Youth Development Guide: K/L/M

 Knew: 

  • I knew that deficit approach was used largely for different reasons and the youth at the time was thought of as potential problems 
  • Knew that many parents became single parents and where both the primary income providers as well as care takers 
  • knew that the schools were overcrowded and one on one instruction was very limited if it happened at all 
    • knew that this lead to an increase in problem behavior such as drug use, teen pregnancy, and increased dropout rates 


Learned:

  • Deficit Approach did not work 
    • Deficit focused programs were to focused on single issues and most often found no significant reduction in their target population 

    • Or only showed short term success 
  • "By narrowly focusing on changing specific behaviors, this approach failed to address young people’s basic developmental needs."
    • this quote stood out to me because of where I've done some previous work within the education field, and it has been with an at-risk population, but the focus has always been on basic developmental needs fist rather than changing behaviors which is the opposite of what we see with the deficit approach 
More: 
  • Why aren't there more funds for after school programs which seem to provide change? 
  • How much difference are all these after school programs really making?
                     

Comments

  1. Meaghan WoodburySeptember 7, 2020 at 10:20 PM

    I often wonder how much of a difference the programs are making too because even though there are many out there that are successful, there's still a large population of youth that are deemed "at risk". I wonder if it's because of an environmental factor or if the programs that community has just aren't a good fit/not enough for it. -Meaghan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Victoria RestlerSeptember 8, 2020 at 8:53 AM

    Thanks for your post Abby. The questions you raise around lack of funding and also the impact of after school are great! One thing to think about with the second question is what kind of impact are we looking for and how do we measure it? This can seem simple and straightforward but is actually pretty complex--are we looking for school attendance, grades, mental health and wellness, strong relationships? What do you think matters most? How would you evaluate it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. SoniaSeptember 8, 2020 at 10:00 AM

    i wonder whats being done to address the issue?

    ReplyDelete
  4. HappinessChangesSeptember 8, 2020 at 10:00 AM

    Hi Abby,

    I questioned funding a bit too and the difference more funding could make. Resources and materials are of course important but not as important as the staff that the programs have. You could have the best activities and programs out there but that means nothing if the staff is trash lol. More funding could help train or find better staff member's. I remember my time in an after school program, some staff were fine but other staff including the director were the worst, i think better training or maybe better people over all could've made this experience better for myself and many others. Good Job!

    -Edwin D.

    ReplyDelete

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