• Provide opportunities for skill development and capacity building. Like conventional youth development programs, activities will seek to develop academic, intellectual, civic, emotional, physical, employment, social and cultural competence.
  
  
• Provide opportunities for leadership. Leadership in the youth engagement context involves a genuine transfer of decision-making power to the youth. At minimum, this means the ability to make decisions in the design and direction of their own programs. Youth may also participate as decision-makers in various levels of the organization such as serving on adult-led boards and committees. Some organizations have created separate structures in the form of youth-led advisory boards and youth councils.
  
  
• Encourage reflection on identity. Youth are supported in their development of a critical and political analysis of identity issues. This is often achieved through anti-oppression training, discussion and creative expression. Familiarity with identity issues enables youth to make the links between the factors that affect their own lives and the systemic factors that affect their community and society at large.
  
  
• Develop social awareness. As the youth gain a greater awareness of their own identities, they are encouraged to develop a consciousness beyond the self. They are guided through the transition from self-awareness to social awareness and given opportunities to reflect on the responsibilities of citizenship. In some programs, youth are provided with the skills, training, and resources to become the agents of change in their community.

>>>> Chapter 2

InvolveYouth 2: A guide to meaningful youth engagement is broken into section chapters on the web. See the Chapters list for links to all chapters. You can also download the PDF of this document. You will need to have the latest version of the  FREE Acrobat Reader on your computer to view. To order a printed copy of the guide send an e-mail to safety2@toronto.ca or call 416-397-0442.