New Terrain In Youth Development Summary

“Popular notions of urban youth have led the public to believe that young people create more problems than possibilities”. This was one of the main phrases in the article, and one of my favorite. It shows what society thinks about young people.

This article “ New Terrain in Youth Development: The Promise of a Social Justice Approach” by Shawn Ginwright and Julio Cammarota looks at how society perceives young people as criminals. On the surface, some young people use drugs, cause violence and have early sex activities. However, the society is wrong to quickly judge these young people. I agree with the authors that the society does not understand the life conditions of these young people.

Society sees young people as problematic and this is

The article states, “... numerous studies attempted to explain or show the causes contributing to high drug use, dropout rates, violence, early sexual activity, and other behaviors that jeopardize their healthy development”. This quote explains some of the activities that young people do that make society see them as delinquents. This example shows that they have these problems, but it does not explain why.

This behavior is a result of poverty and discrimination that these young people have experienced. For example, “Policymakers, educators, and youth workers must pay greater attention to how young people navigate racism, poverty, and unemployment in their communities”. This example shows the reasons of why young people are involved in the delinquency world. However, Ginwright and Cammarota have some solutions to these issues.

This article argues that young people should engage in Praxis. According to the article, Praxis is any action people can take to make a better society. For example, “praxis: reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it”. This quote makes emphasis on what praxis is and its concept with the idea of making changes. I agree with the idea of praxis because it would be great if society changed in a positive way, and all the issues that exist go