Young People: Powerful Actors for Change

At the core of ATD Fourth World’s beliefs, is the conviction that every person, no matter their background, gender or socio-economic status - or no matter how young or old - has knowledge and intelligence to contribute and the right to add their voices to global debates and conversations that directly affect them

This is especially true for young people living in poverty worldwide: young people with an experience of poverty, violence, or discrimination can also be powerful actors for change – it was in the past and it still is today.

On March 2nd 1955 , Claudette Colvin, a fifteen year old girl in Montgomery Alabama, refused to leave a seat in the bus for a white woman. This took place one month before Rosa Parks started the Montgomery bus boycott. An action led by a youth could foresee positive change.

In March 2019, Fourth World People's University on the theme of youth offered a safe space for young people to participate, and reveal their interests and passion for social justice, fairness and equality. Entering in a dialogue with youth who take action is vital, not only to understand the best ways to foster youth inclusion, but also to work on our priorities for the future, inspired by and with the next generation.

During People's University, using the creative tool of Forum Theatre, important themes emerged such as their lack of voice combined with a feeling of not being heard by adults.

"I think a lot of times parents have this fear of being proved wrong by their child. This fear thinking, 'I am supposed to be the bigger person, but my child is proving me wrong,' because they think it’s a failure for them. But it’s not a failure at all. I think it’s also something that parents need to work on all the time. Because that small ridiculous fear stops kids from telling their parents what they want to do when they grow up or what they want to wear."

~ A young person from FWPU: Youth

On the flip side, all, the youth and adults, insisted on the importance of being confident and speaking up, another young person explained:

"People think it’s something they are doing wrong when it’s actually the authority that’s wronging them, and they don’t want to fight back because they are afraid. That’s the problem about parenting. When I become a parent I am going to fix that."

Combining that, members emphasized the need for mutual respect and listening between all generations:

"As a teacher, I feel very strongly that my job with the young people I work with is for them to know that I’m listening to them. It’s not that they are always going to get what they want; it doesn’t mean I am always going to agree with them."

Parents and families play a fundamental role in offering children and youth the best conditions to thrive, and oftentimes, parents living in poverty are forced to make hard choices to support and protect their children. In February 2019, a Fourth World activist shared at the United Nations her firsthand experience of being a parent living on public assistance and the associated obstacles she was faced with, including the stigma and discrimination imposed by society and institutions:

"Parents living in poverty are being judged as bad parents whereas foster parents are seen as if they are better fit to raise our children. Poverty is not a good reason to remove children from a loving home."

Reminding all that parents – even when in poverty - should have the primary responsibility to raise their children. She powerfully concluded in front of a large audience of policymakers and practitioners that“[i]f we as parents had the same resources, support and opportunities, then we could give our children a better life and break the cycle of poverty.”

In the US as in many countries where ATD Fourth World is present, young people who grew up with the Tapori children network are now engaging and sometimes even managing Street Libraries and Story Garden, taking a leading role in many projects. Likewise, by speaking up and sharing their opinions, both parents and youth in NYC are contributing to global discussions about poverty, respect, mutual learning, and dignity, by rooting their perspectives in their daily encounters and experiences. Whether at the United Nations or during Fourth World People's University, these are the spaces ATD Fourth World is proud to create and will continue to maintain, for all voices to be heard.