A Systematic Review of the Writing Perspectives and Voices of Youth

This systematic literature review examines how youth perspectives on writing have been represented in peer-reviewed research (i.e., scholarly articles evaluated by experts in the field before publication) between 2010 and early 2025. Focusing on youth (ages 14–18) in both school and out-of-school contexts, the review synthesizes 217 studies across qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods designs. Findings reveal that when youth voices are centered, youth use writing as a social, cultural, and affective practice through which they construct identity, express emotion, and engage in critical inquiry. While some studies incorporate youth interviews, reflections, or multimodal compositions to surface youth perspectives, most remain focused on discrete instructional practices or academic outcomes, often limiting attention to youths’ broader writing lives. Drawing on sociocultural and critical literacy frameworks, the review argues that research must move beyond school-centric models to account for how youths experience writing across digital, familial, and community contexts. This work contributes to calls for youth-centered literacy research and highlights the need for longitudinal studies that explore how youth sustain meaningful writing identities across contexts and over time.