Vol. 11, Special Issue 11 (2022)

Author(s):
YD Haritha and Dr. Bilquis

Abstract:
Positive youth development means Positive Experiences + Positive Relationships + Positive Environments = Positive Youth Development. Positive developmental settings and characteristics of successful positive youth development members can be used for training staff, designing programs, and developing standards and assessment tools: Physical and Psychological Safety – Safe and health-promoting facilities; practice that increases safe peer group interaction and decreases unsafe or confrontational peer interactions. Appropriate Structure – Limit setting, clear and consistent rules and expectations, firm enough control, continuity and predictability, clear boundaries, and age-appropriate monitoring. Supportive Relationships – Warmth, closeness, connectedness, good communication, caring, support, guidance, secure attachment, responsiveness. Opportunities to Belong – Opportunities for meaningful inclusion, regardless of one’s gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disabilities; social inclusion, social engagement and integration; opportunities for socio-cultural identity formation; support for cultural and bicultural competence. Positive Social Norms – Rules of behavior, expectations, and injunctions, ways of doing things, values and morals, obligations for service. Support for Efficacy and Mattering – Youth-based, empowerment practices that support autonomy, making a real difference in one’s community, and being taken seriously. Practice that includes enabling, responsibility granting, meaningful challenge. Practices that focus on improvement rather than on relative current. Opportunities for Skill Building – Opportunities to learn physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional, social skills; exposure to intentional learning experiences; opportunities to learn cultural literacy, media literacy, communication skills, and good habits of mind; preparation for adult employment; opportunities to develop social and cultural capital. Integration of Family, School, and Community Efforts – Concordance, coordination, and synergy among family, school and community. The results found that Women reported highest score in agreeableness, neuroticism. Men scored highest in extraversion, consciousness, openness.