This book presents a theoretical rationale for youth involvement in community service. Its thesis is that youth participation in solving social problems has the potential to promote the development of personal and collective identity. Through community service, youth can acquire a sense that they can make a difference and a concern for society's…

Offers four themes in the scaffolding of a critical education that advance grassroots activism in learning communities of praxis (scale, ownership, connection, and enterprise). Presents an example of a youth development project that affirms democracy via shared decision making, group motivation, self-esteem, and agenda setting opportunities…

Rather than viewing youth as an isolated and alienated subculture, it is more useful to view the needs of youth as largely determined by where and how they live, and to recognize that they differ from one another just as adults do. Professionals and volunteers in community youth programs need to understand how the youth they work with experience…

Children of prison inmates are the hidden victims of their parents' crimes. Like children of divorced or deceased parents, they often show signs of distress caused by the lack of a stable home life and parental separation. Many times they follow their parents' criminal behavior patterns. To keep mothers and daughters connected and to enhance…

This report focuses on the organization of guidance provision through a Personal Guidance Base for low achievers aged 16 to 18. An introduction outlines the background to the concept of a local Personal Guidance Base to which young people can turn as they move from school to adult and working life, and identifies its main elements. Opportunities…

A description is provided of Cuyahoga Community College's (CCC's) Jesse Owens Youth Development Program, a comprehensive year-round combination of courses, programs, and activities for inner city young people between the ages of 11 and 21. Following introductory comments on the program, the beginnings of CCC's youth development program are…

These 21 articles about the current status of school volunteer programs were originally packaged as background reading for participants in the National School Volunteer Program's November 1978 conference on the role of volunteers in meeting critical national needs. The material, including excerpts from speeches given at the program's February 1978…

THIS REPORT DESCRIBES A PROJECT WHICH IDENTIFIED COMMUNITY PROBLEMS IN TENNESSEE BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA. ACTION RESEARCH WAS DIRECTED TOWARD (1) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENTAL OFFICIALS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STAFF MEMBERS, (2) THE IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER COMMUNITY RESOURCES CAPABLE OF…

This book provides descriptions of youth involvement projects that have made significant contributions to young people, their schools, and their communities. Each description is intended to provide information for starting and operating similar youth projects. They explain how a particular project began, mention the important problems encountered,…

"Vocational Education in Texas High Schools: An Ethnic Comparison", was initiated in March 1973 and continued through the summer of 1974 when all project reports were completed; this is a summary and conclusion of the entire study. Among the major goals were to: document and describe the experiences and aspirations of a large sample of…

Using the yardsticks of independence and equality, an analysis of the literature on youth from a citizenship perspective can track youth's citizenship status and capacity to become full citizens. For young people, education is an avenue to either exclusion or independence and equality. For example, dropouts are more likely to live in poverty, and…

This document offers eight case studies - and a number of short profiles - documenting efforts in the United States and around the world, all connecting the dots between youth action and meaningful community change. The publication begins with reflections on why it is often so hard, especially in the United States, for young people to find the…

This action kit highlights steps city officials can take to help young people who are not connected to school, work, or caring adults. The kit recommends steps that cities can take to promote educational achievement, develop stronger workforce connections, support youth in transition from the foster care and juvenile justice systems, and build a…

School-based youth community service programs are helping students develop individual and social responsibility, and build intergenerational bonds. Elements necessary to reap maximum benefit are described followed by five examples of nationally recognized programs. Project ideas and factors for success are offered. (SI)

Virtually every Government programme for children and every Government Department in the UK is expected to involve children and young people in its policy development and service delivery (Children and Young People's Unit, 2001). It is the new orthodoxy. Yet, hard questions are often avoided when reciting the mantra of participation. Why bother?…