Youth voices should be heard !

The article I read this week was In a World Where Youth Hold the Power, by Adeola A. Oredola with members of Youth in Action (YIA). I really enjoyed reading this article. It was an easy read and I like that there were personal experiences shared by members in YIA. I feel like this article really hit close to home because I was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Also, I grew up in the Providence Public School (PPS) system. Throughout the years in school from Pre-K through 12^th grade I had some teachers who made education Robotic. For example, this is what is being taught, here are the materials, and this is what you are supposed to be doing. Also, some teachers like to have it there way and no other way. One thing I can really relate to from the article is from Adeola Oredola’s experience. Oredola’s guidance counselor basically did not believe she could make it into an Ivy League school. I can recall telling a couple of staff I worked with in the Providence Public School system giving me the same reaction. I felt like they downgraded my potential. I understand that they were trying to be realistic, but I still believe it is wrong for teachers and guidance counselor’s to do that to students just because of where they come from and what school they attend. Another part I can relate to in Oredola’s experience is not being prepared for college. I was lucky enough to be so involved in my education in high school and be in extra curriculum programs, like Upward Bound Program at Rhode Island College(RIC) and the Preparatory Program at RIC. These programs and AP classes in high school prepared me for college. From personal experiences I see that a lot of my friends and classmates were not prepared for college. A lot of conversations I had with people who graduated from a high school in Providence they had the similar answers; saying some classes in high school did not prepare them for college.

Growing up in Providence, I have heard the name YIA. I never knew what they were really about, I just knew they were a program for the youth. In the past couple classes the professors spoke about the program and I started to see what they were about, but after reading this article I feel like I really understand what this program means to the youth and the community. Also, what they do, what is there mission and what work they have been doing all these years their program have been running. Something else I take from this article is that YIA really wants the youth voices heard. Not only heard but involved. The video I posted below is a TED talk by Adam Levner. Levner talk about three main points. He said "the first is that when we don't help young people to find and share voices there are consequences for them. The second is that when we don't help young people to find and share their voices there are consequences for all of us, and third is that if we want to address the problems that impact young people we have to do more than just help them share their voices."  I feel like what Levner said here ties back to what YIA is about. They think youth voices are important, but they also find ways and help youth get their voices heard.