YOUNG PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS?

There is a growing interest in the participation of children and young people in the services, policies, and decisions that affect their daily lives. Smith and Taylor point out that children and young people are increasingly seen `as active participants in, rather than passive recipients of research, policy and provision of services'.[1] The United Nations Convention on the rights of the child (1989), ratified by the New Zealand government in 1993, has been instrumental in promoting children's rights. Article 12 of the convention is about the child's fight to express an opinion in matters which affect the child and to have that opinion heard. It is pivotal to arguments for children's and young people's participation in services, policies, research and decisions that affect them.

Paul Henderson makes the case for their `participation to be supported by a wider range of interests than has been the case for the last 10 years'.[2] He identifies the `challenge over the next 10 years and beyond is for all of us [adults] to become much better at listening to children's views and to ensuring that they have opportunities to contribute to discussions and decisions about society'. This paper focuses on how children and young people might be involved in decision making processes in their local libraries, both school and public.

Henderson focuses on planners and related professions but his points are applicable more generally. He argues that `professions need to go the extra mile, ensuring that the issue of children's participation becomes part of the training and practice of planners'. Indeed, in Norway legislation `obliges planners to observe children's interests'.[3] A range of other professions could be added such as researchers, education and health professionals, and of course librarians. Consideration of how librarians might exceed the expectations of children and young people requires in the first instance finding out about the expectations of this particularly significant group.

This paper has three parts. First, the more general case is made for the importance of young people's participation based on the findings from a research project concerned with high school students' opinions about their fights to participation, recreation, safety and health at school.

Secondly, the results from two current research projects relevant to libraries specifically are identified. Finally, strategies are suggested for facilitating and evaluating the participation of young people in both the design and delivery of library services. Indeed the challenge is how to reach out to communities least likely to become involved. It is clear that librarians are seriously engaging with this issue over a wide range of dimensions including race and age.

The case for participation

A questionnaire(*) concerning students' participation, safety, health and recreation rights was sent to 107 New Zealand schools nationwide in 1999 and was completed by 821 high school students. In the process of drafting the student questionnaire, young people from a local high school were involved in order to find out what questions students aged 15-16 years thought were important to include and to check that the questions were phrased appropriately.

The involvement of this advisory group was critical in identifying major gaps (questions about toilet facilities had not been included), suggesting more appropriate wording for questions, reworking layout and strategising ways to make it shorter. Students volunteered to meet during lunchtimes and their contribution was acknowledged with a letter stating their involvement in questionnaire design and a movie pass. It was important that research about participation modelled participation in the research process.

Did young people think participation was important, did they get many opportunities at school and what methods of consultation did they favour? Students were asked to rate their levels of agreement with the following statements

Table 1 Students' perceptions of their participation rights

                                        Strongly
                                         agree     Agree   Neutral

Young people should be allowed to
express their opinion about things
that affect them at school eg subject
choices, uniform, etc                    76.8%      19       3.7

At my school there are
opportunities for young people's
views to be heard by those who make       13.1     37.9     26.9
decisions

At my school young people's views
are taken into account and
influence decisions                       7.2      26.8     34.6

                                                   Strongly
                                        Disagree   disagree

Young people should be allowed to
express their opinion about things
that affect them at school eg subject
choices, uniform, etc                      .4         .1

At my school there are
opportunities for young people's
views to be heard by those who make       16.2       5.9
decisions

At my school young people's views
are taken into account and
influence decisions                       24.3       7.2

Summarising this table, 96% of students strongly agree/agree with `the ideal': young people should be allowed to express their opinion about things that affect them at school.

In other words they agree with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child. But the practice does not match the ideal. Approximately half (51%) of these students agree that there are opportunities to be heard but being heard does not necessarily imply that their views are influential. This is reinforced by the statistics in the third line of the table which show that only a third of this sample of students agree with the statement `At my school young people's views are taken into account and influence decisions'. A similar proportion disagree that their views influence decisions and a similar proportion are neutral.

Students were asked for their opinions of the following methods of consultation.

