The idea of youth voice and participation in youth policies and services is no doubt a “good thing”. But the question is, what young voices are these? Who is listened to and who is left out? During our recent research in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs and the Geelong area, we were puzzled by this question. We have interviewed more than 80 youth since the start of the pandemic, in an effort to better understand the concerns of many underprivileged, marginalized and disadvantaged youth in these areas.
wanted to know about these things
What challenges have they faced?
Why does it seem that some young people are able to speak their mind, while others are not?
How can these youth become active stakeholders in their own future?
How can this sequence be changed?
Many of the youth we spoke to were facing health and wellness challenges, neuro-diversity, and straying from traditional education, training, and employment avenues. Financial conflicts were common among them. We asked youth to speak directly to their communities and wider audience by filming their contributions on their camera phones or webcams. This helped a more natural flow of ideas from our interviewers. We published many videos on YouTube and Instagram. Our eclectic interviewees spoke candidly about the link between their health and well-being, and their hopes, aspirations, and concerns about the future – across education, work, relationships and the planet.
What did the youth tell us?
For example, take 16 year old Ruby. She lives with her family in Geelong, is looking for work, and studies at her local TAFE with the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (an option for Years 11 and 12 in school). “They like people who have anxiety or depression, to live, just breathe,” she told us. “I think that’s not enough for a lot of us. I think we should We just need some better audience and I think we need some people who really care.
what are the challenges
Emily, 24, lives in a sharehouse in Geelong. She studies social work and is unsure of the future, “I want to be hopeful for the future, but honestly, I don’t know if I really am. In some ways, I think the government focuses on what voters want from them in the next election.
During 2020, Astrid, now 20, was living with her mother and kittens in social housing in Fitzroy. Due to dyslexia, he has to face many challenges. He told us, “I hope, my biggest hope is that they will find ways to tackle climate change. Oh no, I take it back. They know how to deal with climate change. I hope they do.” “I also hope that the people who are running the community pay attention to the fact that young people want more of their participation in it. And a place where they feel they can be themselves.”
Why do some young people appear on the margins?
Too often, the young voices exposed in public forums and media narratives are well-educated, often privately educated beneficiaries of a system that serves the wealthy while leaving those in poverty or disability. Can the Subaltern Speak? In an essay titled “Postcolonial” states (such as India) and “settler colonies” (such as Australia), Indian scholar Gayatri Chakravarti Spivak described the legacy of colonialism as well as the loss experienced by indigenous peoples in these contexts. Talks. “Subaltern” groups are people who often suffer a variety of disadvantages, who are denied access to the processes that lead to their oppression. They don’t have any sound.
(Peter Kelly, James Goring, Deakin University and Seth Brown, RMIT University)