Youth Participation Initiatives: An Analysis Using Hart's Ladder

This report analyzes the Victorian Youth Participation Initiative through the framework of Hart's Ladder of Children's Participation. The report begins by introducing Hart's Ladder, which outlines eight levels of children's involvement, ranging from manipulation to child-initiated shared decisions. The analysis then assesses the initiative, primarily focusing on its alignment with the fourth step of the ladder, where activities are adult-led, and children understand the purpose and have a role. The report highlights how the initiative allows children to engage in critical reflection. The conclusion emphasizes the usefulness of Hart's Ladder for evaluating and tracking the progress of various initiatives, suggesting that while starting at the top is not required, the framework offers a clear path for improvement. The report references several sources to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive examination of the initiative's strengths and areas for potential development in promoting youth participation.

HART’S LADDER OF CHILDREN PARTICIPATION 1
HART’S LADDER OF CHILDREN PARTICIPATION
By (Name)
Name of the Class
Name of the Professor
Institutional Affiliation
City and State
Date

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Hart’s Ladder of Children participation
Dr. Rodger Hart was able to come up with a unique "ladder" of the involvement to help
us to be able to think about where we are positioned together with the exact place where would
like to be as far as children's participation in our respective programs is concerned (McDowall,
2016). Moreover, this ladder was not created to suggest that it is a must for us to be at "the top"
rung. Still, instead, it is a position that we ought to be aiming at with the intention of getting
ourselves out of the lower rungs that are fully attached to non-participation and even going as far
as thinking aspects that we can adequately implement to genuinely engage two particular groups
of people which entails the children and the youth (Nir and Perry-Hazan, 2016). It starts from the
lowest step that is specifically known as Rung 1which is fully associated with different acts of
manipulation in which the youth are capable of performing different activities as directed
without having a clear understanding as to why they are doing the activities. Rung 2 is always
known as the decoration step that is full of adult-led activities where the youth still understand
the purpose but don't have any input pertaining to how they are all planned (Short, 2016). The
next step is rung three, which is still connected with adult-led activities. At this stage, youth is
likely to be consulted with minimal levels of feedbacks
Rung 4 is still related to various adult-led activities where the child is known to be having
a clear understanding of purpose, different types of decision-making processes and also tend to
have a role. Rung 5 is the fifth step that is also known and the consulted and informed levels
attached to a vast range of adult-led activities where the youth are consulted and adequately
informed regarding how their condition of input will be perfectly utilized together with specific
outcomes related to adult decisions (Nthontho, 2017). In rung 6, there exists some form of shared
decisions with the youths that are always known to be adult initiated where the entire process of

HART’S LADDER OF CHILDREN PARTICIPATION 3
decision making is perfectly shared with various youths. The second highest step is Rung 7,
which is always undertaken and well-directed by the child. They normally carry out activities at
this point with minimal help from adults. Rung 8 is the highest step that involves the initiation
and sharing of decisions with the relevant adults.
Initiative evaluation
The Victorian Youth Participation Initiative is known to be connected to a vast range of
characteristics where most of them have gone further to influence the way the initiative in
carrying out specific duties. Moreover, by obtaining a relevant set of information from Hart's
ladder and correctly utilizing adequate information that is fully attached to the initiative, various
steps of the ladder give a clear picture of what the initiative is all about. Firstly, the initiative
that is connected to the fourth step. One of the primary reasons as to why its connection can be
compared to this step is because a vast range of activities within its boundaries is led by various
adults. This is a fundamental activity taking place in Hart’s ladder (Ruhe et al., 2016). Under
various circumstances within this group, the youths are always assigned to various types of
projects where they are always not given a chance to initiate the projects by themselves bust
instead, a full relevant set of information is always provided by a trusted adult. On the other
hand, one of the most fundamental aspects about this stage based on the initiative is the extent to
which the children are always engaged in different aspects of critical reflection, just like what is
taking place in Hart's ladder (Schalkers et al., 2016).
A good example is the ability to view the presence of various children as a source of free
help for different types of projects that are likely to be implemented due to multiple purposes. It
is clear beyond any reasonable doubt that the existence of Hart's ladder has greatly helped in the

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analysis of various initiatives thus providing a fundamental opportunity of being able to know
the step in which the initiative is likely to fall as a result of various activities that are being
carried out within its boundaries. Different initiatives and groups should, therefore, be in a
position if correctly utilizing this parameter for them to be able to track their progress and
efforts, thus making it much easier to become competitive across different platforms. Finally, it
is not a must for an initiative to start from the topmost position, but instead, one can start from
scratch and be able to find its way through to the highest step.

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References
McDowall, J., 2016. Are we listening?: The need to facilitate participation in decision-making by
children and young people in out-of-home care. Developing Practice: The Child, Youth,
and Family Work Journal, (44), p.77.
Nir, T., and Perry-Hazan, L., 2016. The framed right to participate in municipal youth councils
and its educational impact. Children and Youth Services Review, 69, pp.174-183.
Nthontho, M., 2017. Children as stakeholders in education: Does their voice matter?. South
African Journal of Childhood Education, 7(1), pp.1-7.
Ruhe, K.M., Badarau, D.O., Brazzola, P., Hengartner, H., Elger, B.S., Wangmo, T., and Swiss
Pediatric Oncology Group (SPOG), 2016. Participation in pediatric oncology: views of
child and adolescent patients. Psycho
‐Oncology, 25(9), pp.1036-1042.
Schalkers, I., Parsons, C.S., Bunders, J.F., and Dedding, C., 2016. Health professionals'
perspectives on children's and young people's participation in health care: a qualitative
multihospital study. Journal of clinical nursing, 25(7-8), pp.1035-1044.
Short, K.G., 2016. The right to participate: Children as activists in picturebooks. In Critical
Content Analysis of Children’s and Young Adult Literature (pp. 147-164).