Washington School kids receive lesson on ‘Participatory Budgeting'

In Colombia, students in classrooms make decisions democratically. The result has been higher rates of student involvement and achievement.

Crises and problems are well-covered in the media. When the media focuses instead on organizations that are doing social good, it has a better effect because then these organizations are more likely to receive support and expand their access.

A correlation exists in Cuyahoga County between the idle youth rate -- base on teens who are neither working nor in school -- and the youth violence rate, according to an analysis done for The Plain Dealer by Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University and a professor of urban social research.

Liberia is a country that has suffered from over a decade of civil war, as well as government corruption. New female-led government leadership has created the President’s Young Professionals Program that has enrolled and integrated young people into public service agencies and ministries. The program has succeeded in re-establishing trust in the Liberian government, as alumni are dedicated to the mentoring of others, and have achieved high-level positions in the public sector.

A nonprofit in Indianapolis diverts kids from the juvenile justice system by using a teen court where first-time offenders admit their guilt to a jury made up of fellow students rather than going through suspension or expulsion. Jurors usually give verdicts that include community service, apologies, restitution, counseling and tutoring, and possibly serving on a jury. About 1,000 students participate each year and the county prosecutor named the nonprofit Crime Fighter of the Year for its work.

Boston’s Youth Lead the Change engages young people in municipal decision-making by putting them in charge of determining how one million dollars is spent every year. Participants learn how city government works, submit project ideas, and vote on which proposals to fund. It’s not a simulation. The money is real.

When Bioscience High School put students in charge of a portion of its discretionary budget, nearly the entire student body participated in deciding how to spend the money. The experiment in participatory democracy unfolded so well that the school principal agreed to fund all three of the most popular project proposals, even though the sum slightly exceeded the originally allotted budget.

In response to youth calling for greater say in how California schools spend money, Overfelt High School allowed students to decide how to spend $50,000 of the school’s discretionary funding. Principal Vito Chiala reflected that the step was both nerve-racking and rewarding. “You have to trust the community to set priorities,” Chiala said. “The projects showed wisdom.”

Based off the Dutch initiative IMC Weekendschool, TADA is a program in Brussels, Belgium that helps younger kids from disadvantaged neighborhoods learn about different career paths. The weekend workshops expose children to a diverse set of professions and passions. The program is so popular that they haven't been able to meet demand. They hope to work with about 1000 young people by 2020.

Women are underrepresented in elected positions, and with Trump being elected after being heard describing women in poor taste, this has only become more of a concern. Programs such as Elect Her and IGNITE are trying to help increase the number of women in politics through various methods.