Putting Positive Youth Development Into Practice: A Resource Guide

Introduction

The signs of Positive Youth Development are everywhere. Across the country, more than 7 million youth are learning to lead through the 4-H. As many as 200,000 girls, ages 11 to 17, are serving their communities through the Girl Scouts. More than 40,000 young people have already worked to rehabilitate their own neighborhoods through YouthBuild. And that's just the beginning.

From organizing fundraisers to cleaning up parks, groups of young people in every city and town across the Nation are engaged in both organized and grassroots efforts to enrich their neighborhoods, their schools, and their futures. In many communities, youth have taken activism a step further by participating directly in policy decisions that impact their lives.

• In Kentucky, the Lexington mayor's office has created a youth council that meets bimonthly to weigh in on issues that affect youth.
  
  
• On the South Side of Chicago, youth are on a planning board that is studying how gentrification will influence the future of Bronzeville, one of the most historic African American communities in the country and the birthplace of such notables as Louie Armstrong and Tommy Dorsey.
  
  
• In Sarasota, Florida, youth involved in the S.T.A.R. Leadership Training program are voting members on 47 boards and commissions in city and county governments and in the nonprofit arena.

To help their young people thrive, communities are embracing the coalition-building approaches espoused by Helping America's Youth, a White House initiative, and America's Promise, a national alliance of groups and individuals working to improve young people's well-being. But much more still needs to be done to empower today's young people to make healthy choices and avoid risky behaviors. By embracing and implementing Positive Youth Development principles, families, schools, communities, youth service organizations, policymakers, and the media can help create a solid future for America's youth.

Positive Youth Development (PYD) is based on the belief that, given guidance and support from caring adults, all youth can grow up healthy and happy, making positive contributions to their families, schools, and communities. The approach favors leadership and skill-building opportunities, such as Boys and Girls Clubs and 4-H. Unlike "deficit-based" programs that focus narrowly on issues like drug abuse and teen pregnancy prevention, PYD does not address youth primarily as problems to be solved, but rather assets to be developed.

When community members and policymakers harness the positive energy and initiative of youth, rather than focusing on their problems, everybody benefits. Why?

• Youth believe they can be successful instead of internalizing the negative statistics (regarding alcohol and drug abuse, juvenile crime, teen pregnancy, and low test scores) about them that often appear in the media.
  
  
• Youth engage in productive activities that build job and life skills and reinforce community-mindedness.
  
  
• Youth grow comfortable questioning and exploring their roles as citizens in a participatory democracy.

Putting Positive Youth Development Into Practice was conceived to provide those interested in youth development with a solid understanding of the theory behind the PYD approach, as well as practical advice for launching and running programs that support the positive development of young people. Chapter One provides readers with the theoretical evolution of Positive Youth Development. Chapter Two discusses the characteristics of programs that promote PYD and gives examples of promising practices. Finally, Chapter Three highlights some ways youth, communities, and State and local governments can collaborate in their efforts to promote PYD.

>>Next>>

<<Back to Table of Contents <<