With 8.4 million children in the US spending an average of eight hours a week in afterschool programs, afterschool providers are an important part of the network of caring adults who can help to keep children safe. This article explores the topic of mandated reporting of suspected child abuse by afterschool staff.
An annual conference gathers young Native Americans from several states and many tribes to celebrate their culture, deal with issues they face in their communities, and get involved in tribal and state political issues.
This case study reveals how one community-based youth development organization in the northeastern United States advocated for social and educational equity for the low-income families it served by challenging the local school district’s practice of referring low-income children of color to special education in disproportionate numbers. Because this community-based organization (CBO) is typical of many such youth-serving organizations, the case study shows how the assets CBOs bring to their communities can help them negotiate with schools to achieve greater social and educational equity for
This paper examines the approach of urban debate leagues, and specifically the New York Urban Debate League, to democracy skill building and civic engagement. In the face of concerns about lack of civic engagement and knowledge among young people, such out-of-school-time programs can often reach youth bypassed by traditional sources of civic and democracy development, providing a vision of what “democracy in action” for underserved youth might look like. Such democracy skill-building experience can empower youth to become engaged learners and participating citizens.
In stories about democratic society that take place in a democratically structured environment, Youth Radio walks the fine line between professional journalism and youth development in ways that question the automatic equation between "youth voice" and freedom of expression.
This article describes Youth as Resources, a nationwide initiative involves youth and adults as equal partners in projects that improve community life. Some examples of the projects include the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance, which engages teenagers to install solar heating in low income homes, and the Haydenville Preservation Committee, which implemented neighborhood cleanup and landscaping projects in rural Ohio.
Emphasizing the intersection of policy and politics, this paper uses Theda Skocpol’s polity-centered approach (1992) to analyze two key moments in the history of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program: 1998, when the program’s budget grew from $40 million to $200 million, and 2003, when President Bush attempted to cut the program’s budget from $1 billion to $400 million. A thorough understanding of this history can help afterschool advocates successfully respond to President Obama’s recent proposal to dramatically change the 21st CCLC program once again.
In the juvenile justice reform movement, the principles of youth organizing can help bridge the gap between the goals of social justice and individual youth development.
African-American adolescent girls who expressed little interest in literacy activities nevertheless enthusiastically engaged in reading and writing around a topic that mattered to them—doing hair—particularly when they were allowed to determine the format of the literacy activities. The program aimed to carve out free spaces for self-directed learning.
Annual trips to the state capital to advocate for afterschool funding not only allow young people to participate in the democratic process but also foster youth development by focusing on educational goals.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Susan BlankLucy FriedmanKathleen Carlson
Pairing age-appropriate novels with thematic units on the civil rights movement and the presidential election allows one afterschool practitioner to bring democracy to life for inner-city middle school students.