Opportunity Youth: Disenfranchised Young People

III. Positive Youth Development
Positive Youth Development (PYD) refers to intentional efforts of
other youth, adults, communities, government agencies and schools to provide
opportunities for youth to enhance their interests, skills, and abilities. PYD is used in
scientific literature and by practitioners who work with youth to refer to programs
designed to optimize developmental progress.
PYD differs from other approaches to youth in that it rejects an emphasis on trying to
correct what is "wrong" with children's behavior or development. Programs and
practitioners seek to empathize with, educate, and engage children in productive
activities. While not particularly common in use yet, PYD has been used across the
world to address social divisions, such as gender and ethnic differences.
Background
Positive youth development originated from ecological systems theory to focus on the
strengths of adolescence. It is also similar conceptually with the principles of positive
psychology. Central to its philosophy, the theory of PYD suggests that "if young people
have mutually beneficial relations with the people and institutions of their social world,
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