Youth Town Hall

Teens today have lots of ideas about their communities but rarely have a place to voice them. Connect your peers with local leaders and start a constructive dialogue about what you want your future to look like. Host a public meeting (it could be at a library, school or other local venue) led by you and the leader of your community and prompt other teens to ask hard questions about plans for the future. You can even run a youth survey in advance, with or without the help of local leaders, to identify the issues in advance.

How do I get started?

• Download our PDF for some straightforward tips

• Think about what issues are important to teens in your community

• Run a survey at your school to narrow in on the most important issues

• Reach out to local leaders

How do I expand this narrative arc?

• For a teen that is interested in student government, politics and policy, this would be a great project to combine with Rock the Vote.

• Launch a Speaker’s Corner at your school to provide a forum for discussion and debate of issues that are important to fellow students.

• Consider one of the many summer programs run by The New York Times Summer Academy, including Whistleblower Journalism in D.C.

HOT TIP: If executed properly the Youth Town Hall is an excellent way to start a dialogue and improve your visability (and impact) in your community. Like most extracurriculars, the benefits you gain will depend on how the project relates to your larger narrative arc (and how much you can deepen and expand on the work you do).