The principles of youth development outline what the youth development approach is all about.
They can be used as a checklist and a tool for developing youth policies and programmes and in working alongside young people.
The principles are as follows:
1. Youth development is shaped by the ‘big picture’:
By the ‘big picture’ we mean: the values and belief systems; the social, cultural, economic contexts and trends; the Treaty of Waitangi and international obligations such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
2. Youth development is about young people being connected:
Healthy development depends on young people having positive connections with others in society. This includes their family and whânau, their community, their school, training institution or workplace and their peers.
3. Youth development is based on a consistent strengths-based approach:
There are risk factors that can affect the healthy development of young people and there are also factors that are protective. ‘Strengths-based’ policies and programmes will build on young people’s capacity to resist risk factors and enhance the protective factors in their lives.
4. Youth development happens through quality relationships:
It is important that everyone is supported and equipped to have successful, quality relationships with young people.
5. Youth development is triggered when young people fully participate:
Young people need to be given opportunities to have greater control over what happens to them, through seeking their advice, participation and engagement.
6. Youth development needs good information:
Effective research, evaluation, and information gathering and sharing is crucial.
Together, these six principles can help young people to gain a:
• sense of contributing something of value to society
• feeling of connectedness to others and to society
• belief that they have choices about their future
• feeling of being positive and comfortable with their own identity.
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