NCJ Number
203702
Date Published
2003
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This report presents ideas, lessons learned, recommendations, and characteristics of effective programs that engage youth with their communities and their schools and encourage the development of active citizens.
Abstract
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a nonprofit professional development organization that strives to bridge policy, practice, and research. In order to learn more about how to encourage the development of effective citizenry and youth engagement, the AYPF held a series of forums and field trips during 2002 through 2003. This document reports on what was learned during these sessions and presents recommendations collected from the sessions for building an effective youth citizenry. The first section discusses the main lessons that were learned about how to build an effective youth citizenry. One of the main lessons is that in order to engage youth, they must be given an active role in decisions that concern them. The second section presents findings from a forum on youth with disabilities that focused on uncovering the obstacles that inhibit their full participation in society. The third section discusses a forum in which panelists described their efforts to take a successful youth civic engagement project to the national level. The fourth section described the First Amendment Schools Project, which awards grant monies to schools that give students the opportunity to practice democracy. In the fifth section, two leaders in the area of national service discuss the benefits of allowing all citizens to participate in service. The sixth section presents the results of a recent study on the contrast between the civic and political attitudes and behaviors of youth aged 15 to 25. The seventh section reports on recent efforts in Missouri and San Francisco to engage youth and discover their views on public policy. The eighth section focuses on the efforts underway in New York and Philadelphia to engage youth in the process of reforming and designing the education system. The field trips are discussed in the next two sections; the first taught participants about Youth Court and its goal of engaging youth in the civic participation, while the second took participants to a charter school that prioritizes youth engagement in public policy. Finally, four recommendations are made on successful practices and policies that promote the development of effective and engaged young citizens. A listing of contacts is provided.