"Interns Speak Up for All Youth"
Article by Chad Bryant, Abigail Crane, Beau Garrido, Cameron White, Presley Cobb and Kiahhn’ Jackson
Description:
According to Robert D. Putnam, a professor at Harvard University and author of Bowling Alone, many individuals in society are withdrawing from communal life and choosing to spend much of their time alone. Concerned about the negative effects that this decrease in social networking could ultimately bring about, he and his colleagues began researching both factors that contribute to disengagement and methods of reconnecting members of society to one another.
And so, through the efforts of Dr. Robert Friedman and Judi Jetson, as well as the generosity of private donors, six interns – representing high schools throughout Hillsborough County – were hired this summer to study methods of increasing social capital in our community. Recruited from the secret society known as adolescence, we were able to provide a greater understanding and an alternative perspective on this issue.
Once we were educated on social capital, we decided on two studies that we believed would provide valuable conclusions about social interactions and allow us to make recommendations to those in the community who have the power to make changes. Apart from time spent at home, the time at school and time participating in extracurricular activities are the most significant opportunities for youth to meet and connect with others. These are two of the most important sites for social capital building in any society. In order to comprehensively study each of these topics, the interns broke into two subgroups: the first focused on school climate; the second on extracurricular participation. To gather data, we conducted background research, analyzed secondary data sources and developed and administered a survey to Tampa Bay area youth. The first group developed “The Nine Points.” This set of recommendations is designed to make students feel more comfortable in school to increase sociability, extracurricular participation and academic achievement. The second group administered a survey to about 120 adolescents at four area YMCA summer programs. The survey gathered demographic information and then attempted to gauge students’ connectedness within society and within their favorite extracurricular activity. The results yielded a clear connection between extracurricular quality and social capital. It is clear that researchers, educators and community leaders have begun to recognize the importance of social capital. It is now up to these individuals to team with other adults in the community and
– more importantly – youths in order to make a real difference in the Tampa area and beyond.
Funding for Academic Year: 2004