The Good, the Bad, and the #BestOfIslaVista: Community Data Gathering and Research by Our Youth Leadership Group

Abstract

In this article, we present our teen leadership group and projects. We describe our “I’m a Student, Too!” campaign and why it is important to raise awareness about Latino/a children and families that live in Isla Vista, California, which has the reputation of being a college town. We outline our group’s mandate to create a better, safer, and healthier place where youth and families can grow up. We then describe how we collected data on people’s opinions of Isla Vista over the past two years and how we shared this information at town halls, University of California Santa Barbara orientations, and community conferences to make positive changes in our community.