Choosing Life with Youth

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almeda M. Wright
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Young People ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Black Youth ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Religious Educators ◽  
Prophetic Vision

Death, violence, oppression, and racism have become part of the narratives of all young African Americans. Parents and youth workers are challenged in navigating these realities alongside youth. This chapter asks, What type of vision calls young people out of the cycles of death and violence and into esteemed roles in co-creating lives of abundance? What might a practice of choosing life look like for young people? Considering the theological insights, public ministry, and prophetic vision of one young person, this chapter leads the reader through one example of listening and discernment with youth, highlighting the theological insights and practical strategies that emerge. The chapter then moves to outline the work of key religious educators and religious critics, and contemporary resources and limitations of religious education in the Black church. Finally, this chapter suggests goals, methods, and strategies of critical pedagogy for integrating spirituality and abundant life with Black youth.

Responding at the personal (P) level

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Seal ◽  
Pete Harris
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Young People ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Face ◽  
Generative Phase

This chapter outlines how workers can respond on a personal, individual level to youth violence. The authors illustrate how the unpredictable nature of the physical and social space in which youth workers operate requires them to capitalise on and privilege spontaneous encounters and not be afraid to use them to begin to challenge or constructively confront violent behaviour. The authors show how these behaviours are meeting deep needs and that youth workers need to find ways to get young people to understand and acknowledge that, and identify how they may be able to meet these needs in other, less destructive, ways. Part of this process may involve presenting oneself as a blueprint for change, in the context of a relationship that needs to be characterised by warmth, trust and respect, but which should not collude with neutralisation of violence or abandon the young person in the face of structural forces. The authors argue that supporting young people to move into voluntary and paid roles where they can help and support others creates the opportunity for them to move into a generative phase of their own life cycle.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almeda M. Wright
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Young People ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Healthy Development ◽  
Highly Active

Young African Americans regularly experience racism, poverty, sexism, violence, and other affronts to their humanity. Though they are often highly active and vocal contributors to their churches, schools, and neighborhood communities, they are often silent about the possibility of God working to address the injustices in their lives. The disconnection between the issues young people face, their community involvement, and their conceptions of God point toward the pervasiveness of “fragmented” spirituality among African American youth. Spiritual fragmentation does not necessarily inhibit healthy development or functioning. However, the African American community and church are at risk if they fail to challenge the myth that the personal and the communal or the spiritual and political are in fact disconnected. But why are African American Christian adolescents experiencing spiritual fragmentation? Is spiritual fragmentation symptomatic of an irreparable chasm between the Black church and Black youth? Or are there other factors at play?

Informal Sex Education by Youth Practitioners

Young ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 485-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Lavie-Ajayi
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Unique Potential

Youth practitioners are commonly acknowledged to play an important role in supporting the sexual health of young people. However, there is relatively little literature that documents, conceptualizes and theorizes the unique nature and potential of informal sex education provided by youth practitioners such as social workers and youth workers. Using the theoretical framework of critical pedagogy, this article seeks to conceptualize informal sex education practices by youth practitioners, from the practitioner’s point of view. Eight semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with youth practitioners, working in a variety of programmes and provisions for young people across Israel. The data were thematically analysed. The analysis identified three key concepts, drawn from critical pedagogy, which underscore the unique potential of informal sex education by youth practitioners: dialogue, the language of possibility and language of critique.

scholarly journals Reimagining Religious Education for Young, Black, Christian Women: Womanist Resistance in the Form of Hip-Hop

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 409
Author(s):  
Tamara Henry
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Black Female ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Church Education ◽  
Religious Educators ◽  
Young Black Women

How might the black church and womanist scholarship begin to re-imagine religious education in ways that attends more deliberately to the unique concerns and interests of younger black, Christian women? Throughout the history of the black church, despite being marginalized or silenced within their varied denominations, black women have been key components for providing the religious education within their churches. However, today, in many church communities, we are seeing a new, emerging trend whereby young, black, Christian women are opting out of traditional approaches to religious education. They view contemporary church education as insufficient to address their contrasting range of real-life difficulties and obstacles. Instead, these young women have been turning to the work of contemporary black female hip-hop artists as a resource for religious and theological reflection. Drawing from focus groups conducted with young black female seminarians and explored through the lens of womanist theory, I argue this trend is forming a new, legitimate type of religious education where the work of artists such as Beyoncé and Solange are framing an unrecognized womanist, spirituality of resistance for young black women. Both religious educators and womanist scholars need to pay attention to this overlooked, emerging trend. Respectively, I suggest religious education and womanist scholarship would benefit by considering new resources for religious, theological, and pedagogical reflection, one that is emerging out of young black women’s engagement with the art and music of specific black female artists within hip-hop.

scholarly journals The Perennial Impact of Salesian Accompaniment in a Context of Detraditionalisation

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
John Lydon
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Catholic Education ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
The Individual

This article will begin by referencing briefly the notion of detraditionalisation—referencing scholars such as Lieven Boeve, who has written extensively on the issue. By way of contrast, accompaniment constitutes a perennial theme in a Christian context, best encapsulated in the Emmaus story (Luke 22:13–35), when Jesus accompanies the two disciples on what could be described as a journey of discovery. This journey paradigm, which underpins many religious education programmes, constitutes a central feature of the Salesian education vision known as the Preventive System. St John Bosco (1815–1888), the founder of the Salesians, was concerned with the transformation of the lives of every young person with whom he came into contact, resonating with ‘the uniqueness of the individual’, one of the key principles of Catholic education. According to one of his first Salesians, Bosco encouraged them to ‘go to the pump’, to meet young people where they had gathered and to engage in a genuine encounter. This article will explore the extent to which this model of effective presence and encounter reflects, firstly, Jesus as the Shepherd and, secondly, the vision of St John Bosco which involves the teacher/pastoral worker and the accompanied meeting each other and having frequent encounters in informal ways in a variety of environments, marked by openness, trust and availability. Research will be retrieved to exemplify the perennial impact of Salesian accompaniment in Salesian secondary schools in England in which students are, in general, familiar with the Christian faith and its central tenets.

To Study & Implementation the Impact of Youth Mentoring

GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 122-129
Author(s):  
Monika Bansal ◽  
Sh. Lbs Arya Mahila
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Youth Mentoring ◽  
Self Development ◽  
Study Implementation ◽  
Responsible Adult ◽  
The Impact

Youth Mentoring is the process of matching mentors with young people who need or want a caring responsible adult in their lives. It is defined as an on-going relationship between a caring adult and a young person which is required for self-development, professional growth and carrier development of the mentee and mentors both and all this must be placed within a specific institution context. The purpose of this article is to quantitatively review the three major areas of mentoring research (youth, academic, and workplace) to determine the overall effect size associated with mentoring outcomes for students.

A Survey of Christian Religious Education in the United States

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Jerald F. Dirks
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Youth Groups ◽  
Religious Educators ◽  
Contemporary Status ◽  
Children's Sermons ◽  
Private Christian Schools

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision of June 1963, which banned public prayer from the public schools, Christian religious education was often a routine part of the overt instruction provided by the American public school system. However, in the wake of that legal milestone, even though instruction in the Judeo-Christian interpretation of religious history continued to be taught covertly, American churches began relying more heavily on providing Christian religious education. This article briefly presents Christianity’s contemporary status in the United States and reviews such religious education methods as Sunday school, vacation Bible school, Christian youth groups, catechism, private Christian schools, Youth Sunday, and children’s sermons. The survey concludes with a look at the growing interface between such education and the lessons of psychology as well as training and certifying Christian religious educators.

Intersectionality, Black Youth and Political Activism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Hill Collins
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Black Youth ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Youth Activism ◽  
The Political ◽  
And Behavior

For youth who are Black, Indigenous, female, or poor, coming of age within societies characterized by social inequalities presents special challenges. Yet despite the significance of being young within socially unjust settings, age as a category of analysis remains undertheorized within studies of political activism. This essay therefore draws upon intersectionality and generational analyses as two useful and underutilized approaches for analyzing the political agency of Black youth in the United States with implications for Black youth more globally. Intersectional analyses of race, class, gender, and sexuality as systems of power help explain how and why intersecting oppressions fall more heavily on young people who are multiply disadvantaged within these systems of power. Generational analysis suggests that people who share similar experiences when they are young, especially if such experiences have a direct impact on their lives, develop a generational sensibility that may shape their political consciousness and behavior. Together, intersectionality and generational analyses lay a foundation for examining youth activism as essential to understanding how young people resist intersecting oppressions of racism, heteropatriarchy, class exploitation, and colonialism.

Youth mental health competencies in regional general practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 103985622097005
Author(s):  
Oliver Smith ◽  
Jessica Bergmann ◽  
Ulrich Schall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Problem ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Young Patients ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Hunter Region

Objective: General practitioners (GPs) are key health professionals for referrals to mental health specialists. Youth mental health issues are particularly challenging, requiring a competent assessment and understanding of appropriate referral pathways. We surveyed local GPs about their understanding of youth mental health problems and needs to competently look after young patients. Methods: GPs working in the Hunter region were contacted via email, fax and post over a 6-month period in 2019. Results: Seventy-five GPs participated. They reported 577 of 1698 (34%) of young people seen 2 weeks prior to being surveyed presented with a mental health problem. Predominantly, referrals were to private practice psychologists and Headspace. Almost a third (31%) reported having limited understanding of ‘at-risk mental state’ and are ‘not always comfortable’ when facing a young person with a mental health problem. Nearly all (95%) expressed interest in attending specialised training. GPs identified treatment costs, scarce access to psychiatrists and limited patient engagement as the main obstacles to help young people. Conclusions: Effective treatment of a mental health problem relies on early identification. GPs are seeing young people on a regular basis but don’t feel well equipped for this task and are keen to up-skill, which needs to be addressed by targeted training.

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