At-risk Youth

At risk youth is a term used to describe young adults who don’t have the best conditions growing up or don’t have the best conditions in their life as of now, which puts them “at risk”. Future problems of the at-risk youth would be things such as poor mental health, criminality, drug misuse and teenage pregnancy (France, 2008). Even if a couple of risk factors are present in their life, they are deemed as a risky individual. Risk factors, in this formula, might include childhood poverty, dropping out of high school, living in a rural area, having a single mother, or being a visible minority (Foster, 2011 p.127). At risk youth are usually pegged as the bad kids who aren’t going to go anywhere in their life, who enjoy their frowned upon lifestyle and don’t want to change. They may also be seen as choosing this lifestyle purposely, not because of their unfortunate circumstances that they’ve been dealt with. This is usually the opposite of the truth, most at-risk youth are more motivated than other kids their age who aren’t in the same situations, to change.

            There is now an emphasis on preventing the problems that the young people create because they are adults in the making and society wants to better them because they are our next generation and are going to be taking care of the younger generations, and teaching them what they know. From my experience there is a lot of means of prevention for at youth risk in my hometown, mostly from our high school. We have a program for kids and the teachers are so motivated to help them change, especially with regards to getting good grades and go off to post secondary and do something with their life. They tend to what they’re not good at and help them see what they are good at so they will have a more positive outlook on life.

            When at youth risks are sent to jail, juvenile center or a psychiatric ward for something that they did wrong, you never know how they are treated or what’s going on behind the scenes. Take for example Ashley Smith; she got arrested for a minor crime (throwing apples at a postman) and was sent to what was supposedly the best psychiatric ward in Canada to help her with her problems. Ashley was only supposed to be there for a month and it turned into a 4 year stint of her being abused constantly, never getting the medical/psychiatric attention that she needed and being shipped around to numerous institutions. She was crying out for attention and the guards ignored it. It makes you wonder if this happens more than we think with other at risk youths who are sent to jail. There is evidence that shows youths involved in crime and criminal careers (drugs and theft are 2 examples) arise as a result of interactions between young people and the criminal justice system (France, 2008). It has also been shown that at risk youth predicts a later life of ill health, criminality and social disrepute (Foster, 2011).

            What the at-risk definition doesn’t touch base on is the motivation behind each individual to get them out of their situation and to change their lifestyle, “As a label, it fails to encapsulate people’s experiences early in life, and how they see themselves” (Foster, 2011 p.132). Personally I think coming from a background where you have dealt with hardships and haven’t been spoiled, you’re more motivated to work for something because you know what you want in the long run; you want what you’ve never had which could include a stable household, a close family, money to fall back on and a good paying job that you love.

Foster, K. (2011). At risk of what? possibilities over probabilities in the study of young lives. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5b6de055-b086-465e-82d5-29a88a79dd5b@sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=21

France, A. (n.d.). Risk factor analysis and the youth question. 11, 1-15.