Effects of Parental Divorce on Children's Financial Support for College Students

No-fault divorce laws, and the lowering of the age of minority from 21 to 18 years have combined to have unintended negative impact on the children of divorce. Previous research has shown that children whose parents are divorced are at increased risk for emotional problems and a reduced standard of living. This study was conducted to learn more about the effects of parental divorce on a young person's access to a college education. A questionnaire was developed to learn how students pay for college, and what non-financial support they receive from parents. The questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample 9 of 19 students at a state university. Findings indicated that young people whose parents were divorced received higher Pell grants, were more likely to provide more of their own necessities, and were more likely to repay their college loans themselves. Further, young people whose parents were divorced were much more likely to have their material and fnancial needs met by their custodial parents rather than their noncustodial parents. Implications are that young people with divorced parents may have less financial support for college from their family, and the support they receive is much more likely to come from their custodial than noncustodial parent. Changes in child support laws and financial aid policies are recommended.     

“Adding Their Flavour to the Mix”: Involving Children and Young People in Care in Research Design

Abstract

Children and young people are often the subjects of research but are not usually thought of as codesigners of research projects contributing to the development of tools and resources so that research about them and their peers is more likely to be appropriate and effective. This paper describes and analyses the involvement of a group of 14 children and young people who have been in out-of-home care. They assisted in the design of a research project that sought their views on what makes a “good” foster carer. The impetus for this study arose from a desire to include children and young people as stakeholders in improving the foster care system and a long-held belief that they could and should be active partners in creating change. The study demonstrated how children and young people could be engaged creatively in individual and group conversations and activities in relation to potential research questions and research methods and tools. The paper concluded that capturing their views will ensure that research will be of benefit to other children and young people and to policy makers and practitioners working in the field.     

Constructions of child and youth advocacy: emerging issues in advocacy practice

The development of child and youth advocacy has been informed by varying theoretical perspectives and in the last decade has been increasingly incorporated into policy and legislation for young people in receipt of welfare services. Through examining the varying perspectives of young people, advocates and commissioners of advocacy services it can be seen that although there is some consensus about how advocacy should be provided, the construction of advocacy by adults may have a significant impact on how it is experienced by young people. This paper draws on material from five advocacy projects to examine how advocacy is constructed by those involved in the provision and receipt of services. It argues that there is a danger that the construction of advocacy in an adult proceduralised way is likely to compromise its potential to challenge the structures that deny young people opportunities to participate in decision making about their lives.     

Drama for Empowerment: the role of Drama in Education with special reference to work in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe

This article deals with the strengths and pitfalls of Drama in Education. I describe two projects that have focused on the empowerment of young people in a civil society and the promotion of intercultural understanding between the countries of Western and Central and Eastern Europe: “Seeding a Network” and “Branching Out”. It is argued that drama is the most inclusive and social of all art forms. Drama in education provides young people with a safe context in which they can tackle major issues, and allows teachers and students alike to radically re‐examine their social and personal relationships. The dangers associated with drama are also discussed.     

The voice of young people – contribution for their involvement in the school

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research project was to gain an understanding of, and to mobilise the voices of diverse young people enrolled in a Portuguese secondary school. A case study methodology, in conjunction with action research methodology, was used for this study. The action research data indicated that projects conceived throughout the study were successful in mobilising the voices of 14 young secondary school students in decision-making processes. The young people engaged democratically, made informed decisions about themselves and their peers, managed conflicts, and reinforced the importance of interpersonal relationships. These changes took place at the individual, as well as group levels.     

