YOUTH STRATEGIES:
26 Ideas for Change
Initiated by 26% of the Population

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Youth 26% Solution Free Download
Knock Your Socks Off Free Download

For those GLOBAL ACTIVISTS, download our free e-book:  

Girls Gone Activist! How to Change the World through Education 

 

The possibilities are endless but here are a few suggestions. Of course, only you know best what is needed to change where you live. 

 Explore with city planners the need for additional youth recreational services: after-school programs, a teen community center, midnight basketball leagues, etc.

 Meet with local officials about making roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists: installing stop signs, speed bumps, traffic lights, sidewalks, bike lanes and trails.

 Help keep your public library open longer hours by writing letters of support to your city or county council members and the news media.

 Clean up streams and waterways: measure pollutants and share this data with environmental regulators, community groups, area developers, and farmers.

 Work to improve your school (Internet access, course offerings, cleaner bathrooms, better cafeteria food, etc.) by starting your own organization or working with student clubs, the PTA, school administrators, and the board of education.

 Lobby to get a student member with full voting rights on both your local school board and the state board of education.

 Help improve counseling services at school and in the community by starting a 24-hour teen hotline, a school-based health center, or a stress management program.

 Produce a pamphlet, video, or public service announcement about abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, or other health issues that can add to what is taught in school.

 Create and perform a theatrical skit or play about sexual harassment, homophobia, or gender stereotypes for community groups and political leaders.

 Survey your neighborhood for the number of liquor stores, beer outlets, alcohol ads, and billboards; share your findings with the zoning commission and news media.

 Contact your local police precinct or the Police Chief to discuss community policing and other programs intended to reduce truancy, drug abuse, graffiti, gangs, etc.

 Train to be a peer mediator at your school to help resolve conflicts and share your ideas on how to improve the school district's violence prevention policies and programs.

 Create a teen court in which youth judge and sentence their peers who have pled guilty to shoplifting and other non-violent offenses.

 Address racism and prejudice by forming a group that sponsors school or community events to stop discrimination and celebrate diversity.

 Launch a "Teens as Teachers" speakers' bureau on an issue you care about (eating disorders, child abuse prevention, rainforest preservation, etc.).

 Conduct a poll throughout the entire school district on specific education issues, such as whether to begin the high school day later rather than earlier, and publicize the results to the school board and county PTA.

 Speak to school, religious, and youth groups about freedom of speech and the effect of censorship of student newspapers, radio and TV programs, etc.

 Testify on proposed local and state legislation that affect youth (a nighttime curfew or a proposal to suspend or revoke a driver's license, etc.).

 Hold a candidates' forum where youth ask questions of those running for school board, city hall, etc., followed by an election. Release the results of this youth vote to the press.