Youth Participatory Action Research and Sociopolitical Development as a Healing Approach for Youth

• In Event: Reclaiming Radical Healing: Exploring the Promise and Tensions of Youth Healing Through Activism and Youth Participatory Action Research

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID pandemic, governmental agencies and news outlets began reporting something that many young people already knew: The kids are not all right. The CDC found 40 percent of teens felt “persistently sad or hopeless” and 20 percent had contemplated suicide (Dvorak, 2022). The APA declared youth mental health a national emergency in 2021. Youth reported feeling disinterested in school, struggling to maintain friendships, and generally unsupported as they battled mental health issues (Dvorak, 2022; Richtel, 2022; Warner, 2022). While the pandemic may have heightened the issue or brought more attention to it, several students were often living with school-based trauma that exacerbated mental health issues before COVID dominated the world stage. Many articles have searched for solutions. We wonder, could Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), with its focus on sharing power with young people and honoring them as valuable knowledge creators, heal students who are hurting (Cammorata & Fine, 2008; Hipolito-Delgado & Zion, 2017)?

Authors

• Dane Stickney, University of Colorado - Denver

• Jane Smith, The Park People: Denver Digs Trees