Youth Civic Engagement: Sometimes It Looks “Green”

by Matt Robinson

Picture a blue tarp piled high with the contents of one lunch period’s garbage, displayed outside a middle school cafeteria.

“Wait a minute. This is all from just one lunch period at our school? If we multiply that by the number of lunches we have a day and the number of days we have a year…. All that is going to the town’s landfill? I can see food that’s compostable, paper and plastic that’s recyclable, and foam lunch trays that won’t break down for a bajillion years. We need to do something about this.”

Who said that? An engaged citizen, that’s who! A citizen who, although not old enough to vote, is talking the talk of someone who is motivated to respond to community needs. Talking the talk is one thing, but how do we help that citizen—in this case, a middle school student—to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to walk the walk?

This is a question educators continually ask. There are many answers.

A study released in December 2009 by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement suggested that, overall, one of the most important predictors of youth civic engagement was environmental conservation. Other studies consistently show that youth engaged in service-learning were significantly more likely than peers not doing service-learning to show an increase on measures of civic, social, and school-related attitudes.

Through service-learning young people identify, research, and impact real community challenges, using knowledge and skills learned in their classroom or after school program.

Service-learning projects do not have to target an issue of environmental conservation. But it seems that when they do the benefits are a win-win-win: for the individuals (both youth and adult) involved, for the environment, and for the community.

How would students working with an educator and community partners go from a pile of garbage on a tarp to a learning experience that develops academic and civic knowledge and skills and has an impact on the issue? Visit http://www.kidsconsortium.org/grn_award.php to see what some student teams did this year in an effort to make communities “greener.”

For educators asking questions about how to engage students in “walking the walk,” and for students motivated to respond to community environmental needs, there are resources to support service-learning projects. Often being part of a larger effort can keep participants moving forward, and grant money is certainly helpful in turning project ideas into reality. To assist in these efforts KIDS Consortium is building on the success of the green service-learning projects completed during the 2009-2010 school year by offering mini-grants for the 2010-2011 school year. Visit http://www.kidsconsortium.org/2010minigrnt.php to learn more and to apply for a mini-grant to support a “green” service-learning project by September 13th.

Reading about the ideas and projects of other young people can help with taking that next step. Look at projects on Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse site. And once a need has been identified, and a project is in the works, keep asking questions and seeking resources. In addition to KIDS Consortium’s service-learning mini-grants, there are other programs that fund youth projects, including http://www.waystohelp.org/ and some of the listings at http://www.YSA.org/grants.

Tap into these resources and watch your communities grow “greener” through the dedicated action of citizens of all ages.

Matt Robinson is an education consultant with KIDS Consortium and is a featured blogger.