Ten students in the Utica Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection (HWSC) program were among 140 middle and high schoolers who participated in the inaugural Oneida County Youth Summit, held on June 5 in downtown Utica.
Focusing on mental health, well-being and community support, the Youth Summit provided a platform for students to openly discuss the challenges they face among peers, parents, school environments and the community. Facilitated discussions culminated in report-outs in which the students were encouraged to offer frank insights about the positive experiences and stressors they experience as 21st-century teens. Health professionals and mental health staff were on-site to assist as needed.
Yandel Clausell, a senior at Thomas R. Proctor High School, was one of the 10 HWSC student attendees. “Being a teenager can be really hard,” he said to the crowd. “You worry more and more about what you’ll do in the future … it puts a lot of pressure on you.”
Other observations during the Summit included the pros and cons of social media, especially given the rising influence of artificial intelligence; the pressures of homework and the expectations of parents and teachers; and concerns related to school and community safety and violence.
“Sometimes I don’t know what to say, but I tried my best and said what was on my mind,” Clausell said after the Summit. Events like this, he said, “can be helpful in making people aware of what’s going on – not just here at Proctor, but in all the schools.”
Anthony Picente, Oneida County Executive, welcomed the students and chaperones and thanked them for attending. “Giving our young people a voice in the things that are impacting them [is] of the utmost importance to me, and this is only the beginning,” Picente said in a statement following the event. “We will take what we learned today and apply it to improving our community and ensuring a better future for all who live here.”
Picente also announced the launching of an Oneida County Youth Cabinet that will “continue to give our teenagers the voice and ownership they deserve.”
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