Providing a Space is One Thing

It's no surprise that the question around youth engagement is always the topic of discussion when it comes to decision making.

People understand the importance of including young people. However, don't know how to do it, or should I say, don't know how to do it properly. [*Sips tea*]

If you think engaging with young people, in general, is difficult; trying to engage with disengaged youth is a far more complex issue that institutions seem to struggle to get a grip on.

Why?

You may ask.

It's simple.

Institutions are so eager to try and establish youth voices that they forget the most important thing that young people want.

To be made a priority.

I know what you're thinking, isn't providing a space for them a way of showing that they are important and prioritised?

No.

Providing a space is one thing.

Investing in them as a person is another.

As I get older, I start to recognise the unsafe spaces that institutions continue to put young people in. Institutions are interested in appearing inclusive by including the voices of young people that they forget that a young person's experience in this space is equally important.

During the weekend, I spent my time organising for 13 of Tāmaki's most amazing young leaders to receive a hoodie and lolly lei by two of their most influential community leaders. They would be presented these hoodies in front of their peers, community leaders and families.

Being my Pacific-self, it was obvious that these young people needed to receive something. Everyone knows that you never go to a Pacific household empty-handed. I was going to make sure that I took those exact values that my mother instilled in me into a space that is far too Western for my liking. [Another story, for another blog post]

To welcome these young people, we needed to welcome them the proper way. How they deserved to be welcomed. How every young person should be welcomed.

The only obvious way that I knew...

With aroha.

Although, I was busy running around making sure the event was running smoothly. I had no clue of the magnitude of what a hoodie and lolly lei would do to a young people in Tāmaki.

After all the festivities, one young person came up to me while I was cleaning and said,

'Wow, this was amazing. I didn't know we were getting hoodies by Cr. Josephine Bartley. Man, I feel so important ae'.

I remember standing there thinking,

'What are you talking about? It's a hoodie and a lolly lei?!'

I looked up to watch every young person wearing their hoodie and lolly lei with so much pride.

So much aroha.

And so much gratitude.

At that moment I wished that I could have given more to these young people.

Everything seemed so small in comparison to this monumental moment.

And in a split second, I checked my privilege and replied by saying,

'YOU. ARE. IMPORTANT.'

It's hard to explain the feeling you get when a young person comes up to you and says, 'Wow, I didn't know I was important'.

What may have been a throwaway comment to this one young person was a comment that will forever change me as a person.

The fact that we have young people in our communities feeling this way is painful. Knowing that something so small as a hoodie and lolly lei can mean so much more to a young person is heartbreaking. Because, as I made my way that morning; to every delivery site trying to track down these hoodies; I knew in my heart that these young people were bloody amazing and deserved a hoodie on the one night that they needed it.

I just hope that they see their worth soon.

So, if you're sitting at home or at work and you've made it this far.

Know that sharing space with young people is one thing but investing in a young person is another.

We can't just provide a seat at the table. We need to change processes and create environments that breathe values such as manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga. With a bit of monetary value on the side.

Because it's not about the money.

It's about the principle.

It's about allowing a young person to understand that you are willing to invest in what they are worth and that is anything and everything.

Understand that no disengaged young person wants to be in a space that doesn't invest in them.

Building spaces for youth voices can only go so far.

Building spaces for young people who understand their value because you've shown time after time, that you appreciate what they have to offer is endless.

I'm tired of seeing reports after reports on recommendations of implementing systems and processes that put young people in unsafe spaces that don't invest in who they are but what they appear on reports.

Accolades.

I'm tired of spaces feeling cold and disconnected.

I'm tired of spaces feeling unsafe and rushed.

I'm tired of spaces not investing in young people.

And I'm tired of the words, 'Wow, I never knew I was important'; coming out of the mouths of talented young people.

It's time we changed the narrative of how we engage and include young people.

It's not good enough to have young people thinking of themselves as second best to a system that hasn't taken the time to understand their individual worth.

It's not just a seat at the table anymore.

Because tell me, if that table is unsafe than what is that seat worth?