Society is inviting young people to be consulted on issues relating to their lives, and the arts can provide the communication channels that will engage them in the debates. Graham Duxbury explains how.
Whats the biggest problem affecting the quality of life where you live? When asked this question, more than half of us consistently answer with the phrase kids hanging around. Our children rank above litter, graffiti and dog mess when it comes to being a problem to be cleaned up or cleared away.
A charitable interpretation of this would be to suggest that what we actually mean is that there arent enough facilities for young people giving them somewhere safe to go and something positive to do. The less charitable would contend that weve bred a generation of hoodie-wearing, anti-social monsters whose deviant behaviour needs to be more effectively managed and controlled.
Whether your glass is half full or half empty, its difficult to deny that weve reached some kind of crisis point in our relationship with youth. We seem to value it more but understand it less than ever before. We constantly strive to demonstrate that young people have a voice in important issues facing society but dont want to see them outside our homes. Is this the first generation of young people that will be heard but not seen?
Of course some will say this is merely momentary media hysteria and that kids have always been and will always be kids pushing at boundaries, challenging convention, being disrespectful and, in many cases, engaging in behaviour that needs to be challenged and stopped.
Although theres a lot of truth in this, its also true that a number of things have changed fundamentally and irreversibly in the way young people are viewed and treated by society.
Children and young people now have rights through the legal adoption in the UK of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We shouldnt be surprised if children grow up being aware of this and wanting to exercise those rights. As a society were prepared to accept this situation on the understanding that anybody with rights also has responsibilities, but does that mean expecting children to behave like adults and, if so, are we entitled to expect that?
Another change weve witnessed over the past few years is the loss of those domains that young people of previous generations were able to claim as their own. Where once children had the freedom to roam their neighbourhood, the nature of the environment and the tighter control we exert over their movements makes it far more likely that young people will seek to congregate in areas that bring them into closer contact and potential conflict with other sections of the community. Streets have been taken over by cars, parks plagued by drug users and dogs, and stranger danger means were generally happier if our offspring are playing video games in their rooms than climbing trees or playing hide and seek in the bushes.
At the root of many of our problems is poor communication. Public bodies and institutions talk increasingly of involving young people in decision-making, but its a well known fact that poor participation techniques are the most effective way of ensuring young people dont participate. Any whiff of tokenism or of views expressed not being acted on can undo the most well-meaning strategies and plans.
It remains a fact that many of us are not well-versed in communicating with young people. Its also self-evident that many young people feel uncomfortable being asked to contribute views through adult structures such as meetings. A brokering role is needed and artists around the country are fulfilling this function superbly.
Music, video, design or performance can all provide vehicles for young people to articulate their feelings and express their desires. With the right support they can also produce a high quality output that can offer a powerful channel of communication with decision-makers. Giving young people access to technology and support can be the first step in developing their own interests and passions, but also in ensuring that local initiatives are designed in a way which meets their needs and therefore increases the chance that new facilities will be respected. Groundwork has been working with partners in Liverpool to help young people make a video setting out their issues and concerns to the local council while in a similar project in Nottingham the young people re-enacted scenes from computer games in local parks, a first step in getting them out of the bedroom and exploring the facilities on their doorstep.
The way in which local authorities plan, resource and deliver youth services is undergoing fundamental change. Local childrens trusts are being established to act as commissioning hubs, setting priorities for action and allocating funding. Devised in the wake of the Victoria Climbié enquiry, childrens trusts will ensure that all those with an interest in the welfare of children are working smarter. There will inevitably be a focus on critical services such as care and education. We need to work hard to ensure they also understand the benefits of culture to young people both as an end in itself but also as a vehicle for helping children be both seen and heard.
Graham Duxbury is Head of Policy and Communications for Groundwork UK.
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