Young people informing decision making is nothing new. It’s trendy. What better philosophy than to have the youth give their input on how the systems around them work.
Yet so often, these efforts fall short. Not only do they fall short from an end product side, but from a process perspective, they burn bridges and leave young people pessimistic about their potential as creators in the future. That’s because many of these processes look like adults deciding to seek youth feedback. They host a focus group, have some conversations and make big promises like “Your input will help us build the new community center.”
Unless every person you hear from wants to see the same things built, it’s impossible to implement all of their feedback. But if you’re a young person who has just heard “your opinion matters and we’re going to make it happen,” you’re not considering the dozens of other sight lines. Budget, liability, timeline, etc.. all concerns that the youth aren’t made aware of. Overall, it’s a recipe for dissatisfaction.
On the flip side, when you seek youth input, then they help you build it, you’ve created a new paradigm. Now, youth don’t just suggest ideas, but they have to understand what it takes to go from idea to reality. Now, they build the skills to create projects, and also gain a deep understanding for how difficult it is to balance dozens of priorities and perspectives.
While all their ideas might not end up in the final design, they will have learned a deeper lesson. They will have chosen the most important aspects of the idea to keep considering the constraints at hand. They will feel ownership and pride over the end product. And most importantly, they will have built something that authentically serves people like them, something even the most capable adults struggle to do when dealing with the teen population.