How might we support young people to find pride, purpose and joy in their lives?

Youth are the life energy of our society. They have diverse and incredible perspectives, voices, skills, experience, energy and dreams. They represent the promise of a better future and embody our love today. And they are struggling right now.

The U.S. Surgeon General declared a mental health emergency for youth – a crisis that has been brewing for some time but has now boiled over due to the effects of the pandemic and at a time when progress on "distressing issues like climate change, income inequality, racial injustice, the opioid epidemic and gun violence feels too slow.” All youth have been impacted by these intersecting crises, but some are more heavily impacted than others, including low-income youth, youth of color, LGBTQ youth, and those impacted by systems such as foster care or the criminal justice system. 

Source: CDC, Data & Statistics on Children's Mental Health        

Many parents are concerned about the role that social media may play in the state of youth well-being. Living in an increasingly digital world, young people have to navigate an online environment that did not exist for their parents and previous generations. Much blame is placed on social media for the challenges young people face today. But screen time alone does not account for the crisis. “Rather, social media and other online activities act more to amplify an adolescent’s existing mental state, causing some young people to feel more distress and others to experience enhanced feelings of connection,” noted a recent New York Times article.

In short, there is no simple answer backed by research that tells us whether online activity is harmful or helpful to young people’s well-being. The answer is, it depends. What is clear is that screen time is displacing other activities associated with positive physical and mental health including sleep, in person socializing, and physical activity.

“structural racism, the pathologizing of the poor & an underfunded safety net…. are all…historical realities [that] have been exacerbated by new forms of public speech & communication — namely a digital society that has subjected children & families to the perpetual compare-and-contrast imagery of a society that equates wealth with value, & fame with merit.”

Alex Briscoe 
 principal
California' Children's Trust

 

In this theme, we are interested in the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of youth. In that way, we take a broader definition of mental health, going beyond treating symptoms or illness to fostering well-being. After all, as we’ve learned in past themes, good mental health is not just the absence of mental illness, but the cultivation of pride, purpose and joy in life such that young people can learn and play, express their full potential, and adapt to change and stress. In this theme, Battery Powered will focus on well-being for youth through the following question:

How might we support young people to find pride, purpose and joy in their lives?

We will focus our funding toward youth in the middle to high school age range (roughly 11-18 years old) in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley of California. Why the Central Valley? With a population roughly equal to the Bay Area but with far fewer philanthropic dollars, and with a higher poverty rate, we felt it was important to include this neighboring region in our theme. We have identified three categories of work that our philanthropic dollars can support in this space, recognizing that they are rarely distinct from one another, but oftentimes interwoven.

Self Expression. Whether through spoken word or music, art, culture or storytelling, self expression cultivates social and emotional development and can be a tremendous source of joy. We are interested in work that creates space for self expression within a framework that supports development and healing.	Organizing & Advocacy. Engaging young people in movements for social change not only positively impacts their development and well-being, but builds their leadership skills and civic engagement while promoting community and social change.	Healing Communities. Young people need safe communities of peers and trusted adults where they can be vulnerable, heal, navigate life challenges, and build character. Organizations that cultivate these circles can have a tremendous impact on youth wellness, pride, and purpose.

Paths Not Taken.  Workforce development and college readiness are valuable areas of work and ones that Battery Powered has invested in previously. While they certainly play a role in cultivating pride, purpose and joy in young people’s lives, these two areas will not be a primary focus of our funding in this round.  

We are also focusing on wellness over treatment of mental illness. Therapy and specialized treatment for mental illness are critical interventions on the spectrum of support for youth mental health and ones that need further investment. Given our meaningful but limited resources, we will focus our funding on a different part of the spectrum, wellness, in this particular theme.

We gratefully acknowledge the work of Shawn Ginwright and his concept of healing centered engagement, which guided our thinking around this theme.