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| Youth Media Camp volunteer facilitator Sun Kim schooling totally geeked out students on equipment. |
Over these last several months many of my regular readers have beared with me while I’ve introduced the concept of personal engagement to the world. These next two weeks one of my programs, The Freechild Project, is partnering to provide a youth media camp for a group of 20 young people in Seattle, Washington. This camp is the first time I’ve worked with other facilitators to integrate the concept of personal engagement into a typical concept of youth engagement, and its going well.
Personal engagement shows us that the things we’re engaged in inside ourselves allow, encourage, and sustain the things we’re engaged outside ourselves. So, when young people know what they’re engaged in within themselves, we’re more likely to be successful engaging them in any of our activities, be it media-making, school, sports, social activities, jobs, or whatever.
The next time you want to engage a young person, find out how they’re engaged within themselves. What do they feel connected to right now. Then work from there to build, develop, expand, or otherwise secure their engagement. You can do this at home, at work, or anywhere in the world. Engage youth from within or you’ll find they’ll get engaged in something else without you.
Adam F.C. Fletcher 