Stereotypes of Youth

Unfortunately, stereotypes are a part of our society. Stereotypes are mistaken beliefs put upon a group of people. In this week’s readings we explored 3 stereotypes of youth. Youth/ adolescence are a large group to stereotype, from difference in age, race, class, gender and sexuality it's ridiculous to keep them under a single umbrella.

Adolescence are described as being hormonally driven.  Being hormonal is a stereotype in itself. This stereotype keeps people from seeing youth as people that can make responsible choices. This sets up youth to fail. If people do not see these youth as capable then they are only expected to reach a certain point and are not given the space to rise above and beyond. However, that is one single outcome. Another crosses race/sexuality. Young Black females are hypersexualized and considered to be more aggressive than their white and even male counterparts. These stereotypes change how the worlds sees them and acts based on false realities.

Another stereotype is that young adolescents are peer oriented. This means that youth are reliant on peer culture usually as a result of peer pressure. Although this occurs the stereotype dictates that their social standing is more important than their education. This is not the case for all youth which is why stereotypes are so constricting.

Stereotypes are typically based on a white, middle class male perspective. In the video we watched the narrator states that children that come from a good home where they are spoken to often and read to are in a better place when they start school. Unfortunately, this is not how every household is. 

Stereotype; Adults are "more than" youth

This is again based on the white middle class see as the theoretical “norm”. Youth Development is all about working with and along side youth in order to help them become healthy adults. The third stereotype is that adults are for lack of a better term “more than” youth are. Adults are just as susceptible to making mistakes as any age group. I have seen adults scold youth for pointing out a mistake and it scares youth from calling out mistakes or bad behavior in the future. If youth can’t trust and be safe around their adult counterparts how do we make them feel safe?

Unlearn

In our class reading Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work [Chapter 1] (Bianca Baldridge), the author states "...youth work in Black spaces has been focused on literacy and learning in ways that will help students unlearn false histories taught in school...". What stood out to me were the final words of "unlearn false histories" which reminded me of this video I watched during a teacher orientation. Tell me what you think!

Understanding YDEV

Know	Learned
Although I have been a youth worker for many years (whether I knew it or not) one thing for sure was that Youth Work is important. These articles reinforced that Youth work is important for the healthy development of young people.  Since it is an important aspect of Youth it should be noted that Youth workers are also an asset to their communities.  Youth Development is about empowering youth and working alongside of them, making sure that their voice is valued.	These articles were great in helping me learn the origins of Youth Development. I have never sat down and thought about where the term came from and how it have evolved over the years. I was also intrigued to learn about the Deficit approach. Looking back at past programs I have worked with or attended as a student it is clear which programs were aimed towards  the “high risk” communities. “High Risk”, “At Risk”, “Low Income” have always been phrases that have bothered me because for a student to see they are recruited for a program based on these categories  sets up a stigma. The chart below from one of the readings was the most impactful. Knowing that certain populations are using the deficit approach to recruit for programs is very different than seeing it on paper. This chart showed the true issues of this approach by neglecting extracurriculars from “high risk” communities and instead trying to “fix” a single targeted  stereotype of the community.
More
One thing  I want to learn more about it the deficit language and how organizations use the language and/ or are changing it to fit the Youth Development approach.  I believe that it is important to know what the history of youth work is in order to take it into the future.