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HS Students take the lead in creating the 2008 Ohio Youth Agenda
By Jonathan Lykes, Youth Voices organizer and senior at Shaw HS in East Cleveland Ohio
Jonathan introduces the youth leaders to everyone |
Some came because they want to be apart of something that is bigger than just their school. Others came because they wanted to be involved politically in a youth action group. Many came because they saw the opportunity to have their voice heard, and took advantage of it. I came not for myself, but for the common good of all students across the state of Ohio. The State conference in downtown Columbus was a great success.
Over the past three months Youth Voices Director Michael Charney and I have been going around the state and talking to students to get them involved in Youth Voices for Justice. The mixture of Michael's experience and the connection that I have with my peers must have made a good team. In the conference we had over 200 students and adults present, with the task of revising the 2007 Ohio Youth Agenda and creating the 2008 Youth Agenda.
It was great to see that throughout the day a youth voice was on the microphone more than an adult authority. Many “youth groups” throughout the country say that they are “empowering youth” only to see them use adults to dictate everything the youth can and cannot say. This is why Youth Voices for Justice is authentic and unique. I can personally testify that students that were at the conference had a pure youth decision in everything that was on the agenda. Youth Voices for Justice truly empowers the youth across the state. The small group sessions were led by youth, and the conference as a whole was led by youth.
I was honored to start the day by standing in front of my peers reciting a poem about Jena 6. Then two students from Brush High School in the Cleveland area, Nkechi Edeh and Siaara Freeman recited some of their poems that they performed in the international poetry competition. It was an original and artistic example of how youth are expressing their voice, feelings, and passion not only across the state, but also across all of America. After the poetry and introductions ended, students had to express their favorite food non-verbally. It was very interesting to watch students act like chickens and cows to express their favorite food.
After the morning icebreakers were over, the atmosphere got serious. Students started to pick which groups they wanted to be apart of. They were split into two larger groups that were then determined by subjects. The students discussed the existing components-- including things that were already on the Ohio Youth Agenda such as raising the graduation rate, school counselors for mental and social health problems and not just for scheduling classes, youth centers with peer leadership and having a full curriculum, just to name a few. The new components that the students added to the agenda were subjects like thriving in a multi-cultural world, what to do when youth end up in jail, preventing violence, pregnancy and teen fathers and improving the quality of teaching.
As I walked around and listened to the different small groups, it was inspirational to see so many intelligent students participating in intellectual conversations to create the revised agenda. The Media in America show how negative the young generation has become, but if the media could only see the power and positively of the youth that were at the conference, no adult in the country would have the courage to condescend or patronize any young person in Ohio.
As the students concluded their small groups they came back to the main conference room for lunch. There were so many students at the conference, we had to go out and buy more food for everyone. I am glad that the biggest problem at the conference was with the amount of food. It shows that all the students were sharp and on point with why they were at the conference and what the youth of Ohio wanted to accomplish on that day.
Students leaders presented what they discussed in the small groups in front of hundreds of their peers.
In the afternoon students got to talk with CJ Prentiss, the former state senator and the leader of the campaign to raise Ohio's minimum wage. She is now working for Governor Ted Strickland on the Governors initiative to close the achievement gap with a focus on raising the graduation rate for African-American men in Ohio. She had listened to us and included the Youth Agenda 2007 component for peer leaders in her plan to increase graduation rates. She was also our mock-candidate for students to practice communicating the youth agenda. It was a great exercise and showed all the students that it will take a lot of hard work to effectively communicate Youth Agenda and what we want to politicians around the state.
And that's the goal: To create a 2008 Ohio Youth Agenda and then meet with candidates for state representative, state senate, Congress and possibly for President during the election season to encourage them to support each of the components of the Ohio Youth Agenda.
The state conference on December 4 the set a good foundation for what the revised agenda will look like. Now the information that was gathered will be sent out to the students across the state, so they can give feedback and final comments. Then there will be one or two representatives from each school that will meet once again in January and finalize the revised agenda.
In January, Youth Voices for Justice will also be hosting “No Vote, No Voice.” In this process students from around the state will lead assemblies at their school where they will educate the students who will be 18 by November, 2008 and who then can vote in the March primary elections, register every eligible student to vote, and inform them about the plans for the Youth Agenda. Once the students get all the voter registration forms signed they will meet with students from all the other participating schools in their county and present the forms to the board of elections. We want politicians to know that the Youth of Ohio are serious about voting and putting the concept of popular sovereignty into good use.
Youth are determined to have their voice heard, and after the conference on December 4 the we are closer to reaching that goal. On Sunday, December 2 , Youth Voices was on the front page of the metro section in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Aaron King from Success Tech Academy was quoted saying "I see a lot of my own generation walking around outside, with nothing to be hopeful for.” After the excitement, energy, and inspiration from the conference, students now and in the future have something to hope for that will put a dent in the realms of history.
