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RECOMMENDATIONS

The Rockland County Youth Council Speak-Ups have served as a testament to the potential that lies within young people to be problem solvers rather than problem makers. Through the Speak-Up project, Council members have demonstrated youth are not simply citizens in the making but are, in fact citizens in the present- capable of being leaders in the process of community development.

Children grow up in communities and the development of assets in young people is nurtured and shaped by the life of the community. We must approach youth development with the understanding that community consists of families, neighborhoods, religious institutions, schools, businesses, and government. Each of these players has a critical role in developing a vision of healthy community for all young people.

The recommendations which follow are not new. What students told us echoes recommendations found in other recent local reports and surveys, e.g. the County Executive's Crime Prevention Commission report and the Pride Survey and are consistent with the national research.

Parents

Over and over again, young people reminded us that family support remains the most important positive factor in their lives. Young people want more time with their families. They told us they need positive and relaxed interaction with parents and other important adults. Many said parents need to improve the ways they communicate with their children. Furthermore, students said that family support and values established by parents are the first and most effective line of defense against substance abuse, against delinquency, against stereotyping and racism.

Parents can:

• Try to increase the time spent each day with their children. Just an additional ten minutes doing something you mutually enjoy or just asking about a hobby or interest will make a difference.
  
• Try new avenues of communication with their children. Simple techniques like "three praises for every criticism", or "easy listening" to your child's retelling of what happened in his day will foster greater understanding about each other.

Religious Institutions

Religious institutions often play a key role in the family's external support network, offering additional opportunities for positive interaction between parents and their children and other caring adults.

Congregations can:

• Establish facilitated forums for open discussion and dialog where youth feel safe to say what they feel to parents and other adults without confrontation.

Schools

Schools can provide a unique environment for addressing many of the issues identified by young people in surveys and in Speak-Up discussions.

Schools can:

• Increase use of school facilities for activities during non-school hours.
  
• Allow more opportunities for activities like Speak-Ups, encouraging youth to voice their concerns and suggestions.
  
• Encourage youth to participate more actively in finding solutions to youth issues.
  
• Increase tolerance by providing opportunities for youth to interact across geographic and cultural boundaries, e.g. exchange, or "twinning" programs with other school districts.
  
• Actively encourage students to participate in countywide teen leadership programs. Choose a broad representation of students with diverse leadership styles.
  
• Use high school students to go into middle and elementary schools as role models to tutor younger kids and show positive ways to deal with problems, e.g. conflict resolution, substance abuse, etc. (Note: Students caution sponsors to screen participants more carefully to assure that youth showcased as role models are credible representatives.)

Business

As recommendations from the Speak-Ups emerged, it became clear that Rockland's business community is a key player in addressing the issues youth have raised. Each local business can:

• Provide flexibility in work schedules to permit parents to become a little more involved in school day activities, e.g. to attend a child's recital, chaperone a school trip, join PTA.
  
• Support and fund youth programs like teen centers, RC Youth Council and Teen Leadership of Rockland programs.
  
• Join with government in supporting youth employment programs. Hire one young person for the summer or after-school year-round from the County's Youth Employment Program (Wages are partially paid by County funds.)
  
• Enable youth through scholarships to attend recreation programs in your community.

Media

Students told us they object to the negativity which seems to predominate in the media's coverage of youth issues.

The media can:

• Increase coverage that highlights positive youth activities, success stories and youth contributions to their communities.

Towns and Villages

Rockland's communities provide the framework for positive youth development. Throughout Speak-Ups young people reiterated the lack of things to do as a major precipitant to alcohol and drug use.

• Develop community center youth programs which reflect the particular interests of young people in individual communities.
  
• Ask young people what activities they are interested in, involve them in planning and in operating programs to ensure that the programs and activities developed will be broadly used. A number of programs currently in place throughout the County have been very successful and can serve as good models.

County Government

Perhaps the most valuable lesson that we have learned as a result of Youth Speak-Ups is that young people themselves are an underutilized resource. They have shown us that they have a great deal to contribute and that are anxious to become involved as "citizens in the present", as problem solvers and in leadership roles. County government should continue a leadership role in youth development and:

• Support and fund youth programs like teen centers, the RC Youth Council, and Teen Leadership of Rockland programs.
  
• Address the transportation problem by evaluating routes and schedules to assure youth greater access to programs and activities. The County's Transportation Department should conduct surveys with teenagers to determine the greatest need for expanded routes, feasibility for reduced fares, etc.
  
• Serve as a model for family-friendly employee benefits and work schedules that enable parents to spend more time with their children.
  

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HOME
Attachment 2
Council Members
Facilitators
Major Issues
Participating Schools
Speak Ups
Subcommittee
Survey Results