YES Let’s Focus on Youth!

As a mother of four children ages (23, 21, 18 and 11) youth issues are of interest to me both as a parent and as a Councillor. There is growing evidence that youth engagement in communities, has a significant, positive impact on young people and as one can guess, on their communities.

“Research shows that youth who have opportunities for meaningful participation in their communities are less likely to engage in risky behaviour. They tend to have higher self-esteem, be more physically active, show a greater commitment to friends, families and communities, and are more likely to achieve healthy development” (United Nations, 2004; National League of Cities, no date; Public Health Agency of Canada, 2000; International Institute for Child Rights and Development, & Environmental Youth Alliance, 2004; Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement, 2003) (Excerpt take from(page 7, Youth Tool Kit Section 1 Introduction).

In 2004, HRM developed a Youth Engagement Strategy (YES), which in essence is a plan to create appropriate opportunities for youth involvement in HRM and in the development and delivery of our programs. Two key elements of the strategy are the recently launched Youth Engagement Tool Kit and the Youth Advisory Committee.

Youth Engagement Tool Kit

The Youth Engagement Tool Kit, is a product of the work of HRM’s Community Recreation Services Department, in partnership with Heartwood Community Centre for Community Youth Development. The Tool Kit is a resource of ideas and tools for adults who wish to engage youth. The targeted users of the tool kit are paid staff who work with youth (recreation leaders, teachers, etc), volunteers, coaches, parents and essentially anyone with a general interest in engaging young people. I encourage everyone to log on to the web site to browse the Tool Kit and to tell those you know who work with youth about this valuable resource.

To download the Tool Kit please visit: http://www.halifax.ca/recreation/YouthEngagementToolKit.html

Youth Advisory Committee

In addition to the Tool Kit, HRM has recently formed a Youth Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee’s mandate is to review, evaluate and make recommendations to Regional Council regarding issues pertaining to youth. The Youth Advisory Council will make recommendations regarding: recreation programs, youth grants, facility development, events, transportation, art, culture and other emerging issues. The Committee will be assisted by staff from the Community Relations and Events division of the Community Development Department.

The Committee of fifteen individuals consists of three elected Councillors and twelve members at large from the community between the ages of 13 and 19. Current youth members are:

Rachel Eisener Callum Dunphy Mhari Lamarque Lucian Mustain Shannen Lumsden Ryan Dodge Ben Murray Jacqueline Wigle Andrew Pumphrey Judy Makmillen Tina Babineau.

For more information about current Committee members, the structure of the Committee and its mandate, please refer to: http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/YouthAdvisoryCommittee-HRM.html.