A report said that youth work should be refocused towards programmes that enabled young people to be active citizens.
Source: Gerard Lemos and Francis Bacon, Different World: How young people can work together on human rights, citizenship, equality and creating a better society, Lemos&Crane (020 8348 8263)
Links: Report | Summary | Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Nov
A think-tank report said that Britain was in danger of becoming a nation fearful of its young people, compounding the problems of troubled childhood-adult transitions. A lack of adult supervision of teenagers, in communities where adults did not know their neighbours and where teenage groups went unsupervised on the street, had increased the risk of youth crime and violence. Participation in structured youth activities was better for young people than unstructured youth clubs. The report also recommended that children should be taught about the importance of contraception in their last year of primary school (at age 10-11): British teenagers were the most sexually active in Europe, and were third least likely to use a condom during underage sex.
Source: Julia Margo and Mike Dixon with Nick Pearce and Howard Reed, Freedom s Orphans: Raising youth in a changing world, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release (1) | IPPR press release (2) | IPPR press release (3) | NCB press release | SEF press release | BYC press release | YMCA press release | Young People Now report | FT report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3)
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined how far and in what way social inclusion policies were meeting the needs and rights of children and young people.
Source: Kay Tisdall, John Davis, Malcolm Hill and Alan Prout (eds.), Children, Young People and Social Inclusion: Participation for what?, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A report highlighted the 'double penalty' faced by young people living in interface areas of Belfast, who not only had to deal with the problems associated with poverty, but also experienced the effects of sectarianism, which further exacerbated problems of social exclusion.
Source: Owen Hargie, David Dickson and Aodheen O'Donnell, Breaking Down Barriers: Sectarianism, unemployment and the exclusion of disadvantaged young people, School of Communication/University of Ulster (028 9036 8226)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Nov
An article examined the history, methods, effects, and future of youth participation from the perspective of youth participants. It concluded that organizations outside the children s services sector needed to embrace youth participation, and that the quality of youth participation should be improved. Youth participation needed to become more popular among young people and would benefit from a wider range of young people being involved.
Source: Emily Middleton, 'Youth participation in the UK: bureaucratic disaster or triumph of child rights?', Children, Youth and Environments, Volume 16 Number 2
Links: Article
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the lives of a group of young adults living in a deprived housing estate in the north of England, and sought to explain how young people became involved in crime and drug use. Young men and women described their own personal experiences of exclusion in education, employment, and the public sphere; and how they grew up as objects of suspicion in the eyes of an affluent majority.
Source: Robert McAuley, Out of Sight: Crime, youth and exclusion in modern Britain, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Oct
A think-tank report said that a combination of rising taxes, student debt repayments, and pensions contributions would give the average graduate aged 21-35 an effective tax burden of nearly 50 per cent by around 2010. It called on the government to make improving the economic position of young people a greater priority.
Source: Nick Bosanquet, Seth Cumming, Blair Gibbs and Andrew Haldenby, Class of 2006: A lifebelt for the IPOD generation, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Report | Reform press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
The children s commissioner for England said that young people could be deterred from using 'sensitive' services such as family planning and mental health services by concerns about the confidentiality of the government s planned information-sharing index.
Source: Zoe Hilton and Chris Mills, I Think it s about Trust : The views of young people on information sharing, Office of the Children s Commissioner (0844 8009113)
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report examined the importance of travel in young people's lives, patterns of travel behaviour, experiences of travel, and any barriers to travel or different modes of transport.
Source: Young People and Transport: Their needs and requirements, Department for Transport (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that many public and voluntary sector organizations failed to properly involve young men and boys in consultation exercises.
Source: Participation and Working with Boys and Young Men, Working with Men (020 7237 5353)
Links: Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report evaluated the Children and Youth Board, a body set up to provide ministers with direct advice from young people on the development of national policy and practice in the Department for Education and Skills. It said that the project had demonstrated that the involvement of children/young people within government was valuable and achievable.
Source: Saskia Neary and Kelly Drake, DfES Children and Youth Board 2005-06: Independent Evaluation Report, Research Report 793, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Aug
A new book examined the attitudes of young people to politics and government, and assessed the prospects for re-engaging young people with the formal political process.
