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Empowerment and Transition to Adulthood and transitoon. 9 – 12 May 2013 Lisbon & Cascais. How to measure the success of a Scout organization ?. By the number of young people leaving the organisation with the motivation and the skills to play a constructive role in society.
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Empowerment and Transition to Adulthood • and transitoon 9 – 12 May 2013 Lisbon & Cascais
How to measure the success of a Scout organization ? • By the number of young people leaving the organisation with the motivation and the skills to play a constructive role in society
Transition to Adulthood: Four thresholds • From the care of others to managing their own health and well-being • From their family home to creating their own family • From school to work • From being responsible members of a nuclear family to being responsible contributing members to the community
Current challenges in Europe • Health challenges • Intimate relationships challenges • Unemployment challenges • Citizenship challenges
Health challenges • Obesity • Substance abuse • Risky behaviours, road accidents • Sexually transmitted diseases • Mental and psychological distress
Intimate relationships challenges • Today, young people experience with partner intimacy is quite different. • Young people are marrying later, most births occur to women over the age of 25 • Until recently, the form and function of the male/female relationships were carefully prescribed by family, society and religion • Today, to sustain a life’s journey together only counts the intrinsic quality of personal relation
Unemployment challenges The transition from education to employment occurs between the ages of 20 and 24
Citizenship challenges • Becoming acquainted with the social and political environment • Learning the ”Rules of the Game” in a democratic society • Developing personal political views • Becoming involved in the political debate
16-24 having used the Internet to access or post opinions on political issues
a. Focus on youth empowerment • Many young people doubt they have the power to change anything • Empowering young people is making them more aware of the power which is within them to make change and improve situations
Peer to peer education • The team system gives the possibility to get the best from peer influence and to achieve peer to peer education • Team leaders are peer mentors offering listening, attention, empathy, role models, transferable skills • Peer mentoring allows for a ”youth for youth philosophy”
b. Focus on life skills • Lifeskills are psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour to deal effectively with the demands of daily life • Cognitive skills for analysing and using information • Personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself • Inter-personal skills for communicating an interacting effectively with others
The outcomes of Lifeskills Based Education • LSBE helps young people improve their lives in general: planning ahead, decision-making and positive relationships • translate knowledge, attitudes and values into healthy behaviour and protect themselves against risks and diseases • adopt responsible and safe sexual behaviour, sensitivity and equity in gender relations • improve their employability
c.Opening new fields of experience and cooperation • The current challenges that young people face in their transition to adulthood are calling for innovation
Youth observatories • A Youth Observatory (YO) is a unit of information aimed at grasping the trends, issues or phenomena that affect the generation of 15-30 years in order to inform media and decision-makers and influence youth policies. • Creating and managing a YO is a good opportunity for young people to engage themselves into active citizenship and political education.
Youth social enterprises • Social enterprises are businesses which exist to address social or environmental needs • They can enable young people enter into the work market while serving the community • The Unique Coffee Bar https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/charity/view/4895/unique-coffee-bar) • Santropol Roulant (http://santropolroulant.org) • LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation (http://www.loftycsei.org)
Conclusion • Education either functions • as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity • or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world • – Paulo Freire