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    What is Youth Development?      

Youth Developmental Needs, Inputs, Resources

Young people have basic needs critical to survival and healthy development. They are a sense of:

Safety and structure; Belonging and membership; Self-worth and an ability to contribute; Independence and control over one's life; Closeness and several good relationships; and, Competence and mastery.

(A New Vision: Promoting Youth Development , Testimony of Karen Johnson Pittman, Director, Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, before the House Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, September 30, 1991)

Youth developmental needs (based on research), include the need for:

Basic food and shelter, Supportive, caring relationships, Safe places, and Opportunities for growth.

Specific needs in these areas are influenced by current development (physical, cognitive and social), as well as individual characteristics and a broad set of background and contextual factors. Developmental needs are met within a social context and are influenced by the demands and supports provided by those contexts, such as the family, school, and community. ( Youth Development Programs and Outcomes: Final Report for the YMCA of the USA , Search Institute, 1996)

Seven Developmental Needs of Young Adolescents (and their characteristics):

•  Need: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Characteristics include:

changing hormone levels produce periods of boundless energy and lethargy desire to test new physical capabilities normal variation in onset of puberty, rate of growth vulnerability to injury due to rapid growth

•  Need: COMPETENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT
Characteristics include:

desire for personal recognition desire for responsibility desire to succeed emergence of new interests, capabilities emerging racial/cultural identity emerging sexual identity "imaginary audience" self-consciousness need for approval from adults need for approval from peers somewhat shaky self-esteem vulnerability to adult expectations

•  Need: SELF-DEFINITION
Characteristics include:

emerging gender identity emerging racial/cultural identity emerging sense of a personal future emotionalism, mood swings new body image new reactions from others onset of formal operations

•  Need: CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Characteristics include:

desire to test new physical and mental capabilities emerging racial/cultural identity emerging sexual identity onset of formal operations

•  Need: POSITIVE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS WITH PEERS AND ADULTS
Characteristics include:

continued importance of parents and other adults "imaginary audience," self-consciousness increasing importance of peers maturing social skills need for approval from adults need for approval from peers search for models, heroes, and heroines

•  Need: STRUCTURE AND CLEAR LIMITS
Characteristics include:

authoritarianism desire for autonomy desire to know and understand rules and limits increasing importance of peers lack of life experience need for continued adult guidance need for security onset of formal operations "personal fable," immunity to harm

•  Need: MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION
Characteristics include:

desire for autonomy desire to be part of the "real" adult world desire for personal recognition desire for responsibility emerging gender identity emerging racial/cultural identity lack of life experience maturing social skills onset of formal operations readiness to make commitments to ideals, activities, and people

(Our Children at Risk: Children and Youth Issues, 1998 , YMCA of the USA, 1998)

Fundamental resources: America 's Promise created a blueprint for success, a unified plan, calling on the public and private sectors to focus their time, talents, and treasures toward providing our nation's youth access to five fundamental resources:

A caring adult, role model, or mentor; Safe places to learn and grow during non-school hours A healthy start; A marketable skill through effective education; and An opportunity for young people to "give back" through community service.

( The Report To The Nation: America's Promise , November 1997, The Alliance For Youth, Executive Summary)

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NYDIC was developed with support from DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Lilly Endowment Inc. through a partnership with the Indiana Youth Institute and other generous funding.

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