Role In Young People Research Articles

Youth engagement on health as a political issue

Abstract Background In France, young people do not participate in the development of health policy. The latter is built on a representation of the young person who, because of his age, cannot have an opinion and proposals for his health and improve that of others. However, different young people are involved in health actions and propose improvements for the health system and prevention. The communication concerns the ’Re’Pairs Santé’, young people who are committed with Unis-Cité, a national association, to developing health actions with other young people. Methods 20 ’Re’Pairs santé’ were interviewed in 3 French cities on their motivation for this engagement. Similarly, 80 young beneficiaries of their actions were met in focus groups to get their perception of Re’Pairs santé. Results The engagement of Re’Pairs santé is part of a dimension of solidarity, and on their experience as young people to change the way adults and public policies are represented. For other young people, if there is an improvement in their health knowledge, half of them are involved in other local associations and/or are involved in changing health within their own structure. Conclusions Health is not a minority issue both in the daily lives of young people and as a potential source of engagement. The Re’Pairs santé investment allows other young people to get involved in other structures. Thus, the social impact is not limited to the transmission of health information but promotes social cohesion and the development of social capital. The place and role of young people in the development of public health policies must be better valued and legitimized in order to better meet their expectations but also to destigmatize a population that has many resources. Key messages Fostering youth engagement on health. Youth should be considered as a resource for health policies.

Disposition-Content Congruency in Adolescents’ Alcohol-Related Social Media (Self-) Effects: The Role of the Five-Factor Model

Accumulating evidence indicates that social networking sites play an increasingly important role in young people's drinking behavior. The present study adds to this research by assessing the conditionality of the relationships between exposure to and self-sharing of alcohol-related content on social media and adolescents' drinking behavior. Specifically, the moderating role of the five-factor model of personality is determined. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 866 mid-adolescents (Msubsample = 14.85 years, SD = 0.71, 57.5% girls). Polynomial regression analysis with response surface modeling was used to test the interactions. Exposure, but not self-sharing, was directly associated with more alcohol consumption. However, it appeared that the act of sharing was more important than the frequency of sharing. Next, the relationship between exposure and consumption was not found to be moderated by personality. In contrast, there were significant linear and nonlinear interactions between self-sharing and all five personality traits. Individuals who are predisposed to engage in more alcohol consumption experience a stronger association between self-sharing and their drinking behavior. Social media can play a role in adolescents' drinking behavior, but this role is partially dependent on temperamental predispositions.

Between Two Worlds: Chinese Immigrant Children and the Production of Knowledge in the Era of Chinese Exclusion

Between Two Worlds: Chinese Immigrant Children and the Production of Knowledge in the Era of Chinese Exclusion

The impact of gender, socioeconomic status and locality on the development of student patterns of alcohol consumption and harm

Purpose The consequences of problematic alcohol consumption fall heavily on Australian adolescents, with this population at increased risk of death, serious injury and other harm. Research regarding whether gender, socioeconomic status (SES) or locality play a role in young people’s alcohol consumption and related harm is limited in Australia. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Victorian students’ patterns of alcohol uptake, consumption and related harm differed between gender, SES and locality. Design/methodology/approach The study involved secondary analysis of student data from the Drug Education in Victorian Schools harm minimisation drug education programme, undertaken in 21 Victorian government schools over three years The initial cohort of 1,752 students was followed during Years 8, 9 and 10, when their average age would have, respectively, been 13, 14 and 15 years. Findings There were no gender differences in drinking uptake, consumption or harm. Students with low SES were more likely to have consumed a full drink of alcohol and also experienced more alcohol-related harm. Students living in a regional/rural area were more likely to have engaged in high alcohol consumption. Originality/value The findings of this study highlighted that different student demographics have an impact on patterns of alcohol consumption, vulnerability and harm. Students with low SES, living in a regional/rural area, are more at risk than students with higher SES living in a fringe metro/major regional or metro area. Future school harm minimisation drug education programmes should consider the needs of students with demographics that make them more susceptible to higher consumption and harm.

