Rooted Leader: Cindy
A Call To Invest in Youth Activism in LA
How do we empower youth at my high school to believe that they can be youth activists and leaders?
Cindy has often heard her fellow students and youth organizers say things like, “We can't do anything,” or, “Nothing we do matters." Using the knowledge and skills she’s developed through the Rooted Leadership Project, Cindy launched 5 focus groups and a survey that reached 92 local high school-aged youth to learn about how her community can inspire future activists.
“Even though I find it important, I feel like I’m stopped […] [because] I’m not educated enough [...] You should always be researching more into it before you commit.”
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Constituents: Fellow high school students (13-18 years old)
Cindy identified a total of 92 friends and peers as constituents through her own experiences as a youth activist and the lack of empowerment she has noticed amongst her peers. Through her surveys and focus groups, she learned that they are interested and willing to contribute to their community, and that they just lack the resources and access to information about where they can get started.
Allies: Student clubs and teachers- especially those who teach ethnic studies, english, and history classes. These teachers constantly inspire students to get involved and make a difference. Cindy was able to work with student clubs and supportive teachers to successfully share her survey across the student body!
Decision Maker: School administration
Based on her findings, Cindy has made recommendations for how the school can better support students to feel empowered and get involved. The recommendations include improving processes that could create accessibility for students to access opportunities to become activists.
Figure 1. This pie chart shows that a large majority of the youth I surveyed from my high school were interested in activism.
Figure 3. A large majority (76.1%) of students were unsure of where to get involved with activism. They responded on a likert scale of 1-5, where 1 = strongly disagree, and 5 = strongly agree.
Figure 5. This is a snapshot of the public list of clubs at our school, which does not provide an explanation of the activities or programming that each club provides. These are great resources that we need to improve students’ access to so that they can get involved in activism.
Figure 2. This pie chart shows that, despite people’s interest in activism, only 16.3% of youth actually participate in activism while 83.7% do not.
Figure 4. A majority (59.7%) of students agreed that they would get involved in activism if they were given the right resources. They responded on a likert scale of 1-5, where 1 = strongly disagree, and 5 = strongly agree.
Figure 6. This bar graph shows that an overwhelming majority of youth surveyed learn about activism through social media or word of mouth with their social circles. Not surprisingly, the majority of survey respondents shared that they get their information on Instagram.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings from her survey and focus groups, Cindy believes that her community can support youth activism by following the recommendations she has outlined below. She has divided her recommendations to address both youth
as well as her school and potential allies.
For Youth:
Reach out to your teachers and your friends in order to get involved in activism. Ask them, "Do you know of any opportunities to get involved in my community?" I guarantee that most teachers will know where to point you to help you get started.
When we talk to people about activism, it can be more helpful and relatable to refer to 'activism' as 'opportunities to improve your community.' The label of ‘activism’ can be intimidating and people’s perceptions of this word are often colored by current events. Be specific about the issues you care about and kind of change you want to help create in your community.
One of the easiest ways to step into your power as a youth activist is to volunteer with local organizations/clubs. As you begin working with them, remember that they represent your community. Engage with these people and understand how and why you're helping the community through this volunteer work. For example, one of my friends thought about why they - as untrained, unpaid tutors - were the ones tutoring children who would have really benefited from a professional tutor. It created a realization that we don't have access to these resources in our community, and they went on to create a mentoring organization at our school called 4First!
For Schools and Allies:
Schools should make more classes available like the the Ethnic Studies class at my high school! This class was special in the way that it often highlighted activist history. Following the lead of this class, we can also revamp English curriculums by teaching texts from a more diverse set of voices. In my focus groups, a lot of the trusted information that students cited for understanding and pursuing activism came from their English and history teachers. This makes perfect sense because there are many historical examples of activism, and language is a powerful tool that activists use.
Our schools need to highlight resources that already exist in our community but don't have enough attention. For example, there are many opportunities to learn how to start your own community initiative, like our Ethnic Studies class, Educare’s many after school programs, the cultural clubs, and local organizations like SEACA. Unfortunately, the way that these programs are marketed make many people assume they are frivolous and solely for socializing!
At my high school, we just have a list of clubs that look like a jumble of acronyms, so people don't really know what these clubs offer. We can start by categorizing the clubs (i.e. fun clubs, community service, academic, etc.) so it's easier for students to navigate. The student government is already in a position of power to work with these clubs, so it would be a great opportunity for them to create this list. It would also be helpful for them to provide updates about local events and opportunities because right now only a select handful of students have access to this knowledge while the majority of others are left in the dark.
Community organizations and clubs should focus firstly on educating members on the issues they work on. Virtually everyone in the focus groups expressed that they felt too uneducated to take action. Many teens are looking for sources of information beyond social media, and enjoy learning about a myriad of issues from global warming to socio-economic inequities to animal welfare. Draw potential activists in by providing workshops, presentations, and events that will help them understand these issues while building their confidence to act.