Why is it important and urgent to promote the participation of adolescents in out-of-school activities?

We live in a world that is transitory, uncertain, ambiguous, hard to understand, all too often plagued with vulnerabilities and increasingly unequal and fragmented. This global context places great demands on people and constantly takes us outside our comfort zone.

Therefore, to escape this situation, it is increasingly critical that as citizens we all possess a series of competencies, such as the ability to adapt to change, the social skill to join in groups and engage in interdependent relationships, the capacity to transform and be transformed, leadership, assertiveness, an analytical and critical eye, tolerance and empathy, etc.

Related: Download the publication More adolescents enjoying out-of-school activities

There are living conditions that impede access to and contact with this learning, and also the trial and error relating to it; conditions that do not enable the development of the personal abilities that we call life competencies.

But, where can these skills for today’s world be learnt? We know that there are social contexts that do not facilitate the acquisition of these competencies; where boys and girls do not learn them naturally through the socialisation process itself. There are living conditions that impede access to and contact with this learning, and also the trial and error relating to it; conditions, therefore, that do not enable the development of the personal abilities that we call life competencies.

Instead, in the municipalities and in the community there are spaces and activities that do intentionally, systematically and consciously promote the necessary learning for life and provide meaningful and rich life experiences for adolescents. These spaces, activities, public facilities, organisations and citizens’ initiatives are valuable assets for municipalities and neighbourhoods when it comes to ensuring educational equality. All adolescents should be able to access them, without impediment.

Extracurricular activities, informal education forums and active citizenship projects are a crucial source of learning and experiences.

For this reason, it is important to encourage the participation of adolescents in municipalities, because extracurricular activities, informal education forums and active citizenship projects are a crucial source of learning and experiences. Indeed, it is urgent because we have skyrocketing social emergency indicators that various institutions are alerting us to and are urging us to act on now.

Thus, the challenge is to identify and engage the 20% of adolescents who are not participating because they are unable to overcome the barriers to access, whether these are financial, social, psychological, cultural, informational or administrative, etc. Moreover, we know that these individuals belong to families which have a low level of education, low income or are of immigrant origin.

If the objective of local policy is to guarantee life opportunities during the adolescent stage, it is necessary to structure local action from a broad, equitable perspective which involves all actors and approaches essential issues.

How can we reach groups that are excluded from accessing educational opportunities outside of school? How do we ensure that all activities and spaces are backed by a powerful educational project? What accessibility measures would enable access for adolescents? How do we ensure a comprehensive approach to the needs of this stage? Do adolescents receive what they need and what is of interest to them in extracurricular activities and spaces outside of school? Are we tailoring the offer to adolescents?

Faced with all of these challenges, at the alliance Educació 360 we have produced the guide More adolescents enjoying out-of-school activities. This document is aimed at local policy makers and technicians and it compiles and organises guidelines that help to conceive and structure a municipal strategy to stimulate the participation of more adolescents in high-quality enriching extracurricular activities and spaces for their learning.

The guide proposes 24 specific municipal actions, grouped into 5 main strategic lines to promote and consolidate the participation of adolescents in out-of-school activities. Each strategic line is accompanied by questions for self assessment to ascertain how things were before working on a particular line and what has been achieved after working on it.

There is an urgent need to deliver educational opportunities, which are priceless, to individuals between the ages of 12 and 18, who right now are going through the sometimes erratic, chaotic and strange period that is adolescence and are beginning life transitions of great significance for their future.

In the last year, adolescent emergency department visits for mental health reasons have risen by 47%, with a rise in eating disorders and self-harm attempts. Suicide attempts have risen by 27%. In addition, in the last five years the number of children and adolescents who have a screen addiction has tripled, rising to 10%.

We have the highest rates of early school drop-out in Europe: 19% of young people between 18 and 24 have not achieved any post-compulsory qualification (data from 2019). Also, the youth unemployment rate has soared to a historic record of 33%, cutting short many projects of emancipation, autonomy and freedom.

During the pandemic, 30% of families supported by third sector organisations could not meet the financial requirements stemming from schooling, and 36% could not meet the costs of extracurricular activities. Also, at around 33% the rate of young people at risk of poverty and social exclusion is among the highest in Europe after Romania and Greece.

It is necessary to actively promote the participation and access of adolescents in educational activities and spaces beyond school, with sustained resources over time.

Therefore, it is necessary to actively promote the participation and access of adolescents in educational activities and spaces beyond school, with sustained resources over time. This entails guaranteeing their ability to access opportunities and experiences that provide them with more learning, more confidence and more of a future.

It is a right recognised by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Adolescents; by the UNICEF 2030 Agenda; by the Charter of Educating Cities; by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; and, in Catalonia, by the Catalan Ombudsman, the Social Third Sector Organisations Board of Catalonia and the Children and Adolescents Institute of Barcelona, among other institutions.

There is institutional consensus, and many municipalities are already making this possible. However, there is still no broad and sustained deployment of Catalonia-wide policies favouring out-of-school educational equity for adolescents. Is it time to take a firm stance?