UC Davis study calls for investment in youths Learning Process

UC Davis study calls for investment in youths

Written on July 17, 2011 – 4:09 pm | by Justin Fraser

The Sacramento region must dramatically improve the educational and professional opportunities of its young residents if the community is expected to thrive, a UC Davis study released Thursday has concluded.

Commissioned by the Sierra Health Foundation and funded partly by the California Endowment, the two-year study, “Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions,” centered on 12- to 24year-olds.

It found that the region’s youths had a higher chance of dropping out of high school and being unemployed than the rest of the state’s younger population due to a variety of socioeconomic and racial barriers.

One statistic showed that Latino and African American students were far more likely to attend a high school with a higher dropout rate than their white and Asian American counterparts.

Jonathan London, lead researcher of the study and director of the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, acknowledged that some may see the study’s conclusions as obvious, but he found many aspects of the research surprising.

“Young people just have hugely high aspirations for themselves,” London said.

“The surprise there was that the young people who were most counted out by adults those who have dropped out of school, who are pregnant, are out of the foster care system or criminal justice system, who are seen as lost causes they are not lost at all . They just need support.”

Along with a panel that discussed possible applications of the study, teenagers from throughout the region were invited to speak about the value of community youth programs.

One of the leaders included Bradly Palmer, 16, a member of Sactown Heroes and the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition. He said politicians needed to connect more with the younger population, especially when considering policies that directly affect them.

“You’re not listening to us, but you’re making decisions about us,” said Palmer. “How are decisions being made without any involvement? That active youth engagement isn’t being utilized and isn’t being taken seriously.”

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