Youth Development Insight

By Sara Langworthy Online video is ubiquitous for watching and sharing content – especially for young people. In fact, many youth are watching more free online video content (11.3 hours per week) than traditional TV (8.3 hours per week). A recent survey by Defy Media suggests that younger viewers find YouTube content more entertaining than traditional TV shows and they are more likely to view YouTube creators as role models than TV stars.

By Carrie Ann Olson The summer schedule for young people can be full of adventure, curiosity and exploration. On the other hand, the lack of structure can cause boredom and lack of motivation. Youth practitioners may find it hard to come up with appealing activities non-formal learning environments that foster education and career success, healthy relationships and engaged citizenship. Recently my colleague Kate Walker blogged about research that shows how integrating specific strategies and practices into existing curriculum can support Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). One of the key strategies is to design impactful learning experiences.  Programs that focus on specific skill development using sequenced and active learning strategies, as well as focused and explicit skill content, consistently succeed in promoting social emotional learning.   A new report by the Wallace Foundation  called Foundations for Youth Adult Success: A Developmental Framework, stresses that “Expe

By Trudy Dunham My colleague Jennifer Skuza's new profile photo. Did you add a rainbow to your Facebook profile photo last week?   Did you think twice before making your decision? Was it a risky choice for you? Did you think of it as a meaningful action? Following the  Supreme Court decision on June 26  that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, more than a million Facebook users changed their profile images in celebration. We don’t know how many viewed that action as risky . Likely fewer than those who changed their profiles in March 2013 to the red "equals" sign, the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, which was an early demonstration of widespread support for same-sex marriage. Using social media as a forum for one’s civic activism has been denigrated as clickactivism and slacker-activism -- an easy, no-cost, low-effort, almost meaningless action. One click and you’re done. I agree it is easier – especially for those with busy lives, or who live in co

By Pamela Larson Nippolt Today, youth workers are expected to be social innovators. Francis Westley teaches us about the place for  bricolage in designing innovative programs that address critical issues facing youth. Bricolage is the “DIY” of program design or, as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, “construction (as of a sculpture or a structure of ideas) achieved by using whatever comes to hand; also something constructed in this way.”