An Open Letter to the Community: The Youth Bill of Rights
An Open Letter to the Providence and RI Community:
A Young People’s Call for Real Solutions to Our Problems
Dear fellow community members,
On December 10, 2009, over 100 youth leaders gathered from across Providence to discuss how youth can work together to create community change. On that day the Youth 4 Change Alliance (Y4C) unveiled a draft of Providence’s first Youth Bill of Rights. Today we are excited to announce the release of the Youth Bill of Rights final draft, which defines the community issues youth care about most. The bill covers eight issues: civic engagement, education, programs outside of school, accessible transportation, health, safe environment, jobs and employment, and fair and just consequences. It is Y4C’s first effort to ensure that youth voice and perspective is amplified and respected throughout the city. It will support young people to share ideas and strategies for improving our communities in these areas.
Y4C wants to increase youth presence in public discussions and policymaking. Decisions are made that often affect youth first—and more often affect youth most—without their input or experiences at the table. Y4C believes that when young people are provided the access, support, and opportunity to impact policies and systems, the entire community benefits.
We believe in a community where young people are acknowledged and elevated as powerful leaders for positive change. We imagine a critical mass of youth leaders transforming policies and systems that affect them, our collective actions changing a culture of complacency and fear to one of progress, hope, and action.
We want to be clear. The Youth Bill of Rights is not just a long list of the problems we all experience everyday. The bill IS a reflection of the stark realities we all face on a daily basis and changes we would like to see. The Youth Bill of Rights is one of the many steps needed to show the community that we have a voice and our ideas need to be valued as much as any other constituents’.
For instance, when tackling complex issues like education, it is easy to point the finger—one only has to glance at education news blogs to find examples the mudslinging that characterizes public debates about school reform. Our goal is to move away from the blame and fear that has held back progress for decades. Everyone needs to start seeing situations from perspectives other than their own. Having myopic views on matters will not solve anything and will only cause us to dig a deeper hole than the one we are already in.
Times are changing rapidly. Conditions today are not the same as they were 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. There are far more things that teens have to cope with, and as a result parents and teachers have more on their plates when raising and working with youth. For example, because of today’s tough economic times, parents now have to work more and harder than ever. They may not have time to sit with their children and ask them about how school is going. They may not have time to listen to messages from the school department or read the notices about the failing grade that their child is getting in math or how well their child is doing in English and science. These situations do not reflect a lack of desire to be involved in their children’s education. At the same time, students and teachers face adversity and these problems find their way into schools and affect teaching and learning.
We feel like there is this pitting of students against teachers against parents. Each party is blaming the other for the mishaps and problems of the education system. None of these groups are responsible for the “failing schools” in our communities. We are being distracted, being pitted against each other when the real problem lies in front of us: the education system itself.
Over 200 years ago, black ink and visionary hands etched words of liberty and freedom onto parched paper. We recognize these words as the foundation of our country and call them the Bill of Rights. Why were they written? Because men like Thomas Jefferson wanted to ensure that everyday people were being represented, respected, and protected—to create a better society. We believe a similar opportunity exists for the city of Providence and the state of RI today. If we all—youth and adults—work together we can change our current reality for the better.
Young people have good ideas that need to be heard. We often hear people say that young people are the future. We are actually the present.
Sincerely,
The Youth 4 Change (Y4C) Alliance
Click here to read and sign the Youth Bill of Rights!
Click here to download our open letter and the Youth Bill of Rights!