Purposes: The death of a high school student from drinking and driving motivated the Town Government and Police Department to collaborate with the local schools to develop a program to enhance awareness of youth issues in Los Gatos from risky behavior. The program was a called Alive and Loving Life. The first event was a memorial for the student who dies. The Youth – Adult Conversation was the second event. The purposes were to explore issues facing youth in Los Gatos, foster inter-generational understanding about youth issues in Los Gatos, and consider ways to address youth issues and continue the Alive and Loving Life Program.
Design: The centerpiece of the event was a one hour conversation about issues facing youth in Los Gatos. Participants were divided into groups, with approximately equal numbers of youth and adults. The youth in attendance consisted of high school and middle school students. The adults were Town leaders, including school administrators, the Town Mayor, Town Manager and Police Chief and two Police Captains. Students were asked to take the lead in the conversation, sharing their observations and perspectives with adults, who were, in turn, encouraged to listen and ask non-evaluative, clarification questions. Questions were developed to stimulate discussion: What is going on with high school and middle school youth in Los Gatos? How would you describe youth activities related to alcohol use, substance abuse, and other at-risk behaviors? Which of these activities do you think adults are aware of? What activities are adults not aware of? From your perspective, are these activities increasing, decreasing or staying about the same?
Results: A key result of the event was to empower youth to openly discuss this difficult and sensitive topic with adult Town leaders. This demonstrated two things: that this issue could be talked about in a constructive manner in a public forum, and that youth could lead the conversation by sharing their experiences and solutions. A key content outcome was the recognition that adults, parents and law enforcement contribute to youth alcohol and drug use by modeling negative behavior and implicitly condoning risky youth behavior.
Category: Leadership Training