event 2

Smash your insecurities

For this event nat, ash, and I went to the smash your insecurities even held by delta phi epsilon. (Gi's sorority) The idea of this event is for students to have the physical opportunity to face an insecurity that you are dealing and smash it till its gone. When I was participating one insecurity that I had in mind is my self esteem. I really struggle with bad self esteem and tend to beat myself up more when I feel like I'm wrong. One way the this actually helped me was actually recognizing my insecurity and what triggers it and ways that I can improve on it. Smashing the pumpkin was actually super fun and relieving. Everyone was laughing at each other so it was just a really nice community to be around. 

event 1

This semester one event I attended was the Advising meeting for YDEV. My intentions for this event was to come and help other students form their schedules and work myric and give them feedback and experiences on classes that I have taken in the past. When arriving at the meeting there were more seniors than those who needed help with their schedules so I tried to make myself as much useful as I could. But for me the advising for YDEV is one of the aspects that make this community so strong. The YDEV professors have constructed a plan of study that lays out all of the classes you have taken or the classes you need to take and when. This is so powerful for students because it sets us up for success instead of taking shots in the dark guessing what type of classes to take which eventually could make the student fall behind. I have loved the aspect of advising since I joined YDEV and it is so different coming from a teaching community where you are thrown at oasis who have no clue who you are and just take a wild guess on what will work for you the following semester. The Advising meeting to me displays the anchor of leading with because the plan of study sets us up for success. It provides the opportunity to visually see what is completed and what needs to be met.

Ideology

   

For my YDEV ideology I identified with positive Youth development with a close second to Risk and Resilience. I believe the values that I can identify with both is that support is such a huge factor in both ideologies. For positive we try to bring the support into our field to help our youth. Community factors rely heavily on both of these and how with risk and resilience this can influence no control over situations that lead to behaviors and for positive we take the community factors to build upon.

Injustice

A time in my life that I can reflect on where I felt an injustice was my junior year of high school. This was a point in my life where so many things where going on, so many emotions where flying around. I had found out a couple weeks before that I was pregnant so all eyes were on me at school and everyone had something to say about me. A teacher that I had really trusted and had established a trusting relationship with had wanted to meet with me in the school library during lunch. This was not weird for me because me and her have shared many moments like this before. I would tell her about issues I had at home which was frequent and the issues I had with my friends. I could trust her with my feelings and for her to give me some advice or just say things that made me feel better. On this day when she asked to meet with me she had me sit down and started talking about how her brother and sister in law adopted a baby and it was the best gift they could have received. She kept talking about how unstable of a household I live in and that this environment would not be healthy for my baby. As I sat there with tears rolling down my face she told me she knew why I was crying and it was because I knew that what she was saying was right. All these thoughts ran through my head as I second guessed myself and my abilities to actually be able to parent, as if I was not feeling defeated enough in the moment. Her words really impacted me and it forever changed the relationship I had with her. The trust was no longer there because when I thought she was listening instead she was judging. As I walk about from this moment in my life, what I took the most out of this was that this is not the type of relationship I would want to have with the youth in my life. I know she meant well but she did not really know as much as she thought she did. Rewinding, I wish I had stood up for myself more but now I think I have proved myself.

My observation of injustice I could connect to one of our previous readings about teenagers. The stereotypes that teenagers have on others, and also just stereotypes in general. This is an example of how society today views the capabilities of our youth.

Youth Work is care

The work of keeping “kids in mind,” remaining attuned to their needs and perceptions even whenthey’re not present, echoes one of Lynch’s (2007) core practices of “love labour:”

Care based on a love of humanity, rather than maternal instincts.

Caring labor and intentional linking of “self and community” reflects a care philosophy rooted simultaneously in individual. 

Caring for relationships is a broader conception of community and justice.

↠The way Sarahs hair is cut is to represent gay community and they way she dresses but also opens up about herself to her students that provide them a perspective of the LGBTQ community that they may not receive in their home environment.

Care beyond the classroom. Michelle, buying weekly snacks is more than the physical effort, cash expenditure, or time it takes before school. 

