Youth voice without tokenism
A practical guide to designing youth participation that has space, voice, audience and influence.
This guide is practical and source-led. It is designed to help people ask better questions, not to make unsupported promises.
The test
Youth voice becomes tokenistic when adults collect views but keep all meaningful power. A stronger process tells young people what is open to influence, supports them to form views, brings decision-makers into the room and reports back on what changed.
Four design checks
- Space: is the setting safe, accessible and prepared?
- Voice: are young people supported to express views in different ways?
- Audience: who is actually listening and what authority do they have?
- Influence: what can change, and how will feedback be given?
Common mistakes
- using one confident young person as proof of participation
- asking for views after decisions are already fixed
- confusing attendance with influence
- forgetting to pay, support or recognise young people where appropriate