Source: Eldin Fahmy, Young Citizens: Young people's involvement in politics and decision making, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jul
The education inspectorate in Wales said that young people had more of a say in their lives: but they did not always develop the skills, knowledge, or confidence to ensure that their voices were heard.
Source: Young People s Participation in Decision Making 2005-2006, HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (029 2044 6446)
Links: Report | HMCIETW press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report described a community-based enterprise which had transformed some of the most disruptive and difficult young black children in the East End of London into model pupils with aspirations and prospects.
Source: Kathy Gyngell and Ray Lewis, From Latchkey to Leadership: A practical blueprint for channelling the talents of inner city youth, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
An article examined the relationship between social capital and civic action among young people. It asked how important social capital was in explaining the level and type of young people?s civic action; whether certain forms of social capital were more important than others in explaining patterns of civic action, and whether the relationship between social capital and civic action was dependent upon individuals? position in the life cycle.
Source: Eldin Fahmy, 'Social capital and civic action: a study of youth in the United Kingdom', Young, Volume 14 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-May
A report recommended publicizing the links between active citizenship in schools and wider participation in civil renewal agendas beyond schools; offering a more co-ordinated approach to active citizenship at a local level; ensuring there was appropriate training for adults and young people; and providing ?joined up? opportunities and experiences for young people which enabled real engagement with decision-making processes.
Source: Eleanor Ireland, David Kerr, Joana Lopes and Julie Nelson with Elizabeth Cleaver, Active Citizenship and Young People: Opportunities, experiences and challenges in and beyond school, Research Report 732, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-May
A briefing paper said that the Youth Cohort Surveys were potentially a rich source of information about the experiences and outcomes of young people as they made the transition from compulsory schooling to tertiary education and/or labour market destinations. But it was difficult to use the youth cohort surveys for analyzing change over time, because of changes in design and survey contractors, inadequate and inconsistent questions and coding, and the poor quality of documentation.
Source: Linda Croxford, The Youth Cohort Surveys - How Good is the Evidence?, Special Briefing 38, Centre for Educational Sociology/University of Edinburgh (0131 651 6238)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2006-May
An evaluation report examined the Young Volunteer Challenge pilot programme. The programme aimed to test whether the YVC model led to an increased uptake of volunteering among young people from low-income backgrounds, and assessed the extent to which this type of intervention could increase the likelihood of progression towards positive outcomes and destinations, particularly into higher education.
Source: GHK Consulting Ltd, Evaluation of Young Volunteer Challenge Pilot Programme, Research Report 733, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-May
The government announced (in the 2006 Budget) a joint policy review by HM Treasury and Department for Education and Skills of children and young people, to inform the 2007 comprehensive spending review. There would be a focus on support for families with disabled children, youth services, and services for families at risk of becoming locked into a cycle of low achievement.
Source: Budget 2006: A strong and strengthening economy - Investing in Britain s future, Cm 968, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | HMT press release | SEU press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report set out a new agenda for debating the relationship between young people, the internet and democracy. It argued that the nature of citizenship was changing there was a generation moving to newer, more creative forms of participation, and that new forms of communication were key to this.
Source: Stephen Coleman with Chris Rowe, Remixing Citizenship: Democracy and young people's use of the internet, Carnegie Young People Initiative (020 7401 5460)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report evaluated a programme designed to connect young people in Scotland with their communities. The programme had been well received at both local and national levels, and had generated "freshness and enthusiasm" around young people's engagement.
Source: York Consulting Limited, Evaluation of the Dialogue Youth Programme, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Date: 2006-Mar
A new book challenged the existing 'moral panic' surrounding children and young people and how they got on with adults, suggesting that the reality was much more positive. It said that although parents viewed their own children positively they might be unconsciously contributing to negative stereotypes of children in general.
Source: Nicola Madge, Children These Days, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | Policy Press press release | NCB press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A survey of young people's attitudes towards the democratic process in Northern Ireland found that fewer than half (47 per cent) believed that politics was relevant in their lives.
Source: Jennifer Hamilton, Youth Participation in the Democratic Process, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release
Date: 2006-Jan