Higher education and civic engagement

This paper focuses on the relationship between social engagement, particularly civic engagement, and education. It is well known that more highly educated people are more likely to engage in voluntary work in formalized settings. It has been difficult to disentangle the effect of higher education from that of family origin and occupational socialization. This paper examines the effects of tertiary education on the social and civic engagement of young people, using the British Household Panel Study. The social and civic activity of young people is observed in their late teens, before entering the labour market or tertiary education, and compared with that of the same young people in their early 20s, after completing tertiary education courses or gaining labour market experience. It was found that the social and civic engagement of young people who would enter higher education was higher in their late teens than that of their peers who did not enter. However, higher education had a small additional effect on civic engagement, for both young and mature students. The children of professionals were the social grouping most likely to be involved in civic activities. The relationship of higher education, professional occupations and family socialization is discussed.     

I wouldn’t mind moving actually: Exploring Student Mobility in Northern Ireland

This article examines orientations towards future geographical mobility amongst young people in Northern Ireland presently studying at third level educational institutions. Following contextualisation of youth mobility as pertaining to students in this region, the results of recent quantitative and qualitative research are discussed. Over half of these young people, 55 per cent, see themselves living outside Northern Ireland at some point in the future. Furthermore, in response to a number of statements on family relationships, peer associations and community attachments, young people with mobility intentions are found to be more likely to have families who support migration intentions. These potentially mobile young people also tend to have peers and siblings with prior experience of geographical mobility and show signs of being less deeply attached to their local communities and/or local identities. A number of qualitative case studies further illustrate the diversity of mobility orientations within the sample, ranging from those positively predisposed towards migration to those more averse to such movement.     

Age group differences in political activism in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

There is a dearth of studies on age-related patterns of political activism in Malaysia, specifically on young people’s patterns of political participation relative to their elders, and in relation to the rich literature that has developed in Western democracies. By analysing survey data from Wave 6 (2010–2014) of the World Values Surveys (WVS), this study aims to investigate the differences in political engagement between younger and older people in Malaysia, including new repertoires outside the mainstream politics, by addressing the question of whether young Malaysians are more active in political activities compared to older groups. The findings conform to the expected patterns in the literature that young people are less likely to participate in conventional political activities than their respective elders. However, we find no significant differences for unconventional political participation. The study further shows that demographic indicators such as the levels of education, gender and ethnic group belonging do not appear to be linked to the age gap between youth and their elders in political activism. As such, the study provides evidence that young people in Malaysia are less likely to be politically active than their elders and that this is not clearly attributable to the socio-demographic factors analysed.     

Temporary liberties and uncertain futures: young female Muslim perceptions of life in England

This article explores how young female Muslim university students in London and Birmingham experience life in England. Through focus groups and interviews, talk about three main topics was collected: how young Muslims frame their identities; how they are perceived by others; and how they perceive Muslims to be portrayed and represented in public life. Analysis shows that the participants: presented themselves as ambitious and autonomous; experienced direct and indirect exclusion as young Muslims; perceived a lack of diverse Muslims role models and ambassadors in public life; and that, despite their optimism, felt their futures in Britain were uncertain. The young people recognised the temporary liberties they have around dress and practice as university students that are potentially restricted in wider society. The research highlights the problems created by stigmatising public discourse around Islamist extremism that fuels narrow, deficit-focused policy that exacerbates the exclusion of young Muslims.     

发展大学生领导力教育的瓶颈及对策

世界各国的经验表明,高校开展大学生领导力教育有利于大学生更好地适应未来不断变化发展的现代社会。近些年,我国也开始关注大学生领导力教育问题,但在发展大学生领导力教育过程中存在定位有失偏颇、理解不够全面、教育资源的开发与利用不足等三大瓶颈。为此,对大学生领导力教育进行恰当定位,从大学生成长成才的角度出发开展领导力教育。探索大学生领导力教育长效机制显得十分紧迫和必要。     

Moral distinctions and structural inequality: homeless youth salvaging the self

This paper explores the construction and contestation of moral distinctions as a dimension of contemporary structural inequality through a focus on the subjectivities constructed by young people who have experienced homelessness. Empirical material from two research projects shows that in young people's narratives of homelessness, material insecurity intertwines with the moral economies at work in neoliberal capitalist societies to construct homelessness as a state of moral disgrace, in which an ungovernable experience is experienced as a moral failure. When young people gain access to secure housing, the increasing stability and security of their lives is narrated in terms of a moral adherence to personal responsibility and disciplined conduct. Overall the paper describes an economy of worth organized around distinctions between order and chaos, self‐governance and unruliness, morality and disgrace, which structures the experience of homelessness. As young people's position in relation to these moral ideals reflects the material conditions of their lives, their experiences demonstrate the way that moral hierarchies contribute to the existence and experience of structural inequalities in neoliberal capitalist societies.     