↠ It is very much the invisible work of “feeding the family” that MarjorieDeVault (1994) describes—the planning, shopping, preparing of meals that go into raising children up. It is the effort of making school a “safe space” and a “second home,” effort comprised of all the countless large and tiny, often invisible, acts that mothers and motherers do to make a space feel cozy, predictable, provided-for, safe.

Care in terms of race, culture, social identity and survival.

 ↠ I cannot be a teacher without exposing who I am.” She connects cleaning to deeply held practices and roots as a Latina woman. She says that sometimes she “want(s) to break that stereotype of the female teacher—nurturing, keeping everything nice and clean,” but she cannot. Cleaning is part of where she comes from as a woman, a mother, Puertorriqueña, and as someone who also came up in neighborhoods where public investment in cleanliness and community were lacking.

Care within self

 ↠ Eli demonstrated his caring approach in work of seeing himself “through the eyes of students,” in his commitment to breaking through with hard-to-reach youth, in the great care he takes with his own practice and with supporting and mentoring other teachers.

It is physical, emotional, intellectual. It is compassion, presence, and curious care.

My Youth Development Story

Before declaring my major as Youth Development the paths I’ve taken have been difficult but I would not be where I am without those experiences. Growing up I have always felt led to work with you but my journey is finding where I fit in. In high school when I became pregnant I was so judged by others I lost sight in who I am and conformed to who people were telling me I was. Juggling the identities of teen, student, mom, and part time employee became my full time responsibility. But I knew I had to do what I have to in order to provide the best things for my son. Going through this it was drilled into me that I need to provide a life for my son that he deserves because “ he did not choose to be brought into this life.” I was told I would not be able to do this unless I went to school, got a degree, and got a job that would pay well. So I strived for this. I thought I belonged in Early Childhood Education but I soon realized that I did not want to be a teacher in a classroom. Working with the education system is so black and white and I want to color outside the lines. This brought me to YDEV where I experienced a community like no other. I found my voice and passion and the knowledge that opened my eyes into a whole different world outside of what I have known and my thirst to learn more has grown. To get where I am today I would not have been able to do without my support system. My family watched my son while I attended school and while both myself and my now husband would work right after school in order to provide for our son. My family provided a roof over my head and tried their best to make sure I was not struggling. But I was still responsible for my son. I provided his needs and cared for him since he was born. But because of my experiences and support system it has made me the person I am today and I have really wanted to give back. I am so fortunate that I was able to have the people in my life that I did when I needed the support. I would like to be that support to someone who is not as fortunate as I was. I want to be that friend that I did not have. I want to be that someone who I needed. I feel that Youth Development has led me to here and has given me the tools and opportunities to succeed.  

Leading With

Youth in Action describes leading with as giving and supporting the tools for youth to impact a change for them to live in a world that they want to live in. They lead through youth through different learning skills such as project based, service, adventure, and cooperative learning. These learning styles supports leadership skills, basic needs of our surrounding communities, healthy peer relationships, and the inspiration to reach beyond what society tells them they can do. They promote this by giving ALL youth a space to share their stories, practice leadership, and create change in their communities.

About Me

Play in Youth Work

An example of youth work that I have been involved in is speaking about my experience as a pregnant teen in two different high schools. One high school includes my own which I feel I can make real connections with the students in this environment because I was literally once sitting where they are. I bring a personal touch to a topic that parents and teachers feel the need to tip toe around because society has trained us to feel shameful about teenage pregnancy. In this space I advocate for all teens, pregnant, parenting, and adolescents learning about safe sex.

~~~> Also in this space, an aspect of play that I bring is a slideshow presentation to go along with a my personal story and also some interactive aspects with the students. As each year I improve my presentation I would like to include more interactive activities or something.

Other youth spaces that I have worked in include an inhome daycare setting with children ranging ages in infancy to school aged. Where I tried to incorporate play in whatever I did because I strongly agree with Piaget that playing IS learning.

