From Silent to Engaged: A New Model of Participation for Young Adults

Silence Is Often Survival, Not Defiance

Australia has young people sitting in classrooms, training rooms, programs and community spaces who are physically present but emotionally absent. They are labelled “unengaged”, “disruptive”, or “unmotivated”, when in reality many are navigating complex histories — disadvantage, trauma, unstable home environments, intergenerational hardship, or systems that failed to support them early on. Silence, withdrawal, shutdown or bravado is not defiance. It is protection. When young people haven’t been given fairness, safety, dignity or voice, they don’t automatically know how to participate. They learn to defend, not express.

Systems Shape Behaviour, Not Just Personal Choice

Initiatives like BackTrack Boys, and networks such as the Social Developers’ Network (SDN/NED), have repeatedly demonstrated a truth that youth workers know well: behaviour is shaped by conditions. When a young person has never been shown trust, they don’t default to openness. When they’ve never felt safe, they don’t default to vulnerability. When life has taught them that authority harms, they don’t default to respect. Participation is not a skill issue — it is a system issue.

Belonging Before Behaviour

Restorative justice, trauma-aware practice and modern youth development all share a principle KINGO stands behind: connection before correction. Young people will not engage with a system until they feel seen within it. They will not contribute to a group until they feel they belong to it. They will not reflect on their identity until they believe they are more than the worst thing that has happened to them — or the worst thing they’ve done. Belonging is the doorway. Participation is what happens after that doorway is open.

Participation as Identity Repair

When young people find their voice, they begin to find themselves. Participation is not just engagement — it is identity work. Speaking, listening, negotiating, reflecting, and being taken seriously tells a young person: You matter. You belong here. Your future is not fixed. This is why play-based learning, shared experiences and collaborative dialogue work — they rebuild agency without shame and rebuild identity without force.

Structure Creates Safety — and Safety Creates Voice

For many young adults, unpredictability has been normal. So structure — predictable routines, clear expectations, guided participation, respectful communication — becomes the foundation of safety. Safety makes voice possible. Voice makes transformation possible.

Principles to Remember

• Behaviour is a story, not a verdict — seek the conditions beneath it

• Belonging is the gateway to participation — safety before sound

• Voice builds identity — contribution creates capability

• Environments must heal what environments have harmed

• Participation is learned through experience, not instruction

A Human Reminder

There is nothing “wrong” with a young person who is silent, angry, shut down or disengaged. There is only context. KINGO exists to help create environments — in classrooms, TAFEs and community programs — where belonging is built, dignity is restored and young adults can practise the skills of voice, agency and participation. Because when a young person feels safe enough to speak, they begin to believe again in who they can become.