Media, Allegiance and Civic Education

Philosophies of civilisation, nation, globalisation, and localisation manifest in educational structuring, school hidden curricula, and subject areas like social studies or citizenship education. Additionally, media play a vital role in young people’s development of their identities and civic allegiances, apart from what takes place in schools. Media may complement or contradict messages about human living together and one’s place in living together provided in educational contexts. Given media’s impact, within and outside educational spaces, it would be counterproductive to not examine this impact if one wants to understand how students learn to live together in society. Appreciating the role of media in developing civic ideas can help to enhance strategies of civic education. It can also help to identify skills related to literacy, information processing, and social networking that align with effective development of critical thinking capacities in civic education. This article first explores theoretically how people learn through and engage with media. Next, it considers ways in which media can impact civic identities. It explores how media is impacted by and reflects messages related to civilisation, nationalism, globalization and localism. The article then discusses common ways of responding to media in education. Here, critical media literacy education is examined and reflected upon. Broader educational implications of the exploration are discussed in the conclusion.

Generations in the Feminist and LGBT Movements in Italy: The Case ofNon Una Di Meno

The article analyses the participation of young people in emerging social movements, focusing on the experience of the Italian Non Una Di Meno (NUDM) movement combatting male violence against women. Challenging scholarly assumptions of growing youth apathy in democracies, the analysis reveals high levels of participation on the part of the younger population engaged in gender-related struggles. Hit by both conservative and austerity policies associated with the economic and political crisis, feminist and LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersexual) Millennials reacted by increasing their involvement in contentious politics. In the protest arena, they have crossed paths with older generations, activating processes of exchange, but also intergenerational tensions. Based on original qualitative data from ten semi-structured interviews with movement activists in Florence and Bologna, this piece of research sheds light on the role of young people in the birth and evolution of NUDM, and the relationship between different generations of activists within this movement. More specifically, it explains continuities and discontinuities between veterans and younger activists’ sources of theoretical inspirations, organizational models and mobilization resources, strategic priorities and action repertoires. Millennials embrace intersectional feminism and queer theory; opt for grassroots, horizontal organizing; adopt a conflictual attitude towards the state, and dialogical, introspective dynamics within the movement. Intergenerational disagreements especially relate to sex work, and surrogate motherhood.

When nurturing is conditional: how NEET practitioners position the support they give to young people who are not in education, employment or training

ABSTRACT This paper explores the perceptions of professionals working with young people who are NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) about their role in young people’s trajectories. The issue of professionally and educationally inactive young people is a growing concern in Western economies and has been at the forefront of government agendas for the last 30 years. However, policies designed to re-engage young people position them as lacking in qualities sought by employers. Meanwhile, the educational provision dedicated to NEETs is often described as providing low-value qualifications, and practitioners who work with NEETs are considered to have a lower status than other teaching professionals. A mixed-methods study was conducted including six semi-structured interviews and an online survey completed by 25 professionals working with NEETs. The findings highlight that professionals working with NEETs are positioned in a contradictory role. On the one hand, they are tasked with delivering courses based on educational policies that place the responsibility for employment within the individual. On the other hand, they perceive NEET young people’s circumstances as the result of structural inequalities. Practitioners seem to reconcile these contradictions by construing their own role as the provision of a safe space in which young people can develop.

The role of parents in the professional choice of young people

The article deals with the analysis of parents’ role in young people’s professional choice. The main aspects of this impact, traditionally considered in literature on these kinds of problems, have been mentioned in this article. A typology of interaction between parents and children in the process of professional choice has been given, based on this analysis. Moreover, the factors, which influenced the change of parents’ role in the professional choice of modern youth, have been considered in this article. These factors have led, on the one hand, to the increase of young people’s independence in choosing professions, which are quite new on the modern labour market and parents do not always know these professions. In addition, on the other hand, these factors have led to the decrease of the same independence, caused by the increase in the number of those who study on the contract basis, which is financially supported by parents. Based on this analysis, contradictions in interaction between parents and children in the process of professional choice have been found.

