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Child and Youth Education

Understanding, supporting and encouraging kids

In this section I will present issues I have collected, which primarily revolve around the problems of children and adolescents. These are articles about child and youth education, as well as messages, notes on concerns and difficulties relating to socio-educational subjects. I will also discuss the impact of the social environment (milieu) as well as the further development of the child or young people. Ultimately, it is also about the youth worker and how he faces these issues and the possible help he can provide.

It is also about concepts, which keep youth work stimulating and multifaceted. It is to provide for children and young people a wide range of experience for personal development and discovery of one's own abilities.

Child and Youth Education - working with youth

I will also raise various psychological issues, concerning the behaviour of children and adolescents. It goes without saying, that every volunteer or full-time youth- or social worker has received several years of psychological training. This is essential always to understand the behaviours and reactions of young people, which at times is difficult. This is the reason, why I want to offer you some help to better understand children and teenagers. If understanding prospers, the prospective for a relationship between the youth worker and the respective child or teenager arises. The reactions will vary widely - those of the child but also those of their supervisors - (youth workers, educators, teachers ...) and will act to provide support and assistance.

For some subjects, there are numerous books. It should go without saying that the presented issues are merely an introduction. The scope of this pages is too small to deal with them in depth. Nevertheless, it is my desire to provide some help, encouragement and food for thought. Your feedback and additions are always welcome. They are added to the section comments on the respective contribution.

Binge drinking

When we talk about binge drinking, we mean, getting drunk purposely with the aim to drink oneself into a state of euphoria. Drinking is no longer casual or recreational it rather becomes the sole purpose of a whole group. Those activities are referred to as "binge drinking" or "drinking contest".
Aggressive behaviour in children and adolescents

Aggressive behaviour in children and adolescents is always a sign of help- and hopelessness, a sign of insecurity; fear, they want to hide and then hide it under a layer of aggressiveness and a “super-cool” demeanour. Those young people are looking for acceptance, want to be taken seriously and are looking for reliable friends.
Bullying in children and adolescents

Children and young people particularly are excellent for hiding unpleasant things such as bullying from their parents and other adults. Bullying in children and adolescents begins where it leaves traces, which in the worst case scenario, can damage them for life. Obviously, it is paramount to recognise bullying as early as possible to take appropriate countermeasures.
Cutting respectively self-harming

The classic example for self-harming behaviour: the child scratches or cuts himself with a knife repeatedly, usually on the arm. Over time, those scratches or cuts scar, which in turn are re-opened by the self-harming person with another cut. Self-harming behaviour in children and adolescents always an expression of intense stress and acts as a kind of valve to try to get rid of these burdens.
Drug Prevention

When we talk about drug prevention, we mean preventative measures. For example, educational campaigns and programmes, projects, which aim to reduce the risk of addiction.
Puberty

What particular problems can occur in children and adolescents during puberty? Children and adolescence tend to instigate power struggles between themselves and their parents to challenge their authority. Connected to the often bad mood youngsters tend to sport, due to their sheer uncontrollable, internal emotional chaos, it is almost obvious to see how that can lead to explosive situations in the family home.
Fear/anxiety disorders in children and adolescents

Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents are foremost in the social field and less directed against specific objects, situations or animals. Social anxiety disorder or phobias manifest usually there, where the child or young person comes into contact with other people.
Overprotected children and its consequences

If those kids got into a loving and placid environment, where there are no reprimands or criticism but given space to explore themselves, this will help those in "packed in cotton wool" children immensely.
Boys in danger - the mental suffering of boys

Good boys are certainly low maintenance. Yet, what causes this “being good”? The result of boys who always duck is a lack of confidence, insecurity and fear. While boys often look very cool and are, unlike girls, much more carefree, boys also suffer great internal fears, worries and problems. They are, according to the report above, behavioural more noticeable and consequently more burdened with mental health problems than girls.
Discouraged children - The (lack of) courage to change

