Call to Action
Schools
  • Assess your school culture/beliefs for youth valuation, engagement and empowerment 
  • Conduct a survey with students regarding youth engagement and/or youth empowerment
  • Learn how to partner with students in their learning and building effective learning environments (see Resources in A Prison Called School)
  • Examine your school’s vision, mission and values – is it holistic and student centered or academic and system centered?
  • Explore and incorporate “Active Learning” in and outside the school environment (see Resources page)
  • Bring students out into the community and bring the community into the school for more engaging and relevant learning opportunities
  • Build skills and very tangible bridges from K-12 school to careers and further education/training
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Youth
  • Join with other youth and ask to be included in decisions and planning that impacts youth in schools and communities
  • Join with adults to assess your school culture and learning environment (to what degree youth are valued, engaged and empowered)
  • Ask to have a voice in decisions or actions that personally impact you in your school
  • Join with other youth and adults to plan and implement an “Education Day” rally (and other events) at your state capitol. Make sure youths’ voices are front and center
  • Meet with your legislators to share your story and the things you’d like to see changed in our schools (and communities)
  • Create a social media campaign for change
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Communities
  • Examine how youth are included in community planning and events
  • Build empowering and working partnerships with youth
  • Include youth in decision-making processes that impact them
  • Examine how youth are portrayed in the media
  • Seek out youth perspective on their experience as community members; act on this information
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Businesses & Other Organizations
  • Seek out nearby schools or classes to partner with for learning and/or funding opportunities
  • Partner with specific classes to offer learning about your area and relevance of the market and community
  • Offer apprenticeships to students
  • Sponsor a scholarship for a student to go on for further training/education related to your field of work
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Higher Education
  • Partner with a school(s) to assist with action research, implementation science, and other tools to support systems change
  • Serve as a source of support for helping schools to value, empower and engage students
  • Provide training to schools on topics such as adolescent development, active learning, empowerment models, action research, systems change
  • Invite students (especially those who struggle with school) to help train pre-service teachers
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Legislators
  • Seek out the voice and experience of students regarding their learning experiences and environments
  • Create and support legislation that promotes the learning strategies and environments that allow all students need to thrive and succeed
  • Educate yourself on the many challenges that students (and teachers) are confronted with in and outside of our schools (poverty, depersonalization, lack of highly-qualified teachers, adequate resources, large schools)