Age Range

Q: What is the age range for YRUUP events and why?

A: The current age range for YRUUP events is 14-20 inclusive, with adult advisers being at least 25. Having youth over 18 allows the older youth to serve as peer-mentors, as well as have time to gain the leadership skills and institutional knowledge necessary for larger leadership roles. Further, extending the age range allows youth ages 18-20 to transition out of the community at their own pace. Especially since the Pacific Central District lacks district-sponsored young adult programming, it is important that the transition out of YRUUP is a bridge, not a cliff.

Q: Will my 14 or 15 year old be comfortable in a program designed to include 20 year olds?

A: Absolutely. To clarify, YRUUP is designed for high school-aged youth. Many of our 18, 19, and 20 year olds that stick around are in leadership positions and spend the majority of their time working conferences, such as deaning, chaplaining, GoFering, or cooking. Further, our older youth tend to become mentors and role models to their younger peers, providing an invaluable peer mentorship experience for your younger youth that our attendees have highly benefited from.

Q: What percentage of youth attendees are over the age of 18?

A: While it fluctuates, there are relatively few attendees over the age of 18 or out of high school; at most, 10-15%. The vast majority of our youth currently are in the 14-16 age range.

Q: What do YRUUP youth and conferences gain from the presence of 19 and 20 year olds?

A: The most beneficial part of having 19 and 20 year olds is the presence of role models. While our adult advisers serve as wonderful mentors, having a peer-mentorship relationship with someone similar in age has had extremely positive impacts on our younger youth. Also, many of our 19 and 20 year olds have been in leadership for many years, and therefore have invaluable institutional problem-solving knowledge and are able to take on larger leadership roles that the younger youth are not necessarily prepared for.

Q: Are adult-aged youth treated the same as the younger youth?

A: Youth ages 18 years and older must sign an additional covenant acknowledging that their age means they are held to more severe legal restrictions and expectations, and that they are aware of power imbalances due to their age.

Q: Will the older youth manipulate my high schooler, sexually or otherwise?

A: No. Our older youth are aware of the higher behavioral standards and expectations they are held to. We take these expectations very seriously, and monitor all of our youth for potentially inappropriate actions. Further, most of our youth who continue attending conferences past high school are in leadership roles, and are therefore held to the highest possible expectations. Overall, we trust all of our youth to be responsible, and know what is appropriate and what is not.

Q: Have you considered a high school only age range?

A: Absolutely. Council has never outright said “no way, never” to the possibility of having a smaller age range. However, after exploring the possibility in depth, Council decided that the benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks. For one, conferences would lose the invaluable peer-mentorship and leadership capabilities that older youth possess. Younger youth would be forced into leadership before they are ready in order to fill positions, particularly the few Council positions that require two-year dedication. Also, transitioning out of YRUUP would go from being a bridge to a cliff, and give the feeling that the youth is being “kicked out” of their community vs. leaving room for them to leave at their own time. Thirdly, in terms of concern over the possibility of a lawsuit, we have spoken to multiple lawyers and concluded that the organization is not in danger of legal trouble with the current age range due to the complexity of state and federal law, and a high school age range would not make a difference in this matter. Our insurance is also aware of our age range and fine with it. Lastly, the idea of a “high school age range” is ambiguous in itself. Does that mean high school, or 14-18? What if a 13 year old is in high school, or a 19 year old, either of which could easily happen. What about those who graduate early? There are simply too many unaddressed variables to consider shrinking the age range right now.