Youth, Volume 3, Issue 2 (June 2023) – 17 articles

Living lab approaches are increasingly being explored and studied as means to address societal problems and develop viable solutions. The approach put emphasis on user participation as a way to co-create new technologies, products or services in an open and real-life environment. Against this background, we set out to ask to what extent a living lab can also be a learning lab. We used the concepts of Project-Based Learning and STEM teaching approaches as a theoretical framework to understand the potential of the Living Lab concept to create learning as well as solutions. This study applies a case study approach as a method for qualitative data collection. The case of the learning lab at “Læringshuset”—one of the schools involved in the SESAM program, was used as the case. The themes for the SESAM program were to create an understanding of the principles of sustainable food production and consumption using a scientific approach. The “Læringshuset” is a newly built school tailored to Project-Based Learning (PBL). In total, 12 rounds of interviews were carried out with three different types of informants who were involved in the SESAM program at Læringshuset: pupils (n = 8), teachers (n = 2) and mentors (n = 4). The data collected formed part of a larger data set that was collected as part of the SESAM evaluation in the 2021 and 2022 versions. This study concludes that the Living Lab format created around a school setting can serve multiple purposes: (i) it can be an important solution provider that acknowledges the value of solutions from young minds, and (ii) at the same time, it can be a learning lab in which multiple actors from the local community can engage in creating valuable solutions and learn from each other. Using the Living and Learning Lab is a good way to create both action and engagement and empowerment, and in particular, we find that it is well suited to create cross-community engagement around topics related to green food system transformation. Full article

Rural areas are facing increasing challenges including declining populations, advanced aging, and a lack of successors. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of rural areas among Chinese and Japanese university students living in urban areas and analyze the determinants influencing their rural attachment and willingness to reside there. A total of 259 students (126 Japanese students in Chiba and 133 Chinese students in Zhengzhou) were surveyed using the place attachment scale, and asked to describe their past experiences in rural areas. Semantic analysis was employed to further explore issues related to their previous rural visit experiences. The results revealed that students’ place of birth, visiting experience, satisfaction with rural areas, interaction with local people, and convenience of accessing rural areas all influenced their attachment and willingness to move to rural areas. Chinese students expressed greater concerns regarding hygiene issues, while Japanese students were more concerned about safety. This study offers some recommendations: promoting educational resources in rural areas and addressing hygiene issues, such as unclean restrooms, in China. In Japan, the focus should be on continued promotion of rural tourism, providing more education on safe driving and environmental safety for university students, and enhancing more access to rural areas through student transportation discounts. Full article

The smoking prevalence among vocational education and training (VET) students is high. This paper describes the development and feasibility test of a multicomponent intervention designed to promote non-smoking behaviour at VET schools. We applied the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) stages and the capability, opportunity, and motivation for behaviour (COM-B) model to develop the intervention components based on theory, evidence, and a thorough needs-assessment study. Moreover, we feasibility-tested the preliminary ideas. All in all, our study was based on the literature, survey data, fieldwork, workshops, and expert and stakeholder involvement. The final intervention programme targets VET students’ smoking behaviour at the school, class, and individual levels through (a) a comprehensive tobacco policy to limit the physical and social opportunities to smoke, supplemented with a two-day staff course in conversations about smoking and an edutainment session (a lecture that both educates and entertains) to support a smoke-free environment; (b) classroom curricular with teaching materials to increase knowledge and social support, along with a quit-and-win competition to increase motivation; and (c) the national Quitline adapted to VET students to increase access to cessation support. The BCW model enabled a systematic and comprehensive development of an intervention, which demonstrates relevant techniques and delivery options to have the potential to reduce smoking in VET schools. Full article

This paper begins by recounting a tale of two Sophias: a humanoid robot and an ‘illegal’ baby immigrant. The tale of two Sophias locates my initial ideas for reflecting on how critical posthumanism might contribute to youth work theory and practice. In this paper I position youth work as a philosophical encounter, whilst also questioning the humanist legacy that lies at the heart of youth work theory. Drawing on the work of Rosi Braidotti and other critical posthuman feminists, I consider how youth work might respond to the posthuman predicament marked by the intersecting forces of advanced capitalism and growing inequalities, the fourth industrial revolution, the digital divