Emma's YDEV Blog!

TEN Words that Capture YIA! 1. Leadership 2. Communities 3. Opportunities 4. Social Change 5. Education 6. Workshops 7. Passion 8. Inspiring 9. Youth Action 10. Creative

Teenagers are often viewed, as either knows it all’s or inexperienced young people. As “adults we believe we know youth – we once were youth”.   Growing up my mom used to say, “I was once your age”, and I never put any thought into it up until recently. As I am growing up I notice that times are changing and the adult figures in our life often times don’t realize that, but maybe they should. Everything is changing around us and the generations are not the same from when it was 20+ years ago. In my opinion, I think adults have a hard time understanding that youths are young adults and they have a voice and they are able to speak their opinion. It is also important to note that factors that this social construct ignore is: gender, race, class, culture, and more. Adults often view youth as immature, or say they haven’t experienced life yet. In her study of elementary school playground culture Thorne argues that, "to learn from children, adults have to challenge the deep a...

K -  Youth programs are after school activities and they can provide help with homework or even daily exercise. These programs are designed for the youth to reach their potential while providing extra resources or even guidance in a youth's life.  L -  Deficit approach was focused programs designed to target and "fix" specific problem behaviors, such as teen pregnancy or drug abuse. Young peoples healthy development and learning depends on what they experiences in all the settings in their lives, home, school, and larger community.  Youth resiliency research (caring relationships, expectations, and opportunities)  Programs were starting to have a greater influence in young people's lives. M - I would like to know more about how the policy works in these after school programs. How do we keep academics in after school programs?