NCJ Number
203458
Journal
Youth Studies Australia Volume: 22 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2003 Pages: 44-51
Editor(s)
Sheila Allison
Date Published
September 2003
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses and argues the importance of children and young people’s participation in their schools and communities and the need to make the voting system more relevant to young people.
Abstract
Youth participation has the potential to provide everyone with a better place to live. The participation of young people in decisions that affect them is an expanding area of policy development. However, young people are becoming increasingly isolated from society and left to its own devices society will not develop new ways of achieving this participation. In addition, the issue of political participation needs to be addressed in order to understand why young people’s participation is going to provide a better society. There is growing evidence that providing young people with opportunities to participate in decisions that affect them is important to their safety, welfare, and well-being. New and imaginative ways for young people to participate in decisionmaking are needed to be found. It is also suggested to promote young people as a public benefit through political participation, an area overlooked by most participation theorists. There is a need to examine the political dimension which includes a re-examination of the voting age and education of young people regarding governance at school. Young people’s participation has the potential to be a vehicle for improving stability, enhancing democracy, and supporting peaceful social change. References