Until now the Youth Council was one of the only ways in which young people in the Bega Valley Shire were given a voice and now it has been taken away. 

Sure it has been replaced with a new approach, but this approach relies heavily on getting youth involved through social media. 

There seems to be a rather naive belief that because young people like to be online, if we just throw all relevant discussions online, they will instantly become involved. 

But the real issue with engaging young people has always been whether they are even vaguely interested in most of the issues that adults want them to talk about.

Young people, just like the rest of the population, will engage if they are interested and won’t bother if they aren’t.

On top of this, young people need to feel empowered, this should not simply be tokenism – the issue has to relate directly to them.

Local sports clubs are filled with young people volunteering to help out with coaching, the canteen, umpiring and fundraising. Sport is something they’re interested in and because of this they are engaged. 

Sapphire Coast Rotaract is another way in which young people are getting involved in the community and although Rotaract’s numbers are also low there is still a select group of dedicated young people trying to help others. 

There also seems to be a lot of emphasis on using local high schools to engage the youth. But is this the right approach? 

From my experience most kids are not likely to go anywhere near a website if they feel it is in any way associated with their school. School remains rather uncool and if a site is promoted by a school, it is not a place most young people want to hang out. 

An idea by one group at last week’s Generation Innovation boot camp was a website designed to help high school students communicate with their parents and teachers. 

It was a way to combat mental illness in young people and to help them discuss potentially awkward subjects – a fantastic idea that has come from the students identifying a problem and coming up with a solution. 

Young people are creative and can think outside the box when given a chance. They will engage when they want to, not when they are forced.                      Melanie Leach