Background The idea of renewing or revisioning philanthropy, so that it better serves young people, is of great personal interest to me. I have spent most of my working life as an educator, counsellor, researcher, psychologist, and advocate trying to improve the lives of youth, particularly those pushed to the margins of Canadian society or…
Contents: Volume 25, Issue 2 (2013)
According to the 2006 Canadian Census, there was a total of 1,172,785 Aboriginal people in Canada, comprising 3.8% of the Canadian population. In 2006, the median age of the total Aboriginal population was 27 years, 13 years lower than the median age of non-Aboriginals (Statistics Canada, 2008). The increase in Aboriginal children and youth comes at…
Giving With Confidence: A Guide To Savvy Philanthropy By Colburn Wilbur and Fred Setterberg Berkeley, California: Heyday; 2012 isbn: 978-1-5971-4204-5 If you want to give away your money, there is now more advice than ever available, with authors clamouring over each other to provide the most informative or inspirational counsel. If you want big name…
It is a commonly held belief that Canada’s future rests in the hands of our children and youth, and that, as they learn, grow, and become active participants in Canadian society, they will shape our values and determine our future social and economic course. If it is true, then the care we demonstrate, the investments…
Community engagement and development offer youth the opportunity to communicate their desires and have their voices heard. But young Canadians do not participate in community life, for example, political elections, political campaigns, or interest groups, in the same capacity as older Canadians. They are less interested in and have less knowledge of politics (O’Neill, 2007),…
Show Roger Hart’s Ladder of Young People’s Participation (1997) to a room full of engaged young people and you will likely be greeted with vigorous head nods. “How many of you have experienced the bottom three rungs of the ladder—manipulation, decoration, or tokenism?” I tentatively asked a youth audience several years ago during a civic…
Introduction Indigenous peoples in Canada belong to diverse and distinct Nations and are an increasingly young population. Although Indigenous communities differ in language, culture, and geographical location, they often share similar political and social histories that have had many negative intergenerational effects on the current generation. Unless the situation changes for the better for Indigenous…