Positive Youth Development

Positive Youth Development, or PYD, is:

• based on the belief that, given guidance and support from caring adults, all youth can grow up healthy and happy, making positive contributions to their families, schools, and communities
• favors leadership and skill-building opportunities, such as Boys and Girls Clubs and 4-H
• looks at youth as assets to be developed and gives them the means to become productive adults

When community members and policymakers harness the positive energy and initiative of youth, rather than focusing on their problems, everybody benefits. Why?

• Youth believe they can be successful instead of internalizing the negative statistics (regarding alcohol and drug abuse, juvenile crime, teen pregnancy, and low test scores) about them that often appear in the media.
• Youth engage in productive activities that build job and life skills and reinforce community-mindedness.
• Youth grow comfortable questioning and exploring their roles as citizens in a participatory democracy.

In addition, adults who work closely with youth—and therefore see their dedication, responsibility, and willingness to learn—tend to view youth positively.

FYSB and PYD

As part of its mission to provide leadership on youth and family issues, FYSB promotes PYD among Federal agencies, States, local governments, youth workers, and the general public. The Bureau and its staff believe that youth programs enhance their services when they give young people opportunities to lead, build skills, and make decisions.

Here are some ways FYSB spreads the message about PYD:

• enlisting young people as grant reviewers for its programs that serve youth
• encouraging grantees to give youth opportunities to make decisions for themselves, take on leadership roles, and give back to their communities
• funding collaborative efforts to promote PYD in States and communities
• running the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, a free information service that collects and creates materials about PYD

Things to Do

You can put Positive Youth Development into practice by

• Recruiting young people to volunteer for local grassroots organizations
• Showing youth how to start their own newspapers or Web sites
• Asking high school students to co-teach classes with their teachers
• Teaching young people to conduct surveys on community and school resources
• Encouraging local businesses to sponsor job fairs and job shadowing days
• Inviting youth to serve on the board of a local nonprofit organization
• Creating a youth board that advises State or local government on issues young people care about such as violence prevention, transportation, and afterschool activities

Everyone has a role to play in helping his or her community promote Positive Youth Development:

• Neighborhood leaders and community members can involve young people in measuring how well the community supports youth, and then work together to improve services.
• Policymakers can engage youth in discussions about policies that affect them.
• Business leaders can teach young people the skills they will need for successful employment.
• Youth service organizations can encourage youth participation in every aspect of their work.
• Members of the media can help give young people outlets for expressing their views.
• Treatment providers can engage adolescent treatment recipients in service to others, for instance, as peer educators.
• Teachers and school administrators can ensure that school policies, procedures, and teaching methods engage young people fully.
• Faith-based institutions can involve young people in community activities.
• Parents can strive to engage their children in positive activities that nurture their talents, skills, and interests.

Things to read

Want to read more about PYD?

• Visit FYSB’s National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth (NCFY) Web site. NCFY offers a number of publications on PYD. (You might want to start with Putting Positive Youth Development Into Practice.)
• Search the NCFY’s literature database for other materials about PYD.
• Find out about other Web sites that discuss PYD.

Voices of youth

Young people talk about their experiences with Positive Youth Development in this podcast series, produced for FYSB by its National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth.