Working with Young People

X is a British male of age 19. He comes from a middle income family living in Bradford City. City life presents X with social influences such as crime, drug and substance abuse, persuasion through various marketing agents, drug peddling and trying to fit into the fast paced city life. X is an adolescent who is undergoing physical, psychological, moral and cognitive developments. It is however important to note that these developments are interconnected and one may influence the other.

Puberty marks the onset of adolescence and is accompanied by rapid physical changes. The onset of puberty is quickly succeeded with sexual development. Psychological impacts on X are related to the physical developments occurring in him and include emotional and self-esteem issues (Bradford, 2012). X was in agreement that psychological impacts can also result from the onset of puberty of one adolescent in relation to other adolescents. For boys improved self-esteem is noted when there is an early onset of adolescence in comparison to be peers while for girls reduced self-esteem is noted. X exhibited a level of impulsivity and risk taking for instance he said he loves places where there is havoc and would enjoy running battles with the police just for fun. This happens because adolescents have a sense of invulnerability coupled with a limited understanding of the potential negative impacts and long term effects of their risky behavior. Development of a healthy self-image is a critical psychological development in adolescents. Poor self-image may lead to harmful behaviors. X thinks that he should do a lot of gymnastics to gain an athletic and masculine body. X also likes hanging out with friends but still thinks that it is important for those friends to respect who he is (Hazen, Schlozman and Beresin, 2008)

Stereotyping is a rigid and irrational generalization of a group of people with the ignorance of facts. Stereotyping can be both positive and negative. X is an obedient, moral and honest young person, the media stereotypes young people as criminals, drug and substance abusers, sexually promiscuous and deviant. X is a youth and does not exhibit these traits and is therefore stereotyped. (Blackman, Rogers, 2017). In many communities the youth are treated with suspicion an example is when young people are found hanging out somewhere they are asked to go away, an experience particularly common for the boys. X has reported having undergone such experiences. In most cases when the story of a young person differs from that of an adult generally more people tend to believe the adult. X is and his age mates are stereotyped when their opinions are deemed irrelevant to society and governance (Devlin, 2006).

X has found himself in a global village in which he can be closer to people while at the same time far apart from them and this has profound effect on the development of the youth. Through social media platforms he has been able to relate with people of different cultures immensely affecting his outlook of the world. He dreams beyond just his country and keeps his eye on being globally competitive. Globalization has also amplified the disparity between the rich and the poor and X sometimes feels bad as he looks at himself as poor (Cole, Woodrow, 2016).

Youth engagement is when the youth are continuously involved in both the structure and decision making of the government. There are two models of youth engagement these are the international Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and the Hart’s Ladder. IPA2 provides a means by which government can engage the youth in decision making and has a spectrum which allows choice of the level of engagement. It also shows what the government promises the public at each level thus helping with accountability. Hart’s ladder on the other hand shows how much influence the youth participating in the engagement process has. Hurts ladder has eight rungs. The first three rungs of the ladder represent non-participation of the youth and the fourth to eighth show increasing participation of the youth. Hurt also believed that youth as citizens have a fundamental right to participate in governance. These models of engagement are appropriate for X as there is more involvement of youth in governance as a result of youth empowerment (Bornstein, Vandell, and Rook, 2010).

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Reference list

Blackman, S and Rogers, R (2017) Youth marginality in Britain: Contemporary studies of austerity. Bristol, Policy Press

Bornstein, M.H., Vandell, D.L. and Rook, K.S. (2010): Lifespan Development: Infancy Through Adulthood. London: Cengage Learning

Bradford, S (2012) Sociology, Youth and Youth Work Practice (Working with Young People). Hampshire, Palgrave McMillan

Cole, D.R. and Woodrow, C., 2016. Super dimensions in globalisation and education. In Super Dimensions in Globalisation and Education (pp. 1-16). Springer, Singapore.

Devlin, M., 2006. Inequality and the Stereotyping of Young People.

Hazen, E., Schlozman, S. and Beresin, E., 2008. Adolescent Psychological. Pediatrics in Review, 29(5), p.161.

Hendry, l and Kloep (2012) Adolescence and Adulthood: Transitions and Transformations. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan