Want to make sure the young people in your life are heard, supported and empowered? It may be time for a

A Pulse Check is any regular, intentional practice that lets young people share what they are experiencing. In more formal environments, they could take the form of a survey (like the one we’re conducting below!). But in more informal settings, it could be as simple as posing a “Question of the Day” or doing a reflection exercise together every few months.

At Camp Fire, we use Pulse Checks to empower young people to share their thoughts and points of view and to continuously improve our programs. You can use Pulse Checks to share power with younger people in your family, deepen your mentoring relationships, or boost morale on a sports team you coach. Any time you’re interacting with kids or youth, a Pulse Check can help make sure their experiences are being centered. 

And you get bonus points if you include young people in the design and execution of the Pulse Check — that’s really getting meta with youth voice, but we promise it works!

So, how do you do a Pulse Check? 

Do a little pre-thinking. Ask yourself: 

1. 1. What am I trying to learn? 
   2. Who am I trying to learn from? What age range are you working with? Are there any accessibility issues I need to think about? How will I make sure everyone’s voice is heard?
   3. How can I involve the young people I’m trying to learn from in this process? Let both the young people you’re working with and your fellow adults know what you’re trying to learn. Design the Pulse Check collaboratively.
   4. How often will we do Pulse Checks? Consistency is key!

Let the group decide how they want to conduct the Pulse Check. Here are some methods we use at Camp Fire (but you can also make up your own!)

1. 1. 1. 1. Dot Voting: This is a quick, transparent way to get a read on how a group is feeling. Pose your question on a big sheet of poster board with various options for answers (Always/Never/Sometimes, various emotion emojis, Agree/Neutral/Disagree, etc) underneath. Give every participant dot stickers to vote on the answer that fits them the most.
         2. Exit Poll: Good for practices or any regular group meeting, an exit poll is a fast way to get feedback. Pose a question and mark containers (like jars or bowls) with answers (Always/Never/Sometimes, various emotion emojis, Agree/Neutral/Disagree, etc). Give each participant an “exit ticket” like a marble or a sheet of paper. As participants leave, they drop their “ticket” in the container that fits their feelings the most.
         3. Listening Session: Settle in for some good talk time: Have three to six open-ended and non-leading questions ready along with big sheets of paper for note taking. Have snacks and fidget toys on hand and set expectations for communicating kindly and respectfully. Pose your questions and either have an appointed note taker or let participants add to the notes collaboratively.
         4. Word Web: This free-form method can take you down some really interesting paths. Get some big sheets of paper and colorful markers. Write your main topic at the top of the paper and have the group free-associate words, colors and pictures stemming out from the original word or phrase. Share the connections and new ideas that you discovered from the web.

As you’re narrowing down on what you specifically want to learn from your Pulse Check, it helps to integrate in the goals and/or values of your group, team, family or program. Brainstorm questions that would help you learn if you are making progress toward your goals or living out your values.

1. 1. 1. At Camp Fire, we are trying to create six specific core experiences for young people, so we design Pulse Check questions around those. For example, one of our core experiences is “Adults Who Prioritize Youth.” Some Pulse Check questions we might ask are: “Do you feel adults in Camp Fire care about you?” “At Camp Fire, do you get to solve problems in a variety of ways without adults telling you what to do?” or “Do Camp Fire staff really listen to what you have to say?”
      2. Craft your questions so they get to the heart of what matters most to you and the young people you are working with.

1. Share your findings. Depending on your method, the results may be obvious (everyone can see a word web, for example) or need some clarification (sharing exit poll results from the last sessions). Make sure everyone has the same information from the Pulse Check. 
2. Use what you learned in your next Pulse Check. Keep going, keep listening, keep sharing, keep growing! Keep centering youth voices!

Know a young person currently involved in Camp Fire? We want to hear from them! Please ask them to fill out this short Youth Voice and Leadership Opportunities survey. 

Want more details on how to conduct a really stellar Pulse Check? See Camp Fire’s official toolkit here for all the nitty gritty. 

The post Using “Pulse Checks” to Empower Young People appeared first on Camp Fire.

Camp Fire is both

Here are a few ways that Camp Fire programs are led by young people’s plans, decisions and goals: 

• “At Camp Fire Central Texas, they scaffold youth voice and choice over the course of their school-based programs. Kids plan lessons, choose topics to learn about, and come up with activities or games to play. In middle school, groups tell their instructors what they want to do, and instructors figure out how to do it. With middle school kids, they usually incorporate a campout or field trip that lets them practice skills like fire-building and prepare for the adventure by shopping for food and choosing how to cook it.”
• “At Camp Fire Wilani, programs use the BEETLES curriculum, which upends traditional top-down teaching methods. This curriculum allows youth to choose how their day goes. The things they learn are informed by their prior knowledge and what is important and interesting to them.”
• “At Camp Fire Heart of Oklahoma, youth create a ‘home in the woods,’ their piece of nature for the week. Campers’ ‘home in the woods’ serves as a home base for their time at camp. Each group has their own campsite, and they get to decorate it and cook meals there. It’s their own piece of nature for the week, and before they leave, they put it back to how it was, which also reinforces the conservation principle of ‘leave no trace.’”

