Danas YDEV Blog

           Before these readings, I understood care in education and youth development as the act of showing empathy and respect for one another in a youth/school setting. This care could be a teacher to student, student to teacher, student to student, and overall ideally a common theme within a given environment. To have an environment that embraces the ability to care for one another, you see youth and adults understand a wide range of perspectives and varying needs. No one is put into a "you should feel this way" type of box but rather everyone puts themselves into the shoes of another. This form of care helps people to understand where others are coming from and how to support each other within a given environment to see individualized growth and interconnected growth.       Some quotes that stuck out to me in the text are as follows, "When confronting stark realities they have never thought about, or have chosen not to see, man...

Social Justice Youth Development in Action I see the theme and focus of Social Justice Youth Development in many youth spaces. I truly believe that our generation and the ones coming after us truly understand the importance of speaking up about social justice issues and taking direct action. On a personal note, I follow many Instagram pages that have strong advocacy for topics such as LGBTQIA support, sex-positive/sexual health education, mental health awareness, and so on. Many of these pages are nonprofits that support programming for youth to have a voice and enact change in their lives and overall communities. Some of these accounts are, sexpositive_families, getrealmovement, and of course my past and current organizations that I work for pasa_afterzone, astrogram401, and nathan_bishop_cheer. I wanted to mention social media because the impact it has made on younger generations has helped promote there need to step up and create fair and just relations between themselves and the co...

BLOG POST #5: Ideology Double Journal- Quote 1: " While we did and still do welcome students who are exiting traditional preservice teacher programs (as well as other majors) we learned quickly that YD is not merely a retention program.  We attract many undergraduates with strong academic records who want to work with youth outside of school structures." Reflection- When I first heard of YDEV, the image that people held for the program was exactly as the first line stated. A fall back for Education Majors who couldn't reach the requirements. Soon after I discussed with a friend who was apart of the YDEV community what the program meant to him. Personally, I was at odds with my Psychology major and was considering doing an "individualized major plan." After speaking to my friend, I quickly realized from his passion for the program and all the amazing opportunities and classes that it offers, that it was the absolute perfect fit for me and my future. I am so fort...