youth development
Youth Development Leadership
Non-governmental organizations usually take the lead provide youth development leadership. They seek to empower youth as they face the different issues in their lives and in the society. The world around us is changing in exponential ways. The issues that young people face nowadays are different from what they the youth of the 1970s or 1980s faced. Technology, communication and other issues have taken center stage. The youth are sometimes at a loss how to respond and deal with all these changes raging all throughout the world.
Leadership is needed in this area of social development. The youth holds the future of any society. They will soon serve as leaders in various capacities and in different sectors. Some of them will go to government. A lot of them will become business leaders. Still, a significant number will remain as followers, ordinary workers. There are also those who will succumb to various temptations and will not be able to rise up from whatever humble beginnings they have.
How then do you empower youth for development and leadership?
Believe in them. Most of the time, young people need to feel valued. They are special and somebody needs to let them know that they have the power and the capacity to change their lives and the world. Without such belief and affirmation, they may readily succumb to the challenges they see around them-drug and alcohol abuse, risky lifestyle, and other destructive behavior. When they do, they are not only destroying their lives but they are destroying the future of the society. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: kids and teens development, youth developmentRelated posts
Building Strong Relationships With Youth
The Most Important Thing
No matter what your youth program is doing, how you’re engaging youth or what your youth development model and plan are, there is one thing that will make or break your program. If you want to make a difference in the lives of youth, it all starts from the foundation of a strong friendship. This is key. Youth don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Youth don’t care about your qualifications, how snazzy your dressing is, how knowledgeable you are about the issues they’re facing, how funny your jokes are, how interesting your third nipple is (well maybe). The fact is, even if you think you’re the most uncool, lame, boring youth worker, if you have a heart for youth and genuinely care for them, that’s going to outshine everything else you’re doing in your program. Remember that youth are people and if you really want to impact them, you have to focus on people above programs. Don’t ever forget: youth don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Starting your youth program from that foundation will revolutionize the way you think, the way you talk to and the way you work with youth.
More is Caught than Taught Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: kids and teens development, youth developmentRelated posts
Love For Youth – Spending Time With Youth
Love = Time
Sometimes we as youth leaders in our quest to “Save the World’s Youth” may think that having fun and hanging out with youth may seem like a waste of time in the light of all the issues our youth have are dealing with: teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, smoking, poor academic performance, and the like. We forget that unless we spend time with youth, we will never get to really deal with the core issues at stake. We may not understand what our youth might be going through at home or in school. Life is tough nowadays. He or she might be experiencing a tense home situation or a stressful time with studies. It is important to remember that fun, despite the connotation, is not trivial–for youth, having fun and sharing it with an adult carry great weight and a meaning. It is more than a recreational outlet, a chance to “blow off steam,” or an opportunity to play. Spending time having fun and hanging out is the best and simplest way to express your love and concern for them. And if you don’t spend time with your youth, it won’t matter how many times you tell them you care, they’re not going to believe it–youth spell L-O-V-E as T-I-M-E.
Trust Takes Time
They need to feel that they trust you and feel safe around you and building that kind of trust takes time. One youth leader says it best, “To get kids to where they know that you really care and can be trusted, you just have to spend time with them and do things that they like to do.” For the analytical among us, studies have shown that youth experience a growing sense of self-worth when an adult not only pays persistent, positive attention to them, but also willingly joins them in activities the youth describe as fun (parents among us, time to take notes). As your youth come to see you as a friend, he or she is likely to be far more receptive to spending Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: kids and teens development, youth development