“If you had a problem in the Black community, and you
brought together a group of white people to discuss how to solve it, almost
nobody would take that panel seriously. In fact, there’d probably be a public
outcry.
“It would be the same thing for women’s issues or gay
issues. can you imagine a bunch of men sitting on the Mayor’s Advisory
“But every day, in local arenas all the way to the
White House, adults sit around and decide what problems youth have and what youth
need, without ever consulting us.”
(Jason Warwin, a 17 year old who works
with Youth Force in New York City, explains how the ultimate stakeholders,
youth themselves, are almost always disempowered from the governance process.)