Youth Engagement in the Community: The ethics of inclusion and exclusion

This study focuses on the engagement of children and youth in their communities and the ways they are included in and excluded from community life. Using a content analysis of a small town United States newspaper over a one-year period, examples of engagement were identified and classified into 12 categories: programs, clubs and special events; fundraising and community service; business and community support; participation in community events; school events; athletic and other performances; employment; involvement in local planning and decision making; serving as a community representative; visibility and recognition; criminal activity and accidents; and use of public space. Examples of community exclusion were identified as well. Young people were engaged primarily through activities that were adult-directed or supervised, or organized through schools, churches, and youth clubs. There was little involvement in local planning, decision making, or activism. Some evidence existed of peer teaching, leadership, and self-initiated activities, as well as intentional efforts by adults to give youth a greater voice in community activities. Implications include several ethical issues regarding the role of young people in community life, particularly young children, and the need for greater awareness on the part of communities of the contributions young people can make.

Unsettling Food Security: The Role of Young People in Indigenous Food System Revitalisation

Official assessments of Canadian food security, which greatly inform policy and perception, paint an insufficient picture of the ways many Indigenous peoples, and in particular Indigenous children who are most impacted by food insecurity, actually experience and understand the problem. This article begins with a discussion of how these metrics neglect the vital connection between access to Indigenous food systems and Indigenous food security. To address the serious food insecurity experienced by Indigenous peoples, this connection must be acknowledged, and revitalisation of these food systems, which are damaged by settler‐colonial practices, must become a focus of the discourse and action. Indigenous elders believe children will be pivotal in revitalisation. In this spirit, this article traces experiential learning projects on revitalisation, in which young people unsettle the settler discourse of food security and take action in small but important ways.

Challenging the Status Quo ... Co-designing the future of child and youth mental health services with young people

Introduction : The commitment to partnering with consumers and carers remains a stable priority for mental health services. This is evidenced by an emerging lived experience workforce. Research demonstrates that when people share their lived experience they can have a positive impact on the recovery journeys of others. Less clear is the role of young people in peer support roles, especially within child and youth mental health settings. There is no known dedicated child and youth mental health peer workforce operating within Queensland public mental health services. This paper will challenge the status quo and pose the question “why not”. Furthermore, this paper will examine how a large child and youth mental health service has developed and sustained a model of meaningful consumer and carer participation for more than ten years. It will analyse the key success factors such as organisation readiness, mutuality and co-design practice. This paper will explore the trajectory of consumer and carer participation to the current work occurring to implement a dedicated youth mental health peer workforce. Practice Change Implemented : The experiences of consumers, carers, clinicians and managers over the past decade have driven many practice changes, including defining and refining meaningful consumer and carer particiaption and engagement, governance mechanisms, as well as policies and procedures. The paper will share the lived experience of a young person (co-author) who has transitioned from service user to valued mental health worker and will explore the key ingredients that have led to the organisational readiness to co-design, develop, implement and evaluate an innovative youth peer support worker model, using a participatory action research approach. Aims : The paper aims to showcase integrated practice and present the voice of lived experience, to shift perceptions about the value of consumers and carers working in partnership with health professionals and improve integrated mental health services for young people and families. Highlights : The paper will showcase lessons learned and common threads gleaned from young people, parents and carers as well as from clinicians and managers including: Value your experiences Listen to young people and what they want Do not reinvent the wheel - learn from others Perseverance is the key ingredient to change, closely followed by commitment and action Co-designing services for young people with young people is hugely rewarding and improves service delivery and consumer outcomes and experiences Furthermore, it will identify the success factors and limitations and barriers to working alongside young people and present the collaborative partnership between Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service and Health Consumers Queensland as we embark on co-designing the youth peer support workforce with young people. Discussion and conclusions : Creating a valued youth peer workforce is more than merely transplanting a model into an organisation, you need to nurture and build the machinery that supports meaningful integration of the lived experience. It is believed that CYMHS has created this foundation and the establishment of a youth peer workforce is a much-desired outcome of years of preparatory work.

