Below are opinions from EBGTZ’s youth engagement specialist, youth listening sessions, and other credible experts on garnering participation from youth for positive, youth-friendly sex ed events.
Do:
- Communicate directly with youth. The facilitator/trusted adult of the meeting should speak directly to the youth about scheduling, location, meeting deliverables, etc., with little to no intermediary.
- Have food and giveaways available. Many youth participants are coming after school or/and have unstable living conditions. Nutrition will be a great incentive, and will help make sure participants are coherent during the meeting.
- Provide stipends, gift cards, or payments. These are great incentives; also many youth want to be a part of an organization’s planning committee if they are paid.
- Have near-peers/young people as part of the leadership/planning team. This could include young people in on the execution of the event, sending out research surveys that the youth can access, etc.
- Play health-related games, and give out prizes. Youth want fewer lectures and more hands-on and youth-friendly activities/workshops. A great way to get participants in workshops is to offer prizes such as gift cards.
- Use youth-forward language in resources, pamphlets, etc. Some of the language in materials on sexual health (specifically HIV) can be hard to understand. Vocabulary/language in the field can be very advanced or overall different from what most individuals are used to.
- Allow for spaces where youth can learn from each other. Youth express wanting opportunities to learn and teach each other versus only learning from a trusted adult.
Do Not:
- Don’t solely reach out to youth for data purposes; include data collection in events that are lighthearted and family-oriented.
- Don’t just talk to young people, listen! Ask open-ended questions, let them lead meetings, allow them to decide what’s next for them, etc.
- Do not patronize youth. Instead, be honest, respectful, and supportive.
Educational resources on best practices:
- ACT For Youth: “Youth engagement happens when young people participate in meaningful opportunities and roles that allow them to build on their strengths, take on responsibilities, and contribute to decisions that affect themselves and others.”
- National Civic Review: “Engaging youth in government can take many forms. Our focus is particularly in regard to community governance through active citizenship and civic engagement. Barry Checkoway and Adriana Aldana recently provided some conceptual organization to youth civic engagement and identified four forms: citizen participation, grassroots organizing, intergroup dialogue, and sociopolitical development.”
- YouthPower2: “Meaningful youth engagement is an inclusive, intentional, mutually-respectful partnership between youth and adults whereby power is shared, respective contributions are valued, and young people’s ideas, perspectives, skills and strengths are integrated into the design and delivery of programs, strategies, policies, funding mechanisms and organizations that affect their lives and their communities, countries and globally. Meaningful youth engagement recognizes and seeks to change the power structures that prevent young people from being considered experts in regard to their own needs and priorities, while also building their leadership capacities. ”
- Youth.gov: The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, a collaboration of 22 federal departments and agencies that support youth, has created the following definition of positive youth development (PYD): “PYD is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people’s strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.”