Lynn Youth Council aims at giving teens a voice in city government

LYNN – City Council members will soon be getting advice from a council of middle and high school students who are working so they can have a voice in the city’s important issues, organizers of the Lynn Youth Council said Monday.The council will be made up of 18 high school and middle school students aged 12 to 19, Diana Kerry, the director of the Public Policy Institute at North Shore Community College, said Monday.”They will be a liaison, if you will, to the youthful population which is the future of the city,” Kerry said.Kerry said the idea of establishing the council began with the college’s civic education initiatives in the fall of 2010. The policy institute led the formation of two youth groups – one of high school and one of middle school students – whose members participated in different organizations in the city.The group of middle school students proposed the idea to several members of the Lynn City Council last spring. The group is scheduled to present the idea to the full City Council tonight.The middle school group named themselves the Christina Leadership Corps after Christina-Taylor Green, a 9-year-old girl who was killed at an event for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in January 2011.Gregg Ellenberg, Senior Program Director at the Lynn YMCA, has been helping members of the Christina Corps and said that many of the youth involved want to have “a voice.””In general, they feel that youth aren’t heard,” Ellenberg said. “When you listen to what the kids have to say, they want to have a voice, they want to make the city a better place, they want to improve its image, they want to be involved.”Eighth-grade student and Christina Corps member Cyntheara Tham, 14, agreed. She said her involvement in Christina Corps has made her more social and confident.”We weren’t having enough say in what we want to do,” Tham said. “Everybody else was telling us what we want to do and we’re not happy with that.”She said that she would like to change what she said was a bad reputation of kids in Lynn by offering them more opportunities and activities.”We need more opportunities to do good,” she said.The youth council will be selected among the kids who apply, Kerry said. Two will represent each ward and there will be four at-large members.The youth council plans to meet monthly, participate in trainings and activities, and discuss issues affecting the city’s youth. They will seek and provide input to city council members and support the City Council initiatives by conducting research.Finalists will be interviewed by the selection committee and inaugurated in March.Ward 5 City Councilor Brendan Crighton, who has acted as a “liaison” between organizers and the City Council, said that his fellow councilors have expressed support for the idea.”I think it will be beneficial for city councilors as well as students to share ideas,” Crighton said. “It’s really inspiring to work with youth. They bring an inspiring energy to the city and I really hope that more youth will be involved through this.”Applications to serve on the council are available at city schools, several youth organizations and the Public Policy Institute at North Shore Community College.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].