Safe Space
Many young people have shared with the Students Commission that they don’t feel they have anywhere to use their voice - somewhere where they can talk and share experiences and ideas. Your weekly group can be a place where youth do have that safe space to have discussions about issues important to them. Though some meetings will be mostly discussion it is important to incorporate discussion into each meeting – a chance for youth to talk about their own experiences, feelings, thoughts, questions and hopes.
What Helps Create a Positive Setting:
Here are some things that have been found to help make people feel comfortable in your space. Click here for a version you can print and put up on the wall in your meeting space.
- Physical and psychological safety
- Appropriate structure
- Supportive, caring relationships
- Opportunities to belong
- Positive social norms
- Support for efficacy and mattering
- Opportunities for skill building
- Integration of efforts, community synergy
