YOUTH
Following the publication of FWI President and Co-Founder Ellen Galinsky’s 1999 book, Ask The Children: The Breakthrough Study That Reveals How to Succeed at Work and Parenting, FWI launched the Ask The Children® Series of studies, which investigate views of a nationally representative group of young people on the critical issues facing them as they grow up. This series of studies is unique in amplifying national representative groups of young people.

We believe it is time to include the views of youth. As reported in Ask the Children, what adults think that young people think and what young people actually think can be quite different. In addition, the solutions designed by adults to address the societal and economic issues concerning youth will be far more effective if youth can be heard. As one young person said, “If we are PART OF THE PROBLEM, then we need to be PART OF THE SOLUTION.”

Each of the projects in this series is developed in the same way. On the basis of information gleaned from literature reviews, panels of experts, and focus groups, we design a survey that is administered to a nationally representative group of young people. The findings have important relevance for all those who care about and work with children: parents, teachers, community groups, philanthropic organizations, business leaders, and policy makers in the public and private sectors, and the public at large.

Read descriptions of our current projects and most recent research in youth issues:

To find additional reports on youth issues, please visit the Research & Publications section and the Past Projects page of this Web site.

 

  • Ask the Children: Youth and Engagement and Learning
    Our review of the research and focus groups with young people in the sixth through twelfth grades around the country has led us to the conclusion that the focus on student achievement is leaving out an equally important and powerful issue: student engagement in learning.Work on this project continues.

  • Take Our Daughters And Sons to Work Day (held annually in April)
    In 2003, FWI designed activities for the Ms. Foundation for Women’s first Take Our Daughters And Sons to Work SM Day. The Foundation worked with FWI again in 2004 and 2005 to update these activities, and they are used regularly. The major goal for the activities is to encourage girls and boys to think about how their dreams for the future—both for their work and family lives—can be achieved. These activities grew out of Ask the Children: The Breakthrough Study That Reveals How to Succeed at Work and Parenting and Youth and Employment.

  • Ask the Children: Youth and Violence
    In partnership between The Colorado Trust and the Families and Work Institute, FWI published Youth & Violence: Students Speak Out for a More Civil Society based on a nationally representative sample of young people in the fifth through the 12th grades. This study probes the extent of extreme violence, physical violence and emotional violence in young peoples' lives today. It investigates the predictors of violence and also focuses on solutions. This is the first study that has directly asked young people for their own solutions for violence in all aspects of their lives.

  • Ask the Children: Youth and Employment
    Youth and Employment: What do Young People Expect From the World of Work? was funded by JPMorgan Chase and The Open Society Institute. It is based on a nationally representative sample of young people in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades. It examined: what are students' experiences with work?; what are students' expectations about work?; how do students learn about work and what can we learn from them?
  • 9/11 As History
    FWI and Bank One partnered to create 9/11 As History, an extensive educational resource that is Web based and free of charge to all educators across the nation). 9/11 As History provides curricula and tools that educators can use as they help children respond to traumatic events with resiliency and hope.