Engaging Young People

in Discussions about their

Communities

Some tips in facilitation

Why Engage Young People?

Participation ‘is not a political campaign but a process of creating a society that is

inclusive of young citizens.’(Brian Milene, PLA Notes, 1996)

• Participation in the sense of knowing that one’s actions are taken note of and may be acted upon – which is sometimes called ‘empowerment’

• New perspectives in the field of children’s rights that have been given prominence by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Can Children of All Ages Participate?

Can young children contribute their thinking to

conversations about their community?

• Yes! BUT, we must learn techniques that will enable children to do this since obviously their cognitive, social, and emotional capacities develop through the years

• Children do not bring equal capacities or equal challenges to discussions. This puts the pressure on facilitators to come up with methods that will help young people articulate their thoughts and feelings - no easy task.

Tips for Facilitators

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

• Be aware of the energy and attention levels of your group and respond to them with activities

• If people have stopped having fun, this is your biggest clue to do something differently

• You should always be aware of your group’s physical and emotional safety. In your ground rules, you will have established that safety is everyone’s responsibility, but you will need to monitor it.

Tips for Facilitators

POTENTIAL TROUBLE POINTS:

1) By choice or not. A major influence on the success of the session is the reason for children and young people attending. Sessions should be attended out of choice, but on occasions they may be a different reason.

2) The issues. On occasions the issues being addressed may be particularly personal to the individuals in the group, and have the potential to upset participants – for example, discussing bullying in schools.

Tips for Facilitators

POTENTIAL TROUBLE POINTS:

3) Previous experience. Some children and young people may have had negative experiences of being consulted and therefore have little or no confidence that this will be any different. Others may have never been asked their views and initially find the experience something of a culture shock.

4) Tension within the group. On occasions you may find that there are tensions between members of the group which you are unaware.

More Tips

DEALING WITH DISTRESS:

• Keep the sessions short: half an hour to one and a half hours, depending on the age of the child. It is better to stop and plan a second session if you notice signs of restlessness or unease.

• Starting with an activity, such as a story or game can help the children feel relaxed

• Facilitators should not negate or dismiss children’s feelings and should respond to these feelings naturally. Acknowledgment and acceptance of children’s thoughts and feelings is vital.

More Tips

DEALING WITH DISTRESS (2):

• It is important not to raise false expectations in children. This can be especially difficult in situations where children are not used to being listened to and taken seriously.

• Only give advice and reassurance that is practical and realistic.

• End the activity on a positive note, do not leave a child in distress.

Child- and Youth-Friendly Methods

INDIVIDUAL DRAWING

Children’s Explanations Of Their Drawings Are Useful:

The point made in the first example is that only the child knew what he was trying to communicate through this drawing, and if he had not been asked to explain, this would not have been known. It’s often important to talk with children about their drawings, to really appreciate what they are trying to communicate.

Individual Drawing

One Drawing Can Capture Multiple Ideas:

Many times we ask children to draw us a picture about one thing or subject. This example shows an alternative, where a child was asked to draw on one sheet of paper the many things they do when they’re not in school. It’s kind of like representing a list of items, but instead of using words, pictures are drawn.

Individual Drawing

Drawings Can Capture Complex and Contrasting Thoughts:

In this last example of how drawing can be used to enable children to share their thinking, a very complex topic was raised—the moral thinking of street children. Asking children to divide a piece of paper into two parts, with each part reserved for different ideas, is a very creative approach to enabling children to communicate.

Collective Drawing

Other Means

Drawings, paintings and cartoons;

Photographs

Collages, made by children from newspapers and magazines

Posters

Films and videos

Three dimensional objects, including natural materials as well as weaving, pottery, sculpture and other artefacts

Drama to Identify Problems

Image Theatre Exercise on “Children’s Problems”

• Children are involved in creating dramatic ‘still images’ (by forming a still tableau) of problems facing a character not unlike themselves, and through examining this image and ‘reading’ (narrating) the story that they see in the image, explore that character’s feelings, thoughts, problems, responses and resources.

Drama to Identify Problems

Image Theatre Exercise on “Children’s Problems”

• Use of fictional characters is intended to free children up from the constraints of embarrassment, invasion of privacy and so on, that are associated with methods that focus on real life situations.

• Asking the children to interpret the scene that is depicted by their peers through the tableaux they create allows full scope to creativity and imagination.

Body Maps

Body mapping is a simple drawing activity that helps children talk about something conceptual but because the conversation focuses on the drawn outline of a child’s body, it becomes more tangible and easier to talk about.

The method is being used to reveal a broad assortment of issues—its purpose is not to prioritize these issues, just to reveal what they are.

Body Maps

Process:

1. Children choose one child from the group, who lies down on a large piece of paper. Another child draws around the body of the child who is lying on the paper, which makes a picture of a life-sized child.

2. The children in the group then decorate the body, after which the facilitator points to different parts of the body and asks, “What do you like to see?” “What don’t you like to see?” and “What do you like to hear?” “What don’t you like to hear?”

Body Maps

3. The facilitator does this for all parts of the body — eyes (seeing), ears (listening), nose (smelling), mouth (eating and speaking), head (thinking), hands (doing), feet (going), bottom (sitting), and heart (feeling).

4. The facilitator then asks, “Where do you feel worry and fear?” and “What makes you feel worry and fear?” and “When you feel afraid what helps you feel better?” and “When you feel worried what makes you feel better?”

Body Maps

5. The facilitator then asks all of the children to tell a story about a time when they were worried or afraid and someone or something helped them to feel better. The facilitator writes all the children’s ideas on the paper around the body.