We Think Twice: For and By Young People

We Think Twice is an online resource hub for teens, designed by teens. The space, funded by the Administration for Children and Families’, Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, helps young people learn about peer pressure, goal-setting, financial literacy, writing resumes, the real cost of having a baby, drug and alcohol use, dating and relationships, and more. Youth can continue to help shape and develop the site by providing feedback on We Think Twice products, designs, and social media campaigns. Young people who engage with the site can also earn gift cards.

Out-of-School-Time Youth Worker Stress

Working with youth in out-of-school-time programs can be stressful, and that stress can impact the young people in those settings. A recent study appearing in the Journal of Youth Development delved into the experiences of more than 100 youth workers in 25 programs to better understand their personal and professional stressors. Researchers found that workers’ personal stress combined with a negative work environment was associated with higher levels of job stress while positive and substantial supervisor support was associated with lower levels of stress.

Access the study here: http://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/2020-15-1-SIA-03/1003

Helping Young People Get Organized

This article from Child Mind Institute speaks directly to young people with executive functioning issues or ADHD about strategies for becoming more organized, and why it can be helpful. Coming from a growth mindset, the author offers practical suggestions for identifying solutions that fit, breaking big projects into simpler steps, and coping and communicating when disorganization causes problems at school, work or home.

Read the article here: https://childmind.org/article/how-to-help-yourself-get-organized/

Why Resilience Matters

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has a new series of videos on the importance of understanding, developing, and strengthening resilience in young people. The first of the three short videos defines the fundamentals of resilience—protective factors that allow people to adapt and succeed in the face of hardship. The second video delves into the science of resilience, and the third video discusses how resilience is built and nurtured.

Watch the series of videos here: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-resilience-series/

Helping Homeless Youth Vote

A new article in Teen Vogue discusses the barriers that homeless youth face when it comes to registering to vote, and ways that RHY have successfully registered in different states around the country. The article includes examples from formerly homeless youth, including why, in their own words, it was important to them to vote. The article also explores what some presidential candidates have said on the campaign trail about addressing the problem of youth homelessness.

Read the article here: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/homeless-youth-united-states-2019