know in the comments or by emailing a response!
*Quote is from Kurt Moser, Senior Program Manager at Earth Force, link to website in quote
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