Stakeholders Response Stakeholders felt there was value in engaging young people with getting involved with the planning and coordination of youth activities as well as seeking their opinion and having their voice heard. They wanted to see the Shire representatives accessing and consulting with youth in youth spaces and also to ensure that young people did have the opportunity to give their opinion and that their views were valued. 7.3 Leadership/Mentoring Youth Response • Young people saw the opportunity to mentor other young people in sport and also to support leadership development. • Youth mentoring and leadership support was seen to be beneficial in general. As one young person stated ‘youth helping mentor kids and trying to show that someone does care and I think it is important because if you see someone struggling and you help them through it those people will remember that kindness and hopefully do the same when they see another struggling creating a domino effect because even a small act of kindness can make a lot of difference in someone’s life.’ • Some wanted the opportunity to be upskilled and considered for committee positions however they also felt it was essential that were respected as an equal in leadership positions and not bullied because of their age. There was also a suggestion of junior committees. • There was a few comments with regards to being involved with the Council, meetings and decision making as well as having young people representatives (similar to that of a Student Council). Another suggestion was to have a young person in a paid position to be aware of and represent young people views when making planning decisions etc. • The online Youth Survey asked “What would encourage you to be involved with community leadership?” Young people responded to a list of potential methods by answering ‘Very Important, Important, Somewhat Important or ‘Not Important’, each of these with a weighted score. Equal first was helping my community and making a better place for young people (2.79); equal second was feeling valued by my community and team work and development (2.57); then develop leadership skills (2.5); catching up with other young people (2.36); and making community decision (2.29). Stakeholders Response Stakeholders wanted to see greater participation of youth with the Shire. Suggestions included presentations from youth to Council about their needs, issues and reinvigorating the Youth Advisory Council (YAC). In addition it was important to build their leadership skills so that they could also advocate for their age group/young community.
8. Respect and Inclusion 8.1 Perceptions and Respect Youth Response • A number of young people felt that they were judged simply because they were youth. When asked what the perceptions of young people were comments included immature, too cheeky, inexperienced, evil, wingers, loud, bad drivers, too young and were often stereotyped. • Young people often felt that that their opinions were not sought and if given or requested were not respected, valued and/or actually heard. • They felt encouraged to respect their elders, however they sometimes felt the respect was not mutual. • There was a couple of comments relating to police where as a young people they did not feel welcomed or respected.
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