MATERIALS FROM EUROPEAN SEMINAR ABOUT RURAL YOUTH AND PEER EDUCATION

The portfolio organizer

COACHING GUIDE

Anex 4

More info about peer education

Challenges to Building Effective Youth-Adult Partnerships

Attitudes as challenges

Some adults still believe that the opinions of young people do not matter, that youth are not capable of contributing in a valuable way, and that adults have nothing to learn from youth. These types of attitudes about youth might be viewed from the perspective of cultural diversity, where firsthand experience can be an effective strategy for changing attitudes. For example, involving young people at high levels of responsibility and decision-making enables adults to see that youth can be thoughtful and make important contributions. When someone comes to see a formerly undifferentiated group as diverse, that person becomes more likely to value the individuals within the group and let go of stereotypes.

Power dynamics, usually rooted in cultural norms, may contribute to challenges of youth-adult partnerships. Formal instruction in school often teaches youth to expect adults to provide answers and to ignore, deride, or veto youth ideas. Adults frequently underestimate the knowledge and creativity of young people and may be accustomed to making decisions without input from youth, even when youth are directly affected by the decisions. Therefore, successful partnerships require deliberate effort on the part of both adults and youth.

Spectrum of attitudes

According to the ‘spectrum of attitudes’ theory, adults may have one of three types of attitudes about young people’s ability to make good decisions. These attitudes also determine the extent to which adults will be willing to involve young people as significant partners in decisions about programme design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

- Youth as objects. Adults who have this attitude believe they know what is best for young people, attempt to control situations involving youth, and believe that young people have little to contribute.These adults seldom permit youth more than token involvement. For example, an adult might write a letter to an elected official about an issue pertinent to youth and use a young person’s name and signature for impact. Adults may feel the need to protect youth from the consequences of potential mistakes.

- Youth as recipients. Adults who have this attitude believe they must help youth adapt to adult society. They permit young people to take part in making decisions because they think the experience will be good for them, but they also assume that youth are not yet self-sufficient and need practice to learn to think like adults. These adults usually delegate to young people responsibilities and tasks that the adults themselves do not want to undertake. The adults usually dictate the terms of youth’s involvement and expect young people to adhere to those terms; the adults might deliberately retain all power and control. For example, adults who view youth as recipients might extend an invitation to one young person to join a board of directors that is otherwise comprised solely of adults. In such a setting, a young person’s voice is seldom raised and little heard – adults do not expect the young person to contribute, and the young person knows it.

- Youth as partners. Adults who have this attitude respect young people and believe they have significant contributions to make. These adults encourage youth to become involved and firmly believe that youth involvement is critical to a programme’s success. They accept youth having an equal voice in many decisions (see box on equal decision-making, page 167). They recognize that both youth and adults have abilities, strengths, and experience to contribute. These adults are as comfortable working with youth as with adults and enjoy an environment where youth and adults work together. They believe that genuine participation by young people enriches adults just as adults’ participation enriches youth. For example, adults who view youth as partners might hire young people to participate at the very beginning of a programme’s design.