Table 2 Students' opinions of methods of consultation

                                              Strongly
                                               agree     Agree   Neutral

Student representation on the
Board of Trustees makes sure young
people's opinions are listened to and taken
into account                                   15.8%     40.2     25.9

School or Student Councils (or
similar groups) are useful for making sure
that young people's opinions are listened
to and taken into account                       21.7     37.6     24.6

A suggestion box is a useful way to
find out young people's opinions and
ideas                                           21.4     46.3     21.8

Providing opportunities for discussion
between teachers and students is a
useful way to make sure that young
people's opinions are listened to and taken
into account                                     28       46      20.2

                                                         Strongly
                                              Disagree   disagree

Student representation on the
Board of Trustees makes sure young
people's opinions are listened to and taken
into account                                    13.7       4.5

School or Student Councils (or
similar groups) are useful for making sure
that young people's opinions are listened
to and taken into account                       11.8       4.2

A suggestion box is a useful way to
find out young people's opinions and
ideas                                           7.8        2.8

Providing opportunities for discussion
between teachers and students is a
useful way to make sure that young
people's opinions are listened to and taken
into account                                    4.3        1.5

If we combine the percentages for strongly agree/agree, the method most favoured by 74% of students for making sure young people's views are listened to and taken into account is discussion between students and teachers. Next is suggestion box (68%), student councils (59%) and lastly student representative on boards of trustees (56%). Two interpretations of these results have implications for librarians wishing to consult with children and young people. First, students' preference for discussion between teachers and students may be based on a perception that some teachers are in a position to effect change on behalf of students and therefore students pragmatically seek to influence decision making directly through teachers. This may mean that any consultation initiative for libraries should involve library decision makers rather than staff who do not have positions of direct influence. Secondly, students may feel most comfortable conveying ideas which could shape decisions to familiar adults with familiar peers, compared with the unknown and unfamiliar spheres of school councils and boards of trustees. The latter reasoning might also explain the suggestion box, which secures greater privacy/anonymity than any of the other methods for conveying student opinion to teachers, school councils and boards of trustees.

To summarise this section, high school students believe they should be allowed to express their opinions about things that affect them at school and arguably the same for the other everyday spheres of their lives including libraries. It is more than adult decision makers just listening and carrying on as usual--listening should involve taking young people's views into account and providing feedback if it is not possible to act on their views. Approximately half of the young people in the research said they had been listened to but only a third felt that their views had been taken into account. Many young people commented they had indeed been consulted but then ignored `The Board asked for our opinions but it didn't matter cause their minds were made up and they did it their way anyway' (see Nairn[4] for a fuller discussion of results concerning students' perceptions of their participation rights at high school).

Gerison Lansdown points out that generally we do not have a culture of listening to children and the importance of honesty 

   ... there is obviously no point in listening to a child's views if you have
   no intention of taking them seriously. It is necessary to be clear about
   what aspects of the child's care or education or health or play, he/she can
   be involved in.[5]

The students' experiences in high schools and Lansdown's comments together form a rationale for any group planning to consult young people. Listening to young people means taking them seriously and if they cannot influence a decision, providing feedback as to why. In addition it is important not

   ...to conflate the influence and value of participation. This approach
   neglects the many variables which contribute to policy decisions. Even
   within a single, yet complex, institution such as [a library], policies
   rarely have an exclusively decisive event or contributor and there is
   little autonomy and control available to any sector of the public, no
   matter what age.[6]

This point is pertinent because opponents to increased participation of children and young people often imagine participation equates with automatic acquiescence to their requests. In fact there are many sectors of the adult population which also exert very limited influence on the decision making processes of public institutions.

In the process of thinking about how to make libraries more open to the input of young people, such initiatives might also provide insights into how to make the library more open to other relatively excluded groups.

The importance of libraries

The questionnaire included two questions specifically about libraries. First students' perceptions of their access to the school library, and secondly where they felt safe/unsafe (the library was one named location for students to consider). The results were

Table 3 At your school do all students get a fair chance to use the
following facilities?

School library                        97%
School grounds                        87%
Sports equipment                      77%
School gym                            70%
Computers                             66%

The library was considered to be the most accessible school facility: 97% of all student respondents considered students get a fair chance to use the school library. The school library was also considered to be the safest location. Table 4 presents the results for six of the locations students considered to be the safest.

Table 4 How safe do you feel in the following locations at your school?

