The Ask
I can still see the whiteboard in the recently remodeled wing of the high school. Fresh, bright and yet to be frayed blue and purple carpet. My college algebra trig teacher worked his way across the stretch of two panels from left to right. The space filled with numbers and symbols in a faded tone of dry erase marker.
Eventually, he said, “Any questions?”
I knew there must be questions that could bring my lack of ability to follow the trajectory of problem asked to problem solved. I couldn’t think of one.
After a few moments of silence that seemed like an eternity in one second to me, he moved on.
“Ask questions. It’s important to ask questions,” adults say to youth.
When they don’t voice any questions, do you assume understanding?
“Ask questions. It’s important to ask questions,” adults say to youth.
When their questions are ‘unimportant, trivial, should already know the answer to’ questions, do you assume lack of focus?
“Ask questions. It’s important to ask questions,” adults say to youth.
When their questions address larger, supposed long ago already agreed upon answers by society at large, or smaller routines that are always done this, way, do you assume lack of experience at best or lack of respect for you at worst?
When things don’t work out, do you then ask questions like, “Why don’t they care? Why didn’t they come?”
All of these short dialogues are rooted in both adult and youth perspectives. I benefited from hearing such comments during the past several months as I have been invited to spend more time with community partners problem solving and listening to youth during the focus groups I continue to facilitate. As a result, I find myself asking questions, especially in order to hold myself accountable. For example:
• Did you ask your youth audience why they did not participate or what they would have wanted in order to participate?
• Just as important–Was your question a check up on them or a check in as a partner asking about authentic pieces of the problem solving process?
• When met with silence–Are you facilitating vocabulary or background knowledge as needed without judgment?
• When met with lack of enthusiasm or doubt–Are you accepting that adulthood places you access to decision making but not always the right decision?
The resources below are meant to motivate both the act of asking questions and the act of supporting the asking.
RESOURCES
This blog post out of University of Minnesota Extension traces the path from youth involved only as token perspectives to shared decision making between youth and adults. To get to the top of Roger Hart’s Ladder of Young People’s Participation, each rung involves not only asking but shared creation of questions and transparency or sharing the list of questions each participant has and often assumes the other already knows exists. https://blog-youth-development-insight.extension.umn.edu/2018/03/how-to-get-to-top-of-youth-voice-ladder.html
Research says that the number one reason why volunteers don’t step forward is that they were never asked. Asking is for everyone, volunteers included, adults and youth alike. As a volunteer what would you like to be asked to do? What would you never want to be asked to do? This blog posts describes several basic steps to increase youth and adult engagement. https://blog-youth-development-insight.extension.umn.edu/2018/06/three-tips-for-promoting-youth-and.html
At the February Courageous Conversations event, I was reminded that youth believe they have little opportunity to speak their truth and have adults really listen. Who are you? This question is both simple and complex. I encourage youth and adults to commit to improving their ability to communicate with each other. Below are a few further resources, among many, many more available which are ever more important to guide these questions and answers around identity. You can find lessons, books, poetry, and other resources for teaching about Central America at http://teachingcentralamerica.org. The Diversity Action Team of Janesville compiled this resource to use in the instruction of Native American history. https://www.datrockco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019-11-01-American-Indian-Resource-Guide-In-Progress-1.pdf
What does opportunity look like? Connected to the question of Who are you?, this question also directs perception. In a recent book I read called, “Youth Development From the Trenches” by Rick Miller, he details evidence of significant differences in the reactions of adults in youth supporting roles based on how the youth’s situation is described. Many organizations maintain data on the contexts in which youth are living. The following website is one such resource. http://www.diversitydatakids.org/child-opportunity-index
I almost deleted this resource if not for this sentence towards the end, “As schools make room for growing student activism and civic engagement, including students in discussion of how they feel about school is one place to start.” https://www.educationdive.com/news/study-majority-of-students-report-negative-feelings-about-high-school/571866/Questions such as: What do youth care about? How do they want to be involved? are great places to start when searching for solutions, or better yet, partners in problem solving. For a broader history of youth activism, click on an embedded link to https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/18/08/student-activism-20