~~~> My work with this population of youth has a much more descriptive aspects of play. I had to really take control of my setting in this position and basically come up with day to day activities for the kids. But with this I let the kids kind of lead with what directions they were interested in. So for an example of this was that it was hard to get a group of a variety of aged kids to sit down to listen to a story during reading time. For the kids to become more engaged and interested in following along with this activity I created felt pieces for specific key objects within the storyline.

Reading the text through a different lense to look a play has really made me rethink strategies and certain activities or even discussions or role modeling can be considered as play through the 6 P's.

Youth Stereotypes

Stereotypes of Youth 

Self-indulgent

Leslie Bogad discusses how Life Magazine read, adults assume youth to be selfish, and uninvested in more sophisticated concerns such as work, health, money.

Incomplete

"We come to know youth as incomplete, in-transition, finding themselves, hormone-driven, emotional, inexperienced, and always in opposition to the adults in their lives"

Mini versions of "us"

Discourses of adolescence development suggest that all young people must pass through stages en route to a more mature version of themselves. It is assumed that, what youth are what adults should of expect of them.

                

Reverend Erb to Ms. Steinberg is absurd about her "teaching a program that allows students to make decision." Steinberg goes on to state that adults don't like teenagers and assume them to be distrustful. Ms. Steinberg has devoted her career to teaching students motivating the young adults to become leaders, to be viewed as worthwhile, trustworthy, and brilliant.

Steinberg says adults fear youth from media hype. "Popular images of youth created a suspect society driven by desire and the ability to terrify adults." Then Leslie discusses that youth are understood as mysterious and puzzling to adults who would be shocked about their lives

Steinberg continues to discuss how over history conversations of youth reveal that they are a problem.

⇢⇢ Instead of defining youth as "mini us", we need to redefine youth as by seeing how youth define themselves. ⇠⇠

Characteristics of a Youth Worker

      As told by Wood, Westwood, and Thompson, The Seven Characteristics of a Youth Worker include educational practice, social practice, a youth worker actively challenges inequality and works towards social justice, gives a choice to be involved, strengthens the voice and influence of young people, welfare practice, works with people holistically.
                                 Youth Work is an educational practice. 

     This includes building open and trusting relationships with your youth. This will promote an environment of learning for your youth where it can benefit in many areas of the following characteristics. Educational practice also uses different methods and activities for informal education and learning. This will create a learning relationship that builds a relationship that will open up that space for new opportunities, activities, and conversations that enable young people to think, feel, and act differently to their social work
                                Youth Work is a social practice.

     Social practice promotes working in groups in order for young people to engage and associate with their peers. Pro social modeling is an example of social practice that enables a group of young people in to express their values, attitudes, and behaviors.
                           Youth work actively challenges inequality and works towards social justice.
This is youth work that is geared toward the social injustice of the margins of people that are excluded
by personal, cultural, and structural barriers. Within the youth work is anti discriminary practice where there is work within the legal framework and anti oppressive practice that is a commitment to empowerment and the ability to reflect, and work critically in order for change. The youth worker would be one to address power imbalances rather than say or do the "right" thing.
                         Youth Work gives youth a choice to be involved. Rather than participating because they are compelled to. This give youth the choice to voluntarily engage and in a successful learning environment they will. Youth work takes place in a variety of settings whether it be a controlled setting such as school where the youth are forced to participate but as a youth worker this creates more experiences for informal learning in and out of the classroom.
                        Youth Work strengthens the voice and influence of young people.

This entails empowerment participation, active citizenship, and democratic engagement. This enables youth the influence the environment in which they live.
                                                                    Youth Work is welfare practice.

Welfare practice promotes the welfare and safety of young people. Youth workers most of the time work with young people who experience high areas of deprivation. Also it is a practice that avoids framing the work we do as preliminary problems.
     Youth Work works with young people holistically. Working with youth holistically can be perceived as a fix for hot spot areas. This can cause some difficulty when this becomes the main focus of the youth worker. But this also allows the workers can do and make                                                               contributions to various social policy objectives.