'Youth Voice' Gives Detroit Teens A Chance To Be Heard

DETROIT (WWJ) - A group of Detroit teenagers want to make sure their collective voice is heard, even though they're not old enough to vote yet.

You can call them "little lobbyists," rallying their peers together to take a stand. WWJ's City Beat reporter Vickie Thomas spoke with 16-year-old Nicole Lassiter, a member of Youth Voice Detroit.

"The listening campaign is a campaign that we're doing over the summer and it's basically, we're passing out surveys," Lassiter said. "[We're] trying to ask children or teens what their problem is so we can focus on one point, and then in August we can all have a march and talk to our public officials about that," she said.

Violence among young people is one of the issues the teens want to know about.

"It's really heartbreaking that we're losing some of our peers, our classmates and family members. It's really sad," said Lassiter, who knows first hand how youth violence is affecting her generation. "My twin brother was involved in a gang jumping. They jumped him and three of our other friends at a bus stop one day."

The group had multiple meetings with Police Chief Ralph Godbee and as a result of their efforts, police now patrol around bus stops in the city.

Among other things, Youth Voice encourages its young membership to mobilize and advocate for better schools, safer and cleaner neighborhoods, youth employment, recreational opportunities and a more responsive system of care for youth.

A major goal of Youth Voice is allowing young people to have constructive input in institutions and policies that directly affect them.

To learn more about Youth Voice, click here.