Fools, Criminals, Consumers, Service Recipients, or Leaders: How Do County and Municipal Comprehensive Plans Portray Youth?

Applying an anti-adultist theoretical framework, this paper utilizes content analysis to assess youth representation within Maryland county and municipal comprehensive plans. All county plans reference youth, but over a quarter of municipal plans omit any reference to adolescents. Nearly half of the plans (45.80%; n = 60) reproduce adultist views of young people, while a small fraction (7.63%; n = 10) incorporate anti-adultist perspectives. Most plans (73.28%; n = 96) acknowledge the need for distinct youth services. However, nominal recognition of youth without meaningful youth empowerment falls short of anti-adultist praxis. Planning scholars and practitioners must grapple with adultist bias to foster youth inclusion and recognize youth as valuable community members with needs and preferences that are distinct from other age groups.