Kids provide good insight through Youth Dialog Day

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Mary Ann Vergith

HOLLY, Michigan – Approximately 50 Holly High School students participated in the sixth annual  Youth Dialog Day, a 4-hour long event hosted by the Holly Area Community Coalition on Friday, March 25.

“Youth Dialog Day is an opportunity for youth and adults to come together in a non-threatening environment to discuss issues that are pertinent to youth,” Mary Ann Vergith, co-director for HACC said.

While adults are asked to facilitate and keep the conversations going, they are also asked not to provide opinions or judgments so that students feel free and open to share their thoughts.

“The goal is to empower the youth to share their thoughts and opinions, as well as for us to share this information with the community,” Vergith said. “Ultimately, we hope that some of the issues that youth bring up with be addressed by our organization, as well as other organizations in the community.” 

Among the topics discussed were media portrayal, parental roles, positive things youth tend to see in the community, whether or not they feel welcomed into the community, school safety, bullying, school transitions, riding the bus, texting, drug and alcohol usage by parents, and drug and alcohol use among teenagers.

“I was very pleased with this year’s event,” Vergith said. “The students were very open with their thoughts and opinions, both with things they think are going well, and things that could use some changes.”

Vergith said it’s been the pattern that the same topics come to the surface each year. “Youth want more to do in Holly,” she said. “There is not enough recreational and/or employment opportunities here.”

Additionally, Vergith said the students want to be more involved in the community in general, and find ways in which they can provide youth representation to the Village Council and township boards. “They would like there to be more opportunities for community service,”  she said. Currently, HACC Youth Coordinator Nick Klempp is working with Councilman Jason Hughes and Holly Township Supervisor, Jesse Lambert to create an opportunity for youth to serve the Village Council or township board in some capacity.

“It was nice to hear this year that students, overall, feel safe in the schools, that there is not a lot of fighting or bullying at school,” Vergith said. “But students did say that websites like Facebook and Formspring are an avenue for fighting.” Vergith also noted that it was interesting to see that marijuana use appears to be overtaking alcohol use at the high school.

“Overall, we have great kids in Holly, and we need to listen to them and give them an opportunity to create some change,” Vergith said.

Visit HACC online to view a complete copy of the Valuing Youth report generated after this year’s Youth Dialog Day.