Youth Programs at the Temple of Understanding
Exploring and Building Community...

The Temple of Understandings Youth Programs empower, educate and provide youth from different religious and ethnic backgrounds first-hand experiences with peers from a variety of faiths and traditions, to build leadership and critical thinking skills, to help create strong bonds of friendship and to support ongoing learning opportunities among young people.

It has been demonstrated through the Temple of Understandings work with young people that the use of experiential and participatory learning supports long-term behavior change and can transform perspectives. That is why all ToU youth programs, trainings and activities have been created as hands-on, interactive, cooperative learning environments, in which youth participants are responsible for working


 
 
 

collabortively with their peers, independent of direction from adults. In addition, participating youth use their peers as resources to explore opinions and ideas from various perspectives in a forum that encourages open interfaith debate and discussion. The goal of TOU Youth Programs is to build community, foster values of respect and understanding, and nurture young leaders for a new culture of peace and justice.

Current Programs: Interfaith, Dialogue, Education and Action (IDEA):

IDEA was created in response to student evaluations over a six year period from the former ToU’s program Dialogue in Action (DIA). Using student feedback ToU re-designed the DIA program to have a stronger local community focus and connection, while maintaining the successful teen dialogues and interfaith education components of DIA.

Like Dialogue in Action, IDEA differs from traditional faith based educational programs by allowing youth to explore their own faith traditions while at the same time learning about and exploring the religious traditions of their peers. The IDEA program now focuses more on the development of leadership skills, individual responsibility and creativity to bring youth created community projects to fruition.

The Temple of Understanding in partnership with Interfaith Action Inc. from Sharon, Massachusetts,
Building Bridges of Staten Island and a small group of college age mentors (formerly the ToU Youth Council) work to support the goals of IDEA by forming a bond between organizations who believe that as communities and countries become more globally interdependent, it is important that young people be provided with opportunities to learn more about the worlds faiths, cultures, traditions and people, and their relationship to them.

Currently the IDEA Program is focusing on the community of Staten Island, New York. The season began on October 18, 2009 at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center of Staten Island with a large and enthusiastic group of youth from the community of Staten Island and has continued to meet twice a month in Staten Island at various religious and educational sites.

Throughout the IDEA program participating youth develop community action project plans, which will be implemented throughout the 2010 year. In 2011 ToU will continue the IDEA program on Staten Island but will also expand the program to reach an even larger percentage of Staten Island Youth with a goal of expanding even further to include more local communities in the New York City Tri-State area.

In addition, participating youth use their peers as resources to explore opinions and ideas from various perspectives in a forum that encourages open interfaith debate and discussion. The goal of TOU Youth Programs is to build community, foster values of respect and understanding, and nurture young leaders for a new culture of peace and justice.

  

Season for Non-Violence:

The Gandhi, King, Chavez Season for Non-Violence at the United Nations (SNV)

As part of an international 64-day educational, media and grassroots campaign, the SNV brings together more than 700 junior high and high school students from the tri-state area to learn more about nonviolence and how they can make their local and global communities more peaceful.
The Season is also designed to teach the power of nonviolence as a tool to transform our lives and our communities. The program is an important annual event that promotes the UN, invites youth participation and offers inspiration for new projects to promote nonviolence.

Past Youth Programming: 2003 – 2008

Dialogue in Action:

Dialogue In Action provides diverse groups of students ages 15-21 with an opportunity for direct engagement with the practices, beliefs and histories of six local religious communities — Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, and Sikh.

The program is conducted in two separate or consecutive sessions with the first running from September thru December, and the second from February thru June. In addition to the community visits, Dialogue in Action meets for separate dialogues sessions in which participants reflect on these experiences, interact with each other, and discuss the implications these encounters may have for their own identities and their roles in local and wider communities.

ToU Youth Council:

The TOU Youth Council, a dynamic group of young leaders and activists, connects experiences with interfaith encounters to work for constructive social change. Members receive training to develop skills in community organizing, nonviolence, and conflict management and meet regularly to organize events and projects.

The Annual Youth Nonviolence Conference held in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the conference is organized by and for youth and features speakers, films, panels, workshops, and performances on topics related to peace, coexistence, diversity, and interfaith understanding.

Community Action:

The Youth Council members research, develop, organize, and implement community action projects with the support of adult facilitators and partnering organizations. Participants gain practical experience in problem-solving and democratic participation while developing a sense of personal and civic responsibility.

Contact: For more information including requirements for participating in a TOU Youth Program or inviting students to speak at schools, workshops or conferences, please contact the TOU office at
212-573-9224 ext.23 or email: