Youth in Policy

Yá’át’ééh, Shí éí Sky. I am a senior at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico. I have been with Evolvement for four years, and this will be my second year on the leadership team. Evolvement is a program that urges students to serve as advocates for themselves, and their community.

As an organization, Evolvement focuses on policy chang in communities local and statewide. Policy change is important because it enforces and offers a consequence if the rules are not followed. Furthermore, policy also adds to awareness of an issue. It allows citizens to consider the policy and causes them to wonder why it is in place. It is important to have strong policies set in stone so that people will have to follow these policies. One campaign that Evolvement works on is named No Minor Sale. We work on bringing awareness to the issue – illegal tobacco sales to minors. We are trying to show people that a policy must be enforced. If the policy is passed, an affect will be acquired. As a youth, I can lend my support by participating at events where No Minor Sale is located and collect support cards and inform the public of our mission. I have participated in two major No Minor Sale events in my community. Youth should care about this potential new policy because it was created to protect their health. Working with Evolvement has ultimately taught me that every small step is essential to helping the cause. If other students were to become involved with policy, key decision makers would have to consider our voice. We must all support the policy changes that Evolvement is trying to make, because it would protect children who are our future

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