(Examples are from “Exploring Innovative Nature Engagement Practices: Supporting Camp Fire’s Commitment to Promote Environmental Stewardship and Action,” by Jenna Sethi, Ph.D., and Clare Eisenberg, M.Ed. Prepared for Camp Fire by Informed Change.)

Our Programs Team, led by Nikki Roe Cropp, works hard to create opportunities to support Camp Fire staff as they center youth voices. It takes a lot of adult forethought, planning and effort to develop programs that put kids in the lead. 

Here are a few of the ways Camp Fire leaders are working behind the scenes to put youth voices on center-stage: 

• Staff take Camp Fire’s “Designing Youth-Driven Programs” course to learn how to put young people in the (metaphorical) drivers’ seat in developmentally appropriate ways. 
• Teams train on the Active-Participatory Approach (APA), a method of helping young people actively engage, build skills and knowledge, and take leadership in programs. 
• Adult leaders start Youth Advisory Cabinets (YACs) to more fully incorporate youth decision-making into their councils. 
• Camp Fire staff use resources like project-based learning processes, Camp Fire’s Youth Voice Planner, and youth survey data to youth-driven craft programs. 

Programs that put youth first don’t happen by accident! We’re proud of the Camp Fire staff and volunteers who spend long hours learning, adapting and building kid-led programs. 

Are you a parent looking for a place where your child can lead, grow and use their voice? Find a Camp Fire program near you. 

The post How Camp Fire Staff Build Youth-Driven Programs appeared first on Camp Fire.

That’s exactly what we want young people in Camp Fire to discover, practice, and believe: Their contributions and leadership matter to their communities, our country, and the wider world NOW – not just in the future. 

Civic engagement is one of the long-term benefits we’re working toward on the Camp Fire Journey. We create powerful youth experiences that build essential skills and mindsets, and, over time, those lead to benefits like a lifelong love of nature, health and wellbeing, academic success, job and career readiness, and civic engagement. 

When we talk about “civic engagement,” what exactly do we mean? 

Let’s go with UNICEF’s definition: “Individual or collective actions in which people participate to improve the well-being of communities or society in general.” In other words, at Camp Fire, we’re helping teach youth to be active citizens who work together for the greater good. 

Right now, the spotlight of civic engagement is on voting, but young people don’t have to wait until they’re 18 to be engaged citizens. Youth civic engagement can take all kinds of forms and happen online, in real life, or a combination of the two.

14 ways youth can take action:

Volunteering for a cause you care about: Use “good for kids/teens” filters on sites like VolunteerMatch or PowerOf to find give-back opportunities near you.

Identifying and meeting community needs: Join a Camp Fire Teens in Action group to start serving your community.

Participating in student government at your school: Need some ideas? Search the National Student Council’s database of student service projects taking place all over the country.  

Serving on nonprofit or community leadership boards: Apply to serve on your council’s youth boards and/or our National Youth Advisory Cabinet

Raising awareness of community needs and issues, digitally or through other collective actions: Get inspired (and educated!) with these world-changing youth-led campaign examples from Plan International. (Some content may not be appropriate for younger children.) 

Making art, music, theater and other forms of community expression: Get started with these tips from Berklee Online on how to write a protest song

Calling or writing elected officials and people in positions of power: Find out how to contact your representatives, from the president all the way down to city council members (plus detailed info on their work and who contributes to their campaigns!), using Common Cause’s search tool.  

Starting (or supporting) a social entrepreneurship venture that gives a portion of its proceeds to a good cause: Read about Camp Fire member Ella Matlock’s Be The Change Coloring Co., which gives back to nonprofits while educating kids about important issues. 

Look for teen-led social enterprises when you’re buying cause-message products, like these simple but elegant signs from A Higher Promise. Two KC-based young women started this company to give their neighbors a way to show their support, fund their educations, start a community foundation and honor their older brother’s memory.  

Taking part in protests and other nonviolent actions: Teen Vogue has some great resources on how to safely protest. 

Caring for our natural environment: Want to find a youth-led eco-movement? Look no further than these nine teen activists and their planet-saving organizations. 

Learning and practicing leadership: Camp Fire offers leadership opportunities for all ages, for all kids. Contact your council to find out more! 

• • Organizing and persuading others to act, either through social media or in-person social networks
    • Go from envisioning the change you want to sustaining a movement with this detailed Youth Activist Toolkit from Advocates for Youth.
    • Take part in movements’ social campaigns, like the World Food Programme’s Zero Hunger Champion campaign, to introduce your networks to important their issues and efforts.  
  • Donating to nonprofits and causes, either directly, or through innovative donation efforts. 
    • Donate by playing games with Freerice, the (Nobel Peace Prize winning) World Food Programme’s free online trivia game, whose 600,000 monthly users have raised $1.39 million for the hungry since 2010. 

Does a kid in your life need ideas for how to get involved, especially while practicing social distancing? Contact your local Camp Fire council to see how they are organizing young people to act, or visit Youth Service America’s site for an extensive list of “simple safe service” ideas.  

Sources: 

• Engaged and Heard! Guidelines on Adolescent Participation and Civic Engagement, UNICEF, 2020. 
• “Poll: Young People Believe they Can Lead Change in Unprecedented Election,” Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 30 June 2020. 

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