                                      Very safe/safe

Library                               96%
Classrooms                            90%
Student common rooms                  84%
School grounds (close to buildings)   83%
Gym                                   82%
Waiting, outside canteen              81%

In another research project young people identified the library as an important place to meet friends and `hang out'. However in the course of street interviews and focus groups with young people in Dunedin and Alexandra, the library was also one of several sites where young people experienced stereotypical attitudes from adults. For example, some girls in Alexandra spoke of being watched in the public library in case they stole books. Consequently the girls felt unwelcome in the public library and preferred to use the school library. These young people did not feel excluded because it was a library per se but because of the way other people treated them while using the it.[7]

These results concerning libraries are taken from larger studies concerned with other questions rather than with libraries specifically. Nevertheless, the results do indicate positive perceptions of libraries as relatively accessible and safe environments although some young people experienced mistrust from library staff which affected their use of that particular library rather than all libraries. It seems important to build on such positive perceptions to extend library services even further, to exceed expectations of young people using libraries, especially those who currently do not use libraries.

Some creative strategies

Many librarians are already employing strategies to find out, from their client groups, better ways of catering for their particular interests. At Dunedin Public Library in New Zealand, the librarian with responsibility for young adults has conducted focus groups with young people to find out more about their library needs. Three ways of approaching this task are

* Advisory groups to provide ongoing advice to librarians at a particular library

* Consultation with particular interest groups within the diverse population of children and young people

* Evaluation of consultation initiatives

Advisory groups

An internet initiative in Australia offers an interesting model for consideration. Reachout is an internet service aimed at young people, which has employed creative ways of involving young people both in the design of service delivery and ongoing involvement in monitoring this. The details are

* young people are invited to apply for a three month term on an advisory board for Reachout. The term is deliberately short so that young people might experience success and not feel overburdened 

* selectors try to avoid choosing the most eloquent, adult like, young people and instead select young people who have not experienced a formal participation initiative already

* advisory board members are paid a $100 honorarium for their three month term

* Reachout claims that there is a form of `connection through anonymity' via the internet exchange between board members over a period of 4-5 weeks before the first face to face meeting takes place

* the advisory board is able to conduct much of its business by email in a way that means that young people have some control over the time at which they might contribute and to a certain extent the frequency of contribution over and above a stated baseline. It does depend on interested young people having a computer with internet access.

The Reachout web address is <www. reachout.com.au>

In the process of organising advisory groups for two research projects, attention was paid to the following details

* the voluntary nature of involvement and the option to withdraw

* expectations of meetings, frequency, duration (ideally one hour maximum), location of the meeting place, the purpose of the meeting and transport home at the end

* provision of food and drink during the meetings

* feedback from the meeting(s)

* acknowledgment in the form of a letter that might be used for a curriculum vitae and/or payment or token of appreciation such as movie passes, video vouchers

Consultation with interest groups

In relation to the second idea of consulting with particular groups of young people, this is an opportunity to bring in particular interest groups or to go to particular groups which do not seem to be using the library to find out their views. The advisory board may be able to offer suggestions about who, where and how to approach these groups of young people. Again some strategies are suggested that have been particularly useful for talking with young people in informal contexts away from schools

* Identifying library staff members who seem to relate to young people and/or employing young people with facilitation skills to run discussion groups. Internet discussion groups also have potential

* The formation of discussion groups should take account of gender, age, language etc. For example, young men or women or young people for whom English is another language may feel more comfortable talking in a group with familiar peers from similar backgrounds, just as particular age groups might have shared interests

* Suggestions provided above also apply here, although acknowledgments might be better met through a draw for movie passes rather than each participant receiving an acknowledgment

* Photographs and/or maps of current library layout and facilities, with plenty of room to write on, is one way of collecting viewpoints from focus group participants and visitors to the children's/young people's sections of the library. This provides an opportunity to collect diverse comments on current library facilities in a relatively anonymous way

* A suggestion box also provides a relatively anonymous way to convey viewpoints. A newsletter and/or letter to participants in focus groups would provide feedback as to outcomes of these processes even if the outcome is to make no change

* Youth only participation initiatives are one approach but not the only one. Simms[8] points out that involving young people in adult forums is also appropriate and that there is much to be gained from intergenerational committees which place young people's needs and concerns on the main rather than a separate agenda

Evaluation

The third component to the consulting process is to consider evaluating how effective the strategies of an advisory board and/or focus group discussions have been from the viewpoints of participants and librarians. Simms offers a framework to evaluate such participation initiatives.[9]

Ongoing reflection about any participation initiative is important to find out about any unintended consequences, despite best intentions. The framework above offers one such tool. While all criteria might not be achieved by any one initiative, an overall program of consultation might be designed with particular criteria in mind so that over time and with experience, more criteria might be covered.