Challenging the Image: the involvement of young people with disabilities in volunteering and campaigning

Much of the debate about young people with disabilities focuses on the difficulties these young people experience and their needs in terms of service provision. Rarely is there a focus on the positive contribution that disabled young people themselves make to society. The paper describes research which aimed to highlight the contribution that young people with disabilities make to their communities, by focusing on their participation in volunteering and campaigning. A national survey of disabled young people's participation was undertaken, as well as two case studies of particular projects. The paper describes the range of voluntary and campaigning activities being undertaken by young people with disabilities, highlights the effects of participation on the young people and those around them, and identifies issues for organisations wishing to enable more young people with disabilities to participate in this way.     

Overcoming barriers: engaging younger students in an online intercultural exchange

This paper reports on a small-scale project involving an online school exchange between two classes of 12-/13-year olds located in the North of England and the Ruhr area of Germany. The overarching aim of the project was to develop intercultural understanding in foreign language learning through communication in an online environment. Analysing data from website posts, lesson observations, student questionnaires and interviews, the paper investigates the extent to which the project realised this goal, and examines emerging practical and pedagogical issues. Comparing the processes and outcomes of this project in secondary education to similar projects in Higher Education (HE), the research found that the young people learnt more than older students about cultural similarities than differences. They were thus less likely to be party to cultural misunderstandings, developing friendly relationships and openness towards a people of a different culture. However, their failure to notice differences may have been due to a lack of in-depth discussion and absence of more demanding student tasks. The paper concludes that in order to develop more sophisticated intercultural learning, expertise derived from telecollaboration in HE needs to be adapted to the lower secondary school context, drawing particularly on auto-ethnography and ethnographic interviewing.     

Photography as a pedagogical tool for shedding light on ‘bodies-at-risk’ in physical culture

In Western countries, given current global public health imperatives around obesity, the lack of engagement with and compliance to normative health-related physical cultures is a concern for young people of ethnic minority backgrounds (particularly females) and low socio-economic class. These groups represent cohorts of young people more likely to be physically inactive and unhealthy compared to other groups, and thus are framed as ‘bodies-at-risk’ or portrayed as a ‘problem’ by neoliberal projects of the body in public health. What remains hidden in the enterprise of the fit body produced by a Western physical culture of healthism, however, is how sport and physical and health education in schools continue to reproduce inequalities of gender and race/ethnicity that heavily bear upon some young people's bodies in local sites. To problematise the body-at-risk discourse, this visual participatory ethnographic research conducted in inner-city, state-funded schools in the Midlands region of the UK, aimed to reveal the visual dimensions of embodiment as expressed by young people of different ethnic backgrounds in the local contexts of their lives. Student-researchers used digital cameras to create visual diaries entitled Moving in My World to express their thoughts, feelings and ideas, and to ‘speak for themselves’ about their knowledge of their own bodies, sharing their embodiments. What moving in their worlds meant to young people varied significantly based on differences of cultural background, gender negotiations and opportunities for, and choices in, their engagement with physical activity. The student-researchers’ visual diaries captured a heterogeneity of meanings about the moving body that young people construct and represent in their creation of the hybrid physical cultures of their daily lives.     

Young People's Participation — Where Next?

