Urban Youth of Color's Attitudes Toward Civic Engagement: A YPAR Project

• In Event: Liberatory Spaces: Youth Voice and Teacher Empowerment

Abstract

In the aftermath of the 2024 Presidential election the members of an urban high school’s scholar activist club pondered: "what just happened"? After exploring their own perspectives during critical but loving discussions, they discovered a fundamental split in the group's perspectives on voting: half the group were vociferously passionate, and the other half were disillusioned to the point of apathy. As a result, they endeavored collectively to understand the civic dispositions of their peers and the high school civics experiences that shaped them. With the guidance of a PI, the students administered a brief survey to peers of color to better understand: What are urban youth of color’s attitudes toward voting? And, what are urban youth of color’s recommendations for improving civic engagement among their peers, especially in terms of high school curriculum? In this presentation, the two high school co-investigators, along with the PI will present this study’s findings.

Author

• Nadia Ryhan Khan-Roopnarine, St. Joseph's University