Youth participation

It is often used as a shorthand for youth participation in any many forms, including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not historically engaged.

A basic concept of participation however, is that people are free to involve themselves in social and developmental processes and that self-involvement is active, voluntary and informed.

This suggests that young people will actively engage with society when presented with three specific dimensions; firstly they must have something to challenge.

[5] It aims to enable young people to take an active part in decision making, and give them the opportunity to have a 'voice' in society.

Working on behalf of UNICEF, in 1992 sociologist Roger Hart created a model for thinking about youth participation as a continuum of activities.

[7] Adam Fletcher of the Freechild Project has identified a range of youth participation in social change through his "Cycle of Engagement".

[8] David Driskell, another UN-affiliated researcher, has identified several "steps" towards youth participation, while Daniel Ho-Sang has analyzed models according to a horizontal continuum.

In the Yucatec Mayan community of Mexico, regardless of age, every member can be seen participating in the daily endeavors of their family in some form.

[12] Indigenous children of San Pedro engage in activities like play, lessons, work and free-standing conversation, with family and community members of different ages.

Around three years old, Indigenous Mayan children from San Pedro, Guatemala are involved in mature-work such as farming, cooking, and caregiving.

In Guadalajara, Mexico, children around nine to ten-years old were reported regularly to take the initiative and contribute to family household works and activities like cleaning the house.

For example, In Yucatan, Mexico, children as young as fifteen-year-old will take over his father’s field to cultivate which helps out their family immensely.

This study shows that being part of the community at an early age allows them to learn important values such as involvement and contribution which they carry out in their own activities.