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InvolveYouth 2:
A guide to meaningful youth engagement |
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4. Representation and accountability
Organizations and programs often select youth to represent their peers. Sometimes representation is in a formal capacity (e.g. being the youth rep on an adult-led selection committee.) Often, representation is more informal even unconscious (e.g. being the lone South Asian young woman who is expected to represent the experiences of all South Asian young women). Representation can be a complex issue, especially when staff and youth representatives alike are striving to be responsible to those they represent. Since representation can be a complex issue it requires some consideration to help youth be responsible to those they represent.
What does it mean to be representative? Insincere programs are ineffective programs
What does it mean to be representative?
Representation is linked to accountability as well as diversity. It is not enough that there are diverse faces at the table, if the individuals present are not engaged in the community that they are intended to represent. Being from a community does not mean that a person is engaged in that community.
No one person can speak for a whole community. Unfortunately, it often happens that youth are invited to participate as though their individual voice were representative of a community, neighbourhood or, sometimes, of all youth. If young people are expected to speak on behalf of some larger community, mechanisms must be in place to ensure that they are, in fact, representative of that community. They also have a responsibility to report back and engage in an ongoing dialogue with the community.
Opportunities for leadership and influence should be partnered with training and support so that youth can become skilled decision-makers. Youth need to be provided with the necessary information to understand the impact of their decisions. Without the appropriate support and mentoring, young leaders may not have a developed sense of social responsibility or know how to be accountable to a larger community.
Insincere programs are ineffective programs
In order to provide meaningful opportunities for youth, programs need to go beyond a tokenistic or superficial inclusion of young people. Organizations must make a real commitment to initiatives that will deliver substantial and long-term benefits to youth.
When is youth programming exploitative?
- When youth initiatives are tokenistic or opportunistic. Adult-led organizations may be interested in accessing sources of funding but have no real commitment to engaging youth. When youth are invited to participate but their views are not valued and they have no opportunity to speak.
- When youth are used as a source of cheap labour. Youth may be recruited as volunteers but not offered positions as staff. Or, youth are hired as staff but are paid significantly less than adults in the organization.
- When youth are being used as a kind of "poster child." Youth are invited to participate in high profile or media events, but there is no real investment in them in terms of long-term support or skill development.
>>>> Chapter 5
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.
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