Creating a Safe Space

On Wednesday I attended a youth empowerment summit at Washtenaw Community College. The summit was organized by WATT and TCW2.  Dedicated to Make a Change hosted a workshop entitled Creating a Safe Space.  The workshop was open to both youth and adults, but only 3 adults showed up, making it clear that many youth are looking for a safe space but few adults are looking to create one. During Dedicated to Make a Change's workshop we discussed what constitutes a  safe space, who makes you feel safe, and what you wish adults knew about creating a safe space.

One of the activities was that the youth were asked to write down one thing that would help them feel safe. Here are some of their responses:

• Don't judge me based on my looks.
• Don't just use stereotypes.
• Always be there for me.
• Privacy is important. Respect boundaries.
• Have food. (multiple people said this one)
• Take off your "adult hat". Don't act like you are better than me.
• Follow through with your promises. Be trustworthy.
• Have materials available for a variety of learning styles.
• Remember that a safe space can have different meanings to different people.
• Create a place where I can share my true self. 

The adults were asked to write down something they would keep in mind when they were trying to create a safe space. Here is what they said:

• working with young people to develop safety rules for the group that everyone agrees on
• know that "safe" has different meanings for different people
• at the beginning of our time together ask the youth I work how to make a safe space for them

At the end of the workshop all the participants were asked to give a rating of the workshop by putting their thumbs up, sideways, or down. 97% of the participants put there thumbs up, so I'd call the workshop a success.