Richmond High School Youth Joins National Leaders – The Importance Of Elevating and Listening to Youth Input

Jackie, a Senior at Richmond High School and Y-PLAN alum, joined fellow community leaders from around the US to speak on the importance of including the ideas and experiences of youth as we plan our future cities. Jackie shared her own story, highlighting the impact of community violence on youth involvement in civics and sports.

“I will say that, making going to school safer would be a great help to us, that will actually help us to be more involved in the community. Because, who isn't scared of what’s happened in the last couple of months, it touches a lot of the students on a really emotional level. We’ve seen a lot of, it’s just very hard to say, we just want to make the streets safe.”

Jackie's story is one of perseverance and motivation that has lead her to excel in the school environment. But, she adds, she was not allowed to participate in youth sports because of a lack of safe transportation option to get her to and from practices around the city. Her presentation is a reminder to community leaders that safe passageways throughout Richmond must be considered as parks and infrastructure plans are implemented.