Conclusion

Young people value being involved in decision making about their lives at the personal level as well as more broadly in their schools and by extension in other services such as libraries. They consider meaningful consultation about significant issues important. The following female student's comment about consultation at her school makes this clear

   Yes, but I think that their influence has only been with small things such
   as where a picnic table might go, and I think it is important that students
   make the decisions about how they live their school life (author's
   emphasis).

If children and young people have input into the design and implementation of library services, then libraries are likely to be more meaningful and accessible to the groups of young people they are intended to reach.

As Simms asserts

   When adults underestimate the capabilities of young people, or think that
   young people have nothing to teach them, they[we] are depriving themselves
   [ourselves] of wonderful opportunities[10]
Figure 1 Framework of evaluation

Criteria      Related          Guidelines for best practice
              issues of
              concern

Fairness      Ethical value,   A fair and democratic selection
              rights           process which recognises the
                               diversity of the youth population
                               and provides broad based access to
                               leadership

Competence    Functional       A legitimate, recognised role
              value,           within the decision making
              instrumental     structure and the policy cycle of
                               the institution

Legitimacy    Influence on     Draw upon information,
              outcome          experience and support to produce
                               policy advice which is relevant
                               and useful for decision makers

Suitability   Subjective       Participation processes are
              experiences      appropriate for young people by
              of               being relaxed, relevant and
              participants     rewarding

Criteria      Indicators of effectivess

Fairness      * diversity
              * bicultural / multicultural practices
              * selection process
              * access to leadership

Competence    * resources
              * information
              * staff support
              * adult allies to young participants
              * young people's active participation

Legitimacy    * attitudes towards young people
              * the impact of young people upon
                policy decisions
              * nontokenism

Suitability   * informality
              * relevance
              * fun
              * enthusiasm
              * unintimidating
              * peer relationships between young
                people and adults
              * designing participation processes
                to accommodate young people

(*) This questionnaire is part of a three year research project entitled What do staff and students think about young people's rights at school? The research is supported by the Marsden Fund administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand 

References

[1] Smith, A and Taylor, N A new discourse for child advocacy, children's services and research. Paper presented at Australian Institute of Family Studies conference Changing families, challenging futures Melbourne 2 Nov 1998 p3

[2] Henderson, P Children's participation - time for change Childrenz 4 (2) 2000 p29-31

[3] Horelli, L Creating child friendly environments. Case studies on children's participation in three European countries Childhood 5(2) 1998 p237

[4] Nairn, K Young people's participation in their school environments Presented at University of Oslo symposium on research on children's participation in community life 26-28 June 2000

[5] Lansdown, G Children's rights In B Mayall ed Children's childhoods: observed and experienced London, Falmer Press 1994 p39

[6] Simms, M Young people and committee meetings Childrenz 4(2) 2000 p23-28

[7] Nairn, K, McCormack, J and Liepins, R Having a place or not? Young people's experiences of rural and urban environments. Paper presented at Making and breaking borders Nordic Youth Research Symposium, University of Helsinki, 7I0 June 2000

[8] Simms, Mop cit

[9] Simms, Mop cit p24

[10] Simms, M Growing active citizens: evaluating the effectiveness of young people's participation in environmental policymaking at Waitakere City Council Unpublished Masters thesis University of Waikato Dept of Social Policy 1999

Dr Karen Nairn is a research fellow at the Children's Issues Centre, Otago University New Zealand. Her research is about young people's rights at high school, experience of public space and involvement in public decision making. Karen was a high school teacher prior to becoming a researcher. Address: University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand [e-mail]

Karen Nairn Children's Issues Centre University of Otago NZ Received January 2001