For the past few years, I’ve been involved in delivering and designing healthy relationship education programmes in high schools. The design process usually looks like the following: a group of adults sitting around a table trying to decide what young people need. We brainstorm, plan, deliver, feedback as adults on what it was like to deliver – and the cycle repeats. Somewhere along the way, I found myself asking a pretty obvious question: where do young people actually get a say in any of this?
I like to think I’m a reasonably relatable person and fairly up with what’s “cool” (or at least not cool), the truth is… it’s been over TEN years since I was their age. Ten years! In a world where trends, pressures, and the entire online landscape can shift overnight, a decade is basically an eternity.
What would happen if we hit pause on the assumptions and actually took the time to listen? Really listen. While there are endless narratives thrown around – especially about our young people- what I keep hearing from them is something entirely different.
They’re not looking for more labels or criticism; they’re craving moments to slow down, breathe, and make sense of the world they’re moving through at full speed.
This is where youth voice becomes not just important, but essential. Yes, I know what you might be thinking: “Here’s another adult telling young people what they want and need” but from our work in the community, spending time talking with young people, what we are hearing is clear.
“Young people today are telling us they feel like they can’t find their way to the end of the maze, there is a direction they should go in but they don’t know what it is, things need to slow down, they want space to breathe and be”
To be honest, I walk into youth spaces carrying my own assumptions about what they will or won’t open up about. These assumptions are usually very quickly proven wrong. What they decide to share is raw, real, and deeply telling about what it means to be a teenager today.
We spend time as a team reflecting on these conversations, about all of the information that is out there that young people are trying to process and keep up with.
It’s no wonder many of them end up in situations that are not particularly healthy when they haven’t even had time to sit and think about what it is that they really want or need. I’m not saying I now have all the answers about what young people need in this space, however I am a lot more aware of the greater impact we could have if we sit, listen, understand and THEN create. Yes, this does take time. It means creating space for young people from all different communities, most of the time it’s providing an incentive of food (how else are you going to get them in the room?) and providing a listening ear with a promise of action.
We live in a world where time is precious, but so are our young people. They are the ones who will be leading future generations. This means we absolutely MUST care for, nurture and amplify their voices so that they can see themselves represented, not only in our programmes we deliver, but also in the world they live in.