"Seeing and Believing" Conference

By: Brad Knight
For Hampton, VA, the summer of 2005 was a great year. In addition to receiving the Innovations in American Government Award from the Ash Institute at Harvard University, Hampton was also awarded a $100,000 check from Harvard. The purpose of the money was to help other cities start programs for youth similar to the one in Hampton.
Recently, Hampton has spent some time traveling and telling other cities about their various organizations and groups that enage young people. However, April 22-24, 2007 was the big week. It was the “Seeing and Believing Conference.” Cindy Carlson, the director of the Coalition for Youth Office, stated that the only way to truly learn about youth civic engagement is to get hands-on and to talk to the adults and youth who are involved with it. So, Hampton invited teams of three people from ten different cities around the country to come and get physical with Hampton’s youth civic engagement.
Most of the teams arrived on Sunday, but a couple of teams flew in on Saturday to check out the 4th Annual Youth Rally. The conference officially started on Sunday evening. There was a reception at the Convention Center to welcome everyone with lots of gourmet food, performances, and some fun activities. This was just the beginning of more to come.
Bright and early Monday morning, the groups met up once again at the Convention Center to learn some of the background information and history about involving young people. Around 2pm, the teams got with the Youth Planners and Youth Commissioners who make up the Hampton Youth Commission and bombarded them with questions about the Youth Commission, such as what the commission does, its structure, and its impact on the city. Later that evening, the teams got to see the Hampton Youth Commission in action and watch them host a public meeting on neighborhood safety.
On Tuesday, the groups were able to meet up with city officials who work with youth, such as the Superintendent of Hampton City Schools, to ask questions and get their impression about youth civic engagement. All the teams left sometime on Tuesday.
The “Seeing and Believing” Conference was a phenomenal time for me. Although it was very busy, it was very fun meeting other adults from around the country who care about their young people. The adults were so intrigued in what Hampton has been doing for sometime, engaging young people. They were also really interested in the various ways young people can get involved. In addition, I had a great time telling others about what the young people in Hampton have done. However, it was saddening to hear from adults from different cities how unreceptive some of their adults are to young people. Hearing this makes me appreciate Hampton and the adults who invest in young people more. I hope everyone from the “Seeing and Believing” Conference got a lot out of it and learned how to make their cities better for the young people who are not the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today.