200 people attend Youth Agenda Conference
A report from Michael Charney, Youth Voices Director, 216-548-4059
They came from cities, small towns, and suburbs. Some got up at 4:00 AM to meet their charted bus. So many students traveled to the
Columbus YWCA for the Ohio Youth Agenda Conference that we had to run out and bring in extra food for breakfast and lunch. 100 students were expected but 185 signed in with an additional 20 adult advisors.
I had traveled almost 10,000 miles in the last three months with 17 year old student organizer Jonathan Lykes meeting with groups of students interested in having their voice heard in Columbus and Washington. I now know all the map quest routes to Toledo, Van Wert, Plymouth, Lorain, Georgetown, and Federal Hocking and the side streets and alleys of Columbus and Cincinnati.
I couldn't believe we accomplished our goals. In a six hour conference I spoke for seven minutes at the beginning and end and the rest of the time students lead the process to create the 2008 Ohio Youth Agenda.
Jonathan and his fellow national poetry contest colleagues lead off with provocative, over the edge poems that challenged traditional thinking about racial justice, religious and cultural stereotyping, and poked fun at food and those who would taunt fat people.
After cataloging the accomplishments of Youth Voices in passing the minimum wage increase, creating the 2007 Youth Agenda, persuading Governor's Strickland's special representative for closing the achievement gap to include peer mentoring in her plan to increase graduation, and arranging urban and rural school visits, the leadership of the students bubbled up.
Over 25 student leaders facilitated discussions to create the 2008 Youth Agenda. Groups focused on the existing 2007 Youth Agenda and offered changes to the components of a high quality curriculum, real world classes and financial literacy and internships, counselors to help with mental health and social problems, plans to prevent drop outs, financial and informational opportunities to attend college, a constitutional school funding system and peer lead youth centers to prevent violence and pregnancy.
But new themes emerged for 2008 including preventing violence, pregnancy and teen fathers, improving teaching, thriving in a multicultural world and helping young people if they end up in jail.
I expected the traditional routinized small group reports once the students met in small groups and responded to the question, "What should the state and federal government do to make sure you and your fellow classmates achieve educational and economic success in the next five years?"
But these students did not know how to be traditional or routine. I guess that's why they still have the optimism of youth.
Instead of one leader making the report, all the group members rose up and spoke before hundreds of their peers.
A few themes stand out. The group looking at accountability delivered a complex set of recommendations worthy of a legislative committee complete with new hands on ways to assess student learning and the need to get teachers to transcend the trap of boring students by teaching to the test. The students thinking through how to improve teaching demanded a specific guidebook for teachers to follow. On the state level? Emerging bureaucrats here.
Few if any of the students had served time in prison but their sophisticated and moving narration of what can be done to help their peers if they end up in jail illustrated one of the motivating directions for the Youth Agenda. Students involve think about the common good, not only directions to benefit them personally
All the adults held their mouths open after the students from Thriving in a Multicultural world finished their summary. In classic youthspeak the leader declared we aren't just standard black and white and then listed the Mexican, Vietnamese, Asian, Native American, and Russian backgrounds of the group. They declared that they wanted the Truth taught about different people. The native born Russian boy told how American images of negativity towards Russian people in America must stop. Their presentation was so powerful that they repeated for a new videotape because the first videotape had run out earlier in the day.
I am sure students from all the other groups can add to this report because this is just my impressionistic snapshot.
The 2008 Youth Agenda cannot be refined in just a one day conference. Students will receive a summary of all their comments, give their response and then a representative group will meet in mid-January, 2008 (maybe in an overnight retreat) to fine tune the 2008 Youth Agenda.
After hearing from a representative from Governor Strickland about the insightfulness of the components of the Youth Agenda, especially those aspects that dealt with preventing violence and fostered peer leadership, students role played a meeting with a candidate. This mock candidate, successful in 13 out of 15 elections, finally had her chance to answer, "local control" when pressed for legislative response to funding aspects of the Youth Agenda. Students realized that they will need a lot of research and practice to effectively communicate with candidates during the 2008 election season.
It was the 18th birthday for Mason Pesek, the southeastern Ohio organizer for the Youth Agenda. Mason had organized delegations of students form Federal Hocking, Belpre, Fort Fry and Frontier to attend. So Mason role modeled one of the themes of the Youth Agenda. He registered to vote.
And that's the first major follow up activity for the hundreds of students at the Youth Conference. Get all the students in their high school who will be 18 by November, 2008 to come to an assembly in late January. Have them register to vote, inform them they can vote in the March, 2008 primary even if the are still 17, and inform them of the plans for the Youth Agenda.
Once these students register to vote their voter registration forms all will be presented publicly to the county boards of elections.
With possibly over 10,000 new voters candidates for state representative, state senator, Congress, and possibly even for President will likely be willing to meet with students to respond to the newly revised 2008 Youth Agenda.
Jonathan Lykes was quoted in the Sunday Plain Dealer a few days before the conference saying the goal of the conference was to energize youth so that policy makers will listen to them. For the adults at the conference the students did more than energize themselves. They inspired all of us.
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