The Myth of the Youth Revolution: The Role of Young People in the 2011 Arab Uprisings

The story of the ‘Arab Spring’ as a revolt of young people against autocratic rule and to bring democracy to their countries is not a good fit to the available data. Younger people were indeed over-represented in comparison to the age distribution of the population as a whole, but some of those ‘identified’ as young were in fact well into middle age, in no country were a majority of the protestors younger than 35, and the introduction of procedural democracy was not the only or even the main aim of the Uprisings. There is little evidence for the ‘rising tide’ in MENA which has been expected to sweep away autocratic rule in favour of democratisation as successive younger generations became individualised, liberalised and secularised. There is partial evidence for secularisation but little for the radical change in liberal values and the growth of rights-based politics. (For the latter we take attitudes to gender equality and gendered norms as our case study.) The neoliberal ‘structural adjustment’ which MENA countries have been urged to adopt has failed to provide a basis for such a normative change, failing either to generate the jobs which would have turned the ‘youth bulge’ into an economic ‘youth dividend’ or to establish an independent middle class within which liberalisation of norms and values leads to the demand for democracy.

Civic and Political Engagement in Youth

Abstract. This paper reviews the research that has been conducted into youth civic and political engagement since 2010. We begin by noting the claim that youth are not sufficiently engaged either civically or politically. We argue that this claim is probably incorrect: rather than using conventional forms of political participation, youth today are often engaged through nonconventional and civic means instead. We also indicate at the outset some important cautions about the interpretation of research findings in this field, in particular the need to consider the kinds of political issues with which youth are involved, the moments in time at which they are involved, and the societal contexts in which their involvement occurs. We argue that these specificities mean that it might be difficult or even impossible to construct a unified model or comprehensive understanding of youth civic and political engagement. The review then considers recent research findings on the role of micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors in influencing youth engagement. Micro-level factors include political interest, efficacy, ideologies, values, and identity; meso-level factors include the family, school, peers, and the neighborhood; while macro-level factors include political-cultural, economic, legal, and institutional factors. We also review recent findings on the role of young people’s demographic positioning, the effects that social media might be playing in transforming youth engagement, and how political parties can actively mobilize youth. We conclude that young people are far from being apathetic and uninterested in politics, but that they need to find ways to be involved that are meaningful to them. We also indicate some possible future lines of research that could be profitably pursued.

Anthropology, participation, and the democratization of knowledge: participatory research using video with youth living in extreme poverty

This article aims to open up a debate on methodological aspects of ethnographic research, arguing for the legitimacy of the information produced in a research taller or workshop using a participatory methodology and video production as a methodological tool. Based on the theoretical foundations and analysis of a taller experience with the participation of youth from a neighborhood of extreme poverty in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we argue that this approach is a pedagogical intervention that contributes to the democratization of knowledge and visibility – in this case – of the social role of young people.

Innovation and outdoor education

Within our fast-paced, fluid society, it is arguable that outdoor education needs to be innovative to play a useful role in young people’s overall educational enterprise. A critical view, however, would suggest that we must beware of accepting technological innovation for its own sake. Innovations (or improvements) in education can take the form of ideas, methods, and products. This paper discusses how outdoor educators need to recognise how some innovations may add unwanted layers of clutter that reduce direct interaction with geophysical, ecological, and sociocultural elements of the landscape, whilst lessening the quality and quantity of interaction between humans — whether with classmates or community members. It may be possible to assess the degree to which an innovative piece of equipment or educational practice is “good” by considering its ability to elicit meaningful engagement between the learner and the ideas, physical objects, and other human beings encountered.

