Young people have the right to be part of decision-making processes at all levels: governmental, educational, organizational, etc. Not only do all people deserve to have a voice in decisions that affect them, but we miss out on a wealth of experience and insight by ignoring and not including the voices of young people.
In recent years states and cities around the country have been creating youth advisory councils that meet to discuss issues and make recommendations (and even draft legislation in the case of the Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council). While this falls short of giving all youth a voice through youth suffrage (the next civil and human rights issue facing us), these councils give youth an authentic forum to give their input on issues directly to governors, mayors, legislators, and other officials.
Last month the Forum for Youth Investment came out with a great guide describing youth councils and offering extensive help on how to create such councils: here is a PDF of that document, “Building Effective Youth Councils.“.
Maine became a catalyst in this area by creating its council in 2001. Since then, New Mexico, Washington, New Hampshire, Maryland, Louisiana, and Nevada have similarly created councils. Two other states already had long-running advisory groups: North Carolina and Arizona, while cities with youth councils include Boston (MA), Hampton (VA), San Francisco (CA), Des Moines (IA), and Grand Rapids (MI).
The National Conference of State Legislators’ Civic and Policy Engagement program includes a list and description of some of the state youth councils.
In addition to the NCSL and the Forum, several other organizations advocate for authentic youth voice and rights, and are worth checking out. See my post on Youth Democracy and Participaiton for links.
While I will continue to support the broader policy of youth suffrage, these councils can be highly effective ways in which to offer youth some measure of involvement in decision-making. Moreover, these forums can serve to demonstrate to policy-makers and the general public that young people can and do have important insights into policy and societal issues, and in this way youth councils may be one of the most significant ways in which to lead to greater youth voice and youth rights.