Blog Post # 2

After reading A World Where Youth Hold Power, I was very intrigued by the Youth in Action (YIA). The YIA is an organization in which young people are able to have a say in a variety of aspects of the organization. This gives young people an opportunity to develop decision making skills and help show them that what they say is important. The article believes that by giving the young people some power in decisions, they can help better the community with innovative ideas and decisions. Throughout the article, people that are a part of the YIA give their thoughts and experiences on how the YIA has helped them develop into growing adults because of the opportunity they have in having a say in various parts. For example, a group of young people in the YIA were able to have a discussion of a potentially heated topic of religion. However, they ended up being able to the discuss it repectfully and end up with a better understanding of other people's religious views. This type of organization helps create a situation in which adults aren't solely the decision makers, but that they work with the young people to come up with decisons.

 As a kid, I had grown up with not having much power. Whether it was home or school, it was always just following orders. I never had a place like YIA where I had a say in how things were run. In some ways I can see why not having the YIA when I was a kid is a good thing. In another way, I wish I had something like YIA back in the day. Looking back, I have a hard time thinking that I would have any effect on the community or anything as a result of having a say in decisions. I feel like my ideas would be ridiculous. On the other hand, I feel that the YIA would be something that would have been very beneficial to me growing up. I think this organization would have helped to develop my social skills. I have always been something of an introvert, so by being a part of an organization where I can voice my opinions would have helped a great deal.