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What Is Positive Youth Development?

Positive Experiences + Positive Relationships + Positive Environments = Positive Youth Development

Based on the literature, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, a collaboration of twelve federal departments and agencies that support youth, has created a definition of positive youth development:

Positive youth development is an intentional, pro-social approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances youths' strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.

Strategies employed as part of positive youth development can also be used to prevent, address, and protect against risky behaviors.

What Are Key Principles of Positive Youth Development?

When connecting youth to positive experiences, principles that programs should keep in mind include the following:

• Positive youth development is an intentional process. Positive youth development is about being proactive to promote protective factors in young people.
• Positive youth development complements efforts to prevent risky behaviors and attitudes in youth. Positive youth development also complements efforts that work to address negative behaviors.
• Youth assets are both acknowledged and employed through positive youth development. All youth have the capacity for positive growth and development.
• Positive youth development enables youth to thrive and flourish in their teen years, and prepares them for a healthy, happy and safe adulthood.
• Positive youth development involves youth as active agents. Adults may set the structure, but youth are not just the recipients of services. Youth are valued and are encouraged to bring their assets to the table. Adults and youth work in partnership.
• Youth leadership development is a part of positive youth development, but youth aren't required to lead. Youth can attend, actively participate, contribute, or lead through positive youth development activities.
• Positive youth development involves civic involvement and civic engagement — youth contribute through service to their communities.
• Positive youth development involves and engages every element of the community — schools, homes, community members, and others. Young people are valued through this process. Positive youth development is an investment that the community makes in young people. Youth and adults work together to frame the solutions. Learn more about developing youth-adult partnerships.

How Did Positive Youth Development Start?

Positive Youth Development has its origins in the field of prevention. In the past, prevention efforts typically focused on single problems before they surfaced in youth, such as teen pregnancy, substance abuse and juvenile delinquency.

Over time, practitioners, policymakers, funders and researchers determined that promoting positive asset building and considering young people as resources were critical strategies. As a result, the youth development field began examining the role of resiliency, the protective factors in a young person's environment and how these factors could influence one's ability to overcome adversity. Those factors included, but were not limited to: family support, caring adults, positive peer groups, strong sense of self and self-esteem, and engagement in school and community activities.

Researchers and practitioners began to report that young people possessing a diverse set of protective factors can, in fact, experience more positive outcomes. These findings encouraged the development of interventions that reduced risks and also strengthened protective factors.

Learn more about the evidence of effectiveness

How Can Positive Youth Development Be Integrated into Programs?

Positive youth development can be integrated into any youth development program. First and foremost, all youth serving organizations should work towards assuring that young people have the chance to develop across all aspects of their lives in order to acquire the most positive experience possible. Positive youth development strategies include giving youth access to experiences that build leadership, boost self-awareness, and connect youth to caring adults.

Some key environmental factors to consider for positive youth development include:

Physical and Psychological Safety

A program should provide ground rules that are developed and posted by the youth participants. Adequately trained staff members who understand respect are essential to prevent bullying and hazing situations. A program should also include youth and adults trained in team building who can understand and recognize symptoms of cliques and find alternative means for using group and team building exercises.

Appropriate Structure

A program should provide appropriate youth-to-adult ratios for supervision, a system for ensuring youth are welcomed when they arrive, and a balance for different learning styles in programmatic activities.

Supportive Relationships

Programs should create opportunities where youth share and interests are known and provide trained staff in handling conflict, recognizing symptoms of withdrawal and understanding how to engage youth without singling them out.

Opportunities to Belong

A program should provide opportunities for youth to be engaged in small group activities based upon interest, and structured team building should be provided to ensure all youth have a chance to get acquainted. To feel involved, opportunities for sharing need to be incorporated into each and every activity.

Positive Social Norms

Programs should engage youth in creating a respectful environment and involve a respect for diversity and culture in activities.

Support for Efficacy and Mattering

A program should engage youth in exploring career and workforce opportunities, provide occasions for goal setting, and create opportunities to make a difference in service learning or peer support.

Opportunities for Skill Development

Programs should provide opportunities to master and apply skills, and should engage youth in determining choices toward progression of new levels of learning.

Integration of Family, School, and Community Efforts

A program needs to incorporate ways to engage parents and/or guardians, staff, and youth participants either through family activities, newsletters, websites, and program policies. Programs should be aware of when youth are in or out of school and plan accordingly to support youth and their families in extended programming opportunities.

These key environmental factors help a program in considering where to hold the program, how to train the staff, how to foster relationships and ways for youth to belong and be engaged, appropriate discipline, how to structure learning and skill mastery, and integration between youth's contexts of family, peers, school, and community. Again, the reduction of risk and the increase of resiliency along with caring relationships will foster positive youth development.

To learn more, check out our youth topic page on positive youth development.

 

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