Monash Magazine

Finding the voice of youth

From Frankston to Papua New Guinea, a Monash academic is helping young people and the community work towards common goals, writes Julie Ryan.

As the Asia-Pacific director of UNESCO's international Growing Up In Cities (GUIC) program, Peninsula campus Faculty of Education lecturer Dr Karen Malone is all ears when it comes to young people's perceptions of their local environment.

Dr Malone has conducted indepth research into the needs of young people in the Melbourne suburbs of Braybrook and Frankston, and recently led a team to Papua New Guinea.

"Young people are valuable contributors to their community if they are supported," she said."Issues that arise between youth and the larger community often stem from the community's perception of youth. In many instances 'youth' and 'crime' are considered to go hand-in-hand."

Dr Karen Malone believes young people can be valuable contributors to society.

Dr Malone has recently completed a substantial analysis of youth culture in Frankston and surrounding areas for the Frankston City Council, during which she spent considerable time speaking to young people about their living environments and their needs.

"While there are organisations supporting youth, their success depends on how they perceive 'support'," Dr Malone said.

"Many programs, through policy recommendations, urban design or regulatory intervention, attempt to 'remedy' or 'control' youth behaviour. This may seem like an easy way of dealing with young people in our changing urban environment, but in the long term it only serves to devalue and undermine the capacity young people have to make a valuable contribution to their communities."

Valuable members

One of the key premises of GUIC is that young people are the future and by nurturing them during their youth, and providing for their needs, they will remain a valuable member of the community in their adulthood.

Dr Malone said the philosophy of communication rather than confrontation with youth crossed cultural divides. "In PNG, some of the issues for youth are different to those for youth in Australia, but the premise is the same -- they would like to be consulted about policy issues and decision-making that impacts on them."

In PNG, Dr Malone worked with youth, community groups and government officials in Port Moresby and local villages to help them develop a cooperative framework for further initiatives.

Young people in PNG face many of the issues confronting Australian youth.

First, the issues were established. "These included issues that appear to be common across cultures such as employment, safety, low self-esteem and a lack of suitable socialising facilities," Dr Malone said.

"Then there were issues specific to the culture, including conflict between the Western way of life and cultural heritage, urbanisation, and a lack of post-primary educational opportunities."

Long-term approach

With the issues established, workshops, group discussions, site visits and interviews helped the participants develop a multi-tiered, long-term approach for evaluating and improving their local environments.

At the end of the week-long forum in PNG, a declaration on youth from youth was submitted to the government, providing the first step for PNG's young people to have an ongoing say in policy and government decision-making processes.

For more information about the Growing Up In Cities program, contact Dr Malone on + 61 3 9904 4324 or email karen.malone@education.monash.edu.au