Youth, activism, and social movements

AbstractThere has been considerable debate over the extent and role of young people's political participation. Whether considering popular hand‐wringing over concerns about declines in young people's institutional political participation or dismissals of young people's use of online activism, many frame youth engagement through a “youth deficit” model that assumes that adults need to politically socialize young people. However, others argue that young people are politically active and actively involved in their own political socialization, which is evident when examining youth participation in protest, participatory politics, and other forms of noninstitutionalized political participation. Moreover, social movement scholars have long documented the importance of youth to major social movements. In this article, we bring far flung literatures about youth activism together to review work on campus activism; young people's political socialization, their involvement in social movement organizations, their choice of tactics; and the context in which youth activism takes place. This context includes the growth of movement societies, the rise of fan activism, and pervasive Internet use. We argue that social movement scholars have already created important concepts (e.g., biographical availability) and questions (e.g., biographical consequences of activism) from studying young people and urge additional future research.

Undercover placemakers: transforming the roles of young people in planning

A young person's identity as a product of their relationship with place has been the subject of research across many disciplines. In the field of urban planning, engagement with the community and young people, in particular, is acknowledged as being desirable, but in reality their contribution remains largely undervalued or undiscovered. Drawing on Lefebvre's production of space this paper explores how young people's perception of the places in which they live is shaped by a combination of their day-to-day experiences, their memories and their aspirations. The outputs of a research project at Newcastle University show how young people readily comprehend their local environments and how they nurture strong visions for the future of these places. The paper suggests that despite this wealth of place knowledge among young people and their capacity for envisioning the future, there are few opportunities for them to share this expertise or to voice their opinion on the future of those places. Through the development and use of suitable youth engagement methods, facilitated by urban planning students, the ‘YES Planning’ project has demonstrated how young people might begin to use their previously hidden placemaking capabilities.

Zika virus disease outbreak in Brazil: Existing challenges and role of young people in containing the infection

Zika virus disease outbreak in Brazil: Existing challenges and role of young people in containing the infection

Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior: The Role of Religiosity among Poor Brazilian Youth

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of religiosity and religious affiliation on sexual risk among young people living in poor social conditions in Brazil. In addition, we investigate if the religiosity plays a protective role in young people’s sexual life, with specific regard to delay of first intercourse, condom use and contraception. This is a cross-sectional study with 7572 participants, 14-14 years old, from seven states of Brazil, who answered a self-administered questionnaire with 109 questions in the school environment. We found an association between religiosity and lower odds of sexual debut. The group that have had already initiated sexual intercourse was not different on the sexual risk behavior. Young people of low socioeconomic status in Brazil have the sexual behavior slightly influenced by religious norms.

The Relationship Between Religion and Risky Behaviors Among Iranian University Students.

One factor that protects an individual from risky behavior is religiosity, which is referred to as a shield against risky behaviors. Belief in God and religion plays an important role in young people's lives, and in comparison with their non-religious peers. They engage less frequently in risky behaviors, such as violence and sexual relations. The present study investigated the relationship between religiosity and engagement in risky behaviors among students from the Pishva branch of the Islamic Azad University, Tehran Province in Iran. This is a descriptive, analytic cross-sectional study. The sample was comprised of 448 students from different degree majors attending the University. Participants completed two questionnaires, including the Risk-Taking Scale and Duke University Religion Index. The data analyses used one-way ANOVAs and Pearson's correlations. This study found that students who engaged more often in organized religious activities and had higher intrinsic religiosity were less likely to engage in risky behaviors such as sexual risk taking, careless driving, violence, smoking, along with alcohol and drug abuse. Participants with higher involvement in private religious activities reported lower tendencies for the above-mentioned risky behaviors, except sexual risk taking. The findings of this study indicate that the different dimensions of religiousness are related to students' tendency to avoid risky behavior. Thus, it appears that religion may have a role to play in preventing risky taking behavior in Iran.