TIPS For Working with Youth in Community Development Projects

Taking Care of Youth Participants

Adult participants must quickly develop a sense of when to help fix a problem, when to allow the youth to do it on their own and when the solution should be found together. Youth need to go through the learning that comes from success and failure but not at the cost of feeling they have been abandoned or are being controlled by adults.

All youth-based projects need to build in a self-help capability to allow members to deal with personal issues at the same time they are dealing with the larger community issues.

Project coordinators should try to meet youth needs for leadership development, creating supportive youth networks, building or supporting family and community networks, fostering spiritual and cultural development and providing role-model opportunities.

Gathering information can be an empowering activity for youth. Youth should be involved in all phases of assessing needs, planning, implementation and evaluation.

Many youth involved with community groups have a personal history of dealing with survival needs. As such, they have had to live in the present and may lack skills in planning for the future. These skills should be developed.

Some youth will have a long history of living without conventional rules or structure. They may find it difficult to be involved in a structured environment. Projects will have to find a way to accommodate these youth within the structure needed to move the group forward and keep the adults involved.

The group process should provide the youth with:

• a sense of ease and security,
• group solidarity,
• friendship,
• training in social skills,
• opportunities to express opinions and make decisions, and
• activities in which they are interested.

The group leader should be willing to bring sensitive issues to the surface so that the group can become a community. Sensitive issues include conflict or differences of opinion, unacceptable conduct, counterproductive behavior, etc. Talking circles are an effective way to start discussions on sensitive issues.

Open discussion about the cultural differences between adults and youth should be a regular part of the group's development.

The forming of smaller groups within the larger project group (particularly among youth members) is often a positive development which is healthy for the members. These smaller groups may provide a less threatening environment for some of the youth.

One of the most important functions of the group is to provide a place for youth to discuss the issues affecting them.

Structure is needed by youth to help them feel safe and secure; but for some, too much structure can be a negative reminder of experiences they may have had in family, school or jobs. The balance required by the group between structure and flexibility is a judgment call by the project coordinator.

The basic and immediate needs of youth have to be met in the work or activities of the group; otherwise, those youth who are not motivated may return to street life where the gratifications are more immediate.

The practical needs of the project's youth members should be considered, including:

• arranging transportation to and from meetings;
• holding meetings and events in a safe location;
• having lots of food available with as much choice as possible;
• making a good support system available for their attendance (e.g., including parents, peers, family, schools).

All projects must provide opportunities for youth to deal with their personal issues. The extent to which this is necessary depends on the type of youth involved.

Group development must be a planned process, pushing advancement of each stage and introducing skill development and training faster than the group knows it needs it. Youth have little patience for the chaos which sometimes happens during the early stages of group growth in adult groups.