government – Adam F.C. Fletcher

Children’s Right to Vote Matters

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Children’s Right to Vote Matters

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?”
― Mahatma Gandhi

A century ago Gandhi began a freedom movement in India intended to call everyday people to their feet and take practical action to throw off the shackles of oppression. Disgusted with the day-by-day abuse and denial of his country’s humanity, Gandhi took powerful, positive, and nonviolent action to stop the United Kingdom from ruling his nation. He saw British violence everywhere, from police brutality to colonialist governance practices, and far beyond: He also saw that violence permeated British thinking, British actions, and British culture.

Almost all adults are harming almost all children right now. This happens inadvertently and directly; coincidentally and intentionally; by design and on accident. And it happens in many ways, including actions that are personal, structural, and social in their orientation. Our abuse ranges from casual personal offenses that range from slights of language to dehumanizing cultural alienation; structural bias from architectural discrimination to laws without political representation; and social harm including de-centering schooling biases and demeaning child-adult interactions.

The outcomes of these abuses are almost countless, but are blatantly obvious when we start looking. Exceptionally high degrees of social anxiety; any amount of racial, ethnic, or cultural bias; the perpetuation of misogynistic, patriarchal systems; and the hyper-exacerbation of hate-filled, anti-democratic traits can all be attributed to the abuse faced by all children everywhere when they are young, and only because they are young. Psychology has wholly proven that childhood is the bedrock where we learn the behaviors, attitudes, perspectives, and mindsets that inform us throughout our lives.

All of this said, it is essential that we change the miserable status of young people in our society today. Luckily, young people aren’t waiting on adults to make those changes.

For centuries, young people have been leading efforts to make the world more peaceful, less hateful, more democratic, less hurtful, and more unifying for everyone throughout our society. We can find countless examples, including:

Anne Frank, the 16-year-old murdered by Nazis in 1945 whose writing continues to influence peace-makers worldwide
Iqbal Masih, a 12-year-old anti-child labor activist who was assassinated for his efforts, and;
Zuriel Oduwole, who was 9-years-old when she made a documentary film to advocate for girls education and launched an organization to continue the effort.

However, these are just a few examples. There are literally millions of young people worldwide right now who are working to build democracy, promote education, and sustain communities.

I believe it is past time to recognize the powerful, positive potential of all young people everywhere by abolishing the voting age entirely worldwide. In democratic societies, it is essential to enfranchise the hearts, minds and hands of every person in order to secure subsequent generations of democracy, too. In the United States and beyond, we’re experiencing the real cultural and economic effects of democratic disenfranchisement right now. This is because young people have been disenfranchised all of their lives; the only way to end that is to give all children and youth the right to vote regardless of their age.

A century ago, Gandhi showed us a path forward through nonviolent resistance and coalition building. Are you ready to take the next step?

Originally published on Children’s Voting Colloquium official website (2020)

Youth Infusion Webinar (February 2021)

Yesterday, February 23, 2021, I was proud to host the YES Webinar #1 called “The Power of Youth Infusion” featuring my co-conspirator Wendy Lesko of YouthInfusion.org. Over the course of 45 minutes, we shared a transformative new approach to working with young people in schools and communities with relatable examples, practical tools, and more!

If you have any questions or want more information, check out youthinfusion.org!

We’re really excited to share the powerful world of transformation with the YES Network, so keep your eyes peeled for more information about the YES Webinar #2 coming in March, and if you want regular info sign up for our newsletter!

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Adam F.C. Fletcher is available to consult, speak, and write.

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Defining Community Engagement

For more than 20 years, I’ve been studying and practicing community engagement. Sometimes I’ve worked with parents, business owners, nonprofits, churches, government agencies and community groups; often, I’ve worked with children and youth and the adults who serve them. This article shares what I’ve learned are the elements of community engagement.

What Doesn’t Work

Before embarking on any exploration of community engagement, its important to understand that most definitions of the term are ill-conceived, if well-meaning. This is because most posit community engagement is either a process or an outcome that is definable according to the needs of the definer. For example, the CDC says community engagement is,

“the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people.”

This definition is meant to rationalize CDC’s mission to improve the health and well-being of people in the United States. The unfortunate part of the CDC salamugundi is that it tosses the values, beliefs and activities of everyday people to the wind by insisting we line up according to CDC’s purpose.

Community engagement is both more than this and less.

In Practical Terms

“Community engagement happens when groups of who identify together choose the same things over and over.” – Adam Fletcher

Based on my experiences as a community engagement practitioner, organizational consultant and as an activist/sociologist, that’s the most practical, operative and fair definition of community engagement today. I came to understand engagement this way just within the last few years as I worked with groups of disenfranchised families involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems in Washington state.

What these families taught me is that our systems are so fraught with discrimination against working class and low-income people, and so regularly express subjective bias against people of color, that they cannot clearly see or understand exactly what constitutes community engagement within and throughout these communities. Middle class white culture pervades almost every popular notion of community engagement today.

Community engagement does not rely on phycological, emotional, cultural or educational connections; it is not reliant on your notions of positivity or purposefulness, and; it does not necessitate specific inputs or outcomes. Instead, it is simply choosing the same things again and again.

Just because, as a whole, a group of people who co-identify smokes pot, steals cable TV, distrusts police or otherwise acts in ways that white middle class people don’t agree with, that doesn’t mean they are not experiencing community engagement.

Similarly, when a group of people shows up to volunteer for a few hours, or does yoga together for 90 minutes, or sends a flurry of one-time emails to a politician about a subject, they are not necessarily experiencing community engagement.

Fully understanding the definition I’ve shared here is trickier than it appears, and warrants further examination in a different post. I’d love to hear your thoughts about what I’ve shared so far; please leave them in the comments section.

Category Archives: government

Children’s Right to Vote Matters

Children’s Right to Vote Matters

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Elsewhere Online

Youth Infusion Webinar (February 2021)

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Defining Community Engagement

What Doesn’t Work

In Practical Terms

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