This article is about young people in the UK's participation in decisions that affect them. It draws, in particular, on three research and evaluation projects that were undertaken in partnership with young people as researchers, and directly exploring the views and experience of young people of their participation in the voluntary and statutory sector. Its purpose is to contribute to reflection on young people's participation to review what has been done and what has been learnt, to consider what next, where our efforts should be focused in the future as adults and young people seek together to develop and implement meaningful opportunities for participation.     

Youth gambling in Melbourne's west: Changes between 1996 and 1998 for Anglo‐European background and Asian background school‐based youth 26

Abstract

In this study of gambling frequency and problem gambling in school‐based young people from the western suburbs of Melbourne, 710 students from Years 10, 11 and 12 were surveyed in 1996, and 776 students from the same years and from the same schools were surveyed in 1998. The mean age of both cohorts was 16.3 years. The major aim of the study was to assess changes in youth gambling patterns over this two‐year period. A second aim was to compare gambling patterns among Asian youth in comparison with their Anglo‐European counterparts. Results indicated that gambling frequency (including use of poker machines) had significantly reduced over the two‐year period, as had problem gambling. Contrary to the stereotype, young Asian background students were less likely to gamble than Anglo‐European students, spent less money on gambling, but paradoxically, scored higher on the problem gambling scale. Possible reasons for this anomalous finding were discussed.     

‘Having a say’: children and young people talk about consultation

There has been a recent surge of interest in consulting children and young people about issues affecting them. Research in this area can in the main be said to have been motivated by adult agenda, with little attempt to seek the views of children and young people themselves. This paper is based on what children have said about consultation. They were critical of some of the more widely used methods, largely because they saw them as unrepresentative. The main message from the research is that children want to be consulted if it is done properly, if it is about issues directly affecting them and if they see it as likely to yield results that are likely to benefit them or other young people. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring youths' perceptions of the hidden practice of youth work in increasing social capital with young people considered NEET in Scotland

This small-scale research explores the generation of social capital in young people growing up in one urban area and one rural area in Scotland via community-led youth work projects that aim to re-engage young people categorised as NEET (Not in Employment Education or Training). By looking at their varied and complex biographies, it considers young people's experiences and perceptions of their communities and their transitions from education to the workplace. Using social capital as a theoretical lens, we examined the impact that youth work can have not just on these important transitions but also upon the young people themselves. By visiting two different sites of engagement we were able to explore whether the type of initiative (media or sports) or place (urban or rural) had an impact on the generation of capital for young people. The youth work practice in both areas acted as a glue between the young people and their communities, creating opportunities where the two could be bound together and relationships created. This occurred in both sites regardless of the area or type of initiative and confirmed in this study that youth work acts as a site of capital building.     

Exploring narratives of education: disabled young people’s experiences of educational institutions in Ghana

Disabled young people in many low and middle-income countries experience significant levels of educational exclusion due to disabling social and physical environments and are more likely to be illiterate than their non-disabled peers. Most social sciences and development literature, however, tends to homogenise the educational trajectories of disabled young people and focuses predominantly on the perspectives of educationalists, development experts and carers in assessing educational needs and institutions. Consequently, the experiences of young people across multiple categories of social difference, and their agency in shaping their own educational trajectories, remain largely unknown. This article contributes to filling this gap by exploring the educational narratives of young people with different impairments in mainstream, special and integrated schools in Ghana. The article shows how exploring individual narratives provides new insights into the educational needs of and ‘appropriate’ education for disabled young people in the Global South.     

Young People as Co‐producers in Policing across England. An Evaluation of the ‘Youth Commission’ on Police and Crime

This paper discusses a recent study on three ‘Youth Commission’ on police and crime projects. Professional viewpoints were interpreted to understand how they valued young people's participation and made sense of their experiences and capabilities. Framed within policing reforms, the ‘Youth Commission’ projects regard young people as co‐producers, who work in partnership with professionals to address police and crime issues. The focus is upon professionals and their relationships with young people for transformative participation and social outcomes. Working in partnerships showed interdependency but identifies further challenges if professionals do not truly value young people's participation.