Authored by activist, speaker, and educator Keith Strickland with Lucas L. Johnson, Youth Change Agent delves into the pressing issues that plague today’s youth, from drug abuse and gun violence to risky sexual behavior and destructive materialism.
In addition to presenting tips and techniques for productive conversations with young individuals, the book tackles crucial topics of trust-building and risk assessment. Strickland and Johnson emphasize the importance of creating a nonjudgmental environment that fosters open communication and encourages young individuals to explore their potential without fear of criticism or disapproval.
Drawing upon Strickland and Johnson’s vast experience working with schools, courts, law enforcement agencies, and correctional facilities across multiple US states, this book provides invaluable guidance. Whether you are a mentor, therapist, social worker, or concerned parent, this indispensable resource will allow you to make a positive difference in the lives of our next generation.
Three Reasons Strickland Wrote “Youth Change Agent”:
1. I was in a bad car accident and almost passed. If I died that day, all the lessons I’ve learned would have died with me. 15 years of building programs for our youth in thousands of schools, juvenile courts, and in communities across the country. 15 years of consulting the Department of Justice and Presidential Administrations, legislators, judges and district attorneys, and countless other government agencies. 15 years of partnering with organizations and the largest companies in the world to create opportunities and resources for disadvantaged communities. Plus, 15 years of being a youth who was trapped in the streets surrounded by crime and poverty, selling illegal drugs, being in and out of jail, fighting for my freedom in courts, and struggling to find my way or just survive until I became Dr. Strickland, the CEO of a national behavioral education company. All the experiences and wisdom I gained, that can and should be used to lift our youth would have been gone.
2. Organizations and agencies around the world working with youth struggle to utilize volunteers. People who sincerely care and want to help us save youth come into our doors, willing to do the work, but we do not have the bandwidth to prepare them. Training volunteers to build meaningful connections then create positive change is a very stressful on agencies, especially grassroots agencies because of our limited resources. We are forced to stop working with our participants who need us, to invest time and resources into volunteers, with the hopes that they will join our army and help us change more lives. I wrote Youth Change Agents to be a training tool for agencies across the country. Now agencies can use Youth Change Agents to prepare millions of volunteers, reducing the time and resources it takes to pair a well-prepared volunteer with a young person that needs them.
3. There are countless people who ride through their neighborhood every single day and see youth in the streets who are lost or they may have youth in their own families they wish they could reach. They are willing to help, they just don’t know how to. Now they can learn, and when there are no organization or resources, they can be the solution! They can read Youth Change Agents, learn how to not only understand what is hindering the youth in front of them, they can take them through the process of making the transition from lost and high risks to becoming thriving leaders!
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