How to use youth voice

a thought piece by Area Director Thomas Crowder

I have been a Boys & Girls Club Member since my father brought me to work in a baby carrier. I have been working for the Boys & Girls Club since I was 14, with a small two-year hiatus when I was in college. I have worked with all ages, including teenagers of which I was the Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley Teen Center for about 3 years. Working with any age can be a challenge and often when people talked about working with kids, they all came to the same conclusion that teenagers would be the most difficult age group. In my years with the Movement, I can say with utmost sincerity that ages 13-18 are in fact the easiest age demographic I have ever worked with.  It was through my work with teens and even tweens that I discovered the best method for youth development, and it is a practice that I continue to use with all members of our organization, as well as with my own children, that method is utilizing youth voice.

Kids and teens are very similar to adults in that they want to feel heard, in my day-to-day life being recognized and listened to is important to my mental wellbeing as well as my emotional one. Youth are no different, youth thrive when they can be recognized, and through recognition we can achieve a sense of belonging. When members of our clubhouses feel as though they belong, then they realize they can be themselves and it opens brand new doors that they and the staff may never have thought possible. Often by truly listening to our members we can learn new things about them, strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, passions, and overall, we can learn just how to best fit their needs when they enter our doors. Within the Boys & Girls Club Movement there are five key elements that we utilize for a positive youth experience. Those five elements are:

1. A safe, positive environment 

2. Fun and a sense of belonging 

3. Supportive relationships with peers and adults

4. Recognition

5. Opportunities and expectations

By listening to and using youth voices we can achieve success in all five key areas. I have already talked about the sense of belonging that you get when you feel heard, but when you let youth speak and hear what they say then you have already started creating that supportive relationship with them and by not shying away from what they say it will help instill the confidence for them to speak to their peers with confidence that might not have been there before. 

Opportunities and expectations are essential to youth development because without opportunities to better themselves or to take on new roles and responsibilities youth may not reach their full potential. Youth voice can be a key component in helping decide what a member needs to thrive, I had many members at the Teen Center who expressed to me a desire to do more within our Clubhouse and I saw within them the makings of a true leader and so I would give them the opportunity to join Keystone Club and this is a premier Club program with a focus on community service and leadership, and with that came higher expectations yet I was able to see members excel with this elevated program.

At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley we pride ourselves in our ability not only to listen to youth voice but to change the way we operate and the programs we do based on what our members have to say. Every year the National branch of Boys & Girls Clubs of America send out a survey to gather data on best Club practices and how well each individual site functions. This survey is titled the NYOI or National Youth Outcomes Initiative and our clubhouses in Yerington, Dayton, Silver Springs, and Hawthorne all participate and every year right before school starts, we meet and discuss these results. The questions range from how safe they feel at the Club to how much food and veggies they eat daily, but we take all these answers, and we plan out our year’s worth of programming based on the needs of our kids. Last year we saw a big decline in peer-to-peer relationships amongst members based on questions they were given in the survey and so we decided to do more programming like Triple Play Social Recreation which helps members build bonds and communicate better with each other by teaching skills like teamwork and empathy as well as playing fun games together to build a sense of comradery.All in all, when you can learn to properly communicate with youth you can help them become the best versions of themselves. These practices are common across the Boys & Girls Club Movement, but in our organization this practice along with many other is why we are THE safe and positive place for kids.