Discouragement and despondency: Our positive feedback, encouragement combined with simultaneous trust in the child and its ability to achieve, will eventually prosper in ways for the child to find its own way. It learns to accept itself, discovers his own skills and determines if any given situation is worth fighting for without being discouraged from others or even themselves.
Hyperactivity in children and adolescents

The term hyperactivity compounds of two syllables: syllables "hyper" = "over" and "activity". This describes the excessive action, which can be expressed in language, gestures or emotions.
Drug abuse

Misuse of drugs is one of the greatest dangers in children and young adults. Especially adolescents are particularly susceptible to such temptations. They are not yet firmly established in life; often they also have not found their personality entirely.
Pampering and its consequences

Spoiling children has a significant impact on their development. Providing too much help and support can easily lead that our youngsters lose their courage to take action. The consequence may be that they deal with their surroundings in a very disturbing manner.
Encouragement of children

The by far, most effective method in the educational and psychological work is reassurance (encouragement) for the young person. It is a force, which moves people to proactive and positive changes in their own thoughts, feelings and experiences. Not only is this the primary task of educators and psychologists, but also and especially for parents.
Children and adolescents of mentally ill parents in the youth group

Usually, we do not know if the parents or one parent has a mental health problem, which has already had impacted on the children. What does mental health problem even mean? Every person has his quirks, sometimes more, sometimes less, and every one of them has psychological causes.
Children should not be too obedient

In the frame of the youth group, overly obedient children should be given possibilities to find their own way. Develop opinions and how to represent them as well as the courage to ask more and more of themselves.
Dispute between children or teenagers

The background and causes that lead to conflicts are not always apparent. Sometimes it’s only small things, which trigger an outburst or fight. Perhaps, beforehand over time, someone felt disadvantaged, pushed back or felt less valued.
Excessive media use

Going to a summer camp for two weeks and renouncing your Handy or Smartphone is almost unthinkable – however, it is possible. It offers young people an alternative to getting to know the real world, to build social contacts without taking refuge or respectively retreat into an unreal world.
Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying, in many cases, is not limited only to the network; it also finds its way to the playground, the sports club, and other places. It often begins with insulting messages from a single person and then quickly snowballs from there on. Suddenly it's no longer just the one person. Semi-anonymously others join in through the net.
Children of Divorce

Children who live through the divorce of their parents often take a fall when it comes to trusting other people. This trust issue can lead, especially in young adults, to doubts and worries regarding their own relationships. Children of divorce are cautious building new relationships and have a greater fear to start their own families.
Highly Gifted children and their problems

One would assume that the highly gifted child in most case only has advantages. In most cases, gifted children are automatically excluded in many ways. This exclusion can be observed especially in the social field. Because of its giftedness, the child can be very different in comparison to its peers at the same age.
Violent children and adolescents

The chief factor for violent children and teens are their previous life experiences and what they learned from it. No child ever is never born violent.
Adolescence and the mental developmental requirements of young people

The so-called developmental tasks of the adolescent create tension between the individual needs of young people and society's demands and expectations. There is the search for identity the development of self-esteem and self-image, forming an own opinion and setting desired life goals are what keeps young people’s minds occupied.
Changes during the stages of adolescence: physically psychologically and socially
- Puberty Phase: Introduction
- Puberty Phase 1: 10-12 years
- Puberty Phase 2: 13-15 years
- Puberty Phase 3: 16-18 years
- typical behaviour of boys at puberty
- typical behaviour of girls at puberty
- Parents reactions
- Youth work and puberty
As if the physical changes within puberty were not already enough, it is the psyche, which also changes to a considerable extent. Those changes are often accompanied by various uncertainties that are sometimes difficult to deal with for those affected. To support those different stages of puberty adequately it is important to recognize those phases. Physically, mentally and in spiritual terms; in girls as well as in boys. Even though, within the youth group the teenager meets people of the same age; it is also possible that he chooses the youth worker as a potential outlet for his problems. Young people want be taken seriously and will appreciate this when it happens. The youth worker is required to have a definite attitude, shows understanding and openness.
Anxious children within the youth group

Again and again you will see children and young people coming to your youth group who are fearful and less confident than others. In trying to understand the child, it is important to find out where those fears originated. It would be utterly careless and negligent to refer to these children as cowards or to force them to do things they are afraid of without fathom the dimension of fears first.
Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to appreciate your own just, as much as somebody else’s, feelings. This includes learning to deal with yourself and others in an appropriate manner. When selecting executives, emotional intelligence plays a crucial role. However, even for youth work it is worth to scrutinize the fundamental aspects of emotional intelligence closely. A successful youth leader has a great deal of emotional intelligence.
Empathy/Sensitivity

Through empathy, we can identify with the child or young person. Empathy gives us the ability to understand their needs, motives and feelings. Likewise, in conflict situations (conflicts within the child or with others) there is a higher possibility to help the child appropriately. We can help them to see their hidden needs, understand their feelings and then point them into a brighter future. For the youth worker this means: making time, being able to listen and demonstrate emotional intelligence.
Refusing schooling (Truancy)

Refusing schooling (Truancy) - causes and consequences. Also: the importance of recognizing early signs of truancy to provide adequate help. School psychologists and the (primary) caregivers of the child are in high demand.
Penalties for Children: the powerlessness of adults?

Are there any meaningful penalties? Or is it possible to bring children up meaningfully and without punishments? That is what we want to discuss in the following sections.
Social phobia - Help, my child is shy

Most children are known to be sociable and open-minded. However, there are always exceptions. We are talking here about children, who are always on the sideline and find it hard to communicate with other children (often also with adults). Earlier this phenomenon was simply called shyness. Today it is known as an extreme expression – a social phobia.
Caught in resignation

Today, when we speak of resignation we primarily mean a psychological phenomenon in which the person concerned carries a sense of “giving in, succumbing” regarding a hopeless and inevitable situation. As a result, he lacks drive that can be expressed in either wrath or unusual calmness.
Mental health problems in children and adolescents - A series of related articles
- Introduction
- Burnout - even in children and adolescents
- Depression in children and adolescents
- Learning difficulties - its causes and consequences
- ADD / ADHD - a “fashionable” diagnosis?
- Disturbed social behaviour - how to deal with it?
Taking into account all the demands that are placed on children and young people these days, it is not surprising that it does take them a lot of discipline not getting crushed by the system. Therefore, many parents are trying to teach their child discipline and motivation, starting already at an early age. However, not every child is cut out to survive this procedure without long-lasting damage. In this scenario, a part of carefree childhood is forever taken away. In some cases, it even gets worse. Some children start to display signs of burnout, depression and anxiety disorders. The treatment of those conditions can at times be time-consuming and difficult. In another case scenario, those early signs might be disregarded. The child is told over and over again, if you want to get somewhere in these days and age, you must never show your weaknesses outwardly. It is needless to mention, this attitude of the caregiver sets of a vicious circle, which makes matters only worse.
Dares - Test of Courage

When we talk about dares, I am sure; everybody has his own childhood memories to this topic. This can quickly become a real test of somebody’s courage. And everybody who is working with teenagers will soon realise that dares are still an issue today.
Wrestling, scuffle & fighting

Wrestling, scuffle & fighting takes an important role in the psychomotor development of young people. Also, when scuffling and wrestling kids can really get into the physical stuff of things while at the same time, releasing all excess energy and anger. With other words, scuffling is important to meet the urge in children for movement.
Playing – A preparation for life

In this article, I want to talk about games and their importance for the development of a child or a young person. Games stimulate the mind, the imagination, and promote skills that work together or against each other, to arrive at a specific goal. All those things are essential to prepare for the future, for life.
Dangerous self-assertion - narcissism in children

In a study, 565 children and their parents were interviewed several times separately for 18 months. Questions were mainly asked about self-image or how the parents see their child. It must also be mentioned that there are too few studies to give an exact scientific name to narcissism and its development. For Siegmund Freud, narcissism was something that belonged to the normal development of a human being.