A Youth Leader's Guide to Building Cultural Competence [PDF]

As a good youth program leader, you already know the basics of working effectively with youth. Like all young people, African-American and Latino/Latina youth and lesbian, gay and bisexual youth of all races and ethnicities respond well to leaders who:

• spend time getting to know and interacting with them;
• actively include them in program planning;
• create program environments that allow for a great deal of exchange among participants and leaders;
• foster mutual respect;
• genuinely enjoy adolescents and like working with them; and
• know how to establish and encourage positive and appropriate relationships with youth.

In General

Understand the developmental issues all youth face: their abilities to understand and apply information are changing as they mature. Each teen moves through the process at a different pace and in a group of teens of the same age, there will be great variation among their abilities.

Be aware that youth go through stages in identifying with their racial and ethnic cultures. Some young people will proudly claim their racial or ethnic identity, while others will be uncomfortable with it. Young people of mixed racial background face particular challenges in this regard.

Be sensitive to the fact that if you are dealing with sexuality issues, the young people in your program might feel some conflict between what they are taught at home and what you are discussing. Be aware of your own values and do not seek to impose them upon program participants unless they are in agreement with the values of the program.

Pay attention to gender. If you run a co-ed group, know that studies show that girls tend to talk less if boys are present and that even well-intentioned teachers pay more attention to boys and give them more praise than girls.

Know the rates of teenage sexuality and parenting behaviors in the community and choose prevention strategies at the appropriate level. Deal realistically with the young people's needs.

Keep in mind the importance of youth culture in general. For almost all teens, the customs, music, slang, clothing and even ideas popular among their peers are very important. Fitting in with the peer group is often more important than pleasing parents, teachers or other adults.

Working with Young Latinos and Latinas

Be aware that in most Latino/Latina families, discussions of sex are taboo. Latino/Latina teens may never have had the opportunity to talk about sexuality-related matters in public before. Give them time to open up.

Be aware that a participatory learning format may be new to Latino/Latina teens and that they may be uncomfortable in the beginning with a format in which the leader is not assuming a position of authority.

If possible, use leaders who can speak "Spanglish," that is, who can switch back and forth between English and Spanish, even within the same sentence. Not all Latino/Latina teens speak Spanish fluently, nor do they all speak English fluently; many benefit from having a mix of the languages used.

Use program materials, including videos, that feature Latinos and Latinas.

Understand the difficulties faced by young Latinos and Latinas who are gay, lesbian or bisexual and offer support.

Working With Young African-Americans

Sadly, several studies have demonstrated that teachers tend to demand less from African-American youth, praise them less frequently, give them less time to answer, call on them less frequently and seat them farther away from the front of the room.³³ You should make every effort to check yourself for such behaviors.

Broaden the repertoire of program activities to include storytelling, music, role-playing, African-American literature, debate, group learning and games that build on cooperation.³⁴ Use program materials, including videos, that feature African-Americans.

Working With Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth

Recognize and accept that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth are part of all youth populations, very likely including your group, whether or not they are open about their identity to themselves, to you or to others.

Each gay, lesbian or bisexual person goes through a process of understanding and accepting their sexual orientation. There is no one path to this understanding, and having complete self-acceptance can take years.

There will likely be young people in the group who have gay or lesbian family members or friends. Leaders should strive to make the group environment as safe as possible for both groups of young people by following the guidelines below. All young people in the group will benefit from the leader's example of acceptance. The guidelines are:

• Use correct terminology when referring to a person attracted to the same gender—"lesbian or gay woman" for a female attracted to females and "gay" for a male attracted to males. "Homosexual" is an adjective referring to sexual behavior and should not be used as a noun to describe gay or lesbian people. This term limits the understanding of persons attracted to the same gender to their sexual behavior and has a clinical sound offensive to gay and lesbian people.
• Challenge abusive or derogatory terms such as "faggot" or "lezzie" by not tolerating such language. Establish a standard of conduct related to sexual orientation in the same way that racist or sexist terms are not acceptable in the group. Gay and lesbian teenagers report that one of the hardest things to experience is groups leaders or teachers not confronting slurs against gay and lesbian people.
• Use inclusive language like "partner" instead of "boyfriend" or "girlfriend." Do not make assumptions about the sexual orientation of anyone in the group. By using inclusive language you are signalling to gay, lesbian and bisexual teens that you might be a safe person to talk to.
• Provide accurate information about homosexuality: correct myths as they arise in group discussions; know community resources and have copies of pamphlets or other information which list them.³⁵