Youth participation in the Scholl Health Program in Brazil: a reflection on the role of the Federal government

Abstract

This article reflects on youth participation in the PSE, through the conceptual and operational analysis of the idea of participation in its technical and normative frameworks. It also questions whether the PSE maintains, reduces, or improves youth participation, when comparing it to the Health and Prevention in Schools Project, a precursor of the program. The school, a place that contributes to the formation of the individual, according to guidelines established by law, must promote these spaces for participation, strengthening students in a perspective of recognition of the importance of involving this public in discussions of healthy lifestyles, considering that the PSE works from the perspective of Health Promotion. From the qualitative discussion, carried out through documental and bibliographic analysis, as well as the literature review, it was identified that youth participation was one of the pillars of the SPE, a project whose actions were incorporated into the PSE, but which lost strength by not being promoted within the scope of the Program’s legal instruments. The qualification of dialogue among all members of the school community, including one of the Program’s largest target audiences, the youth, strengthens the recognition of the territory as a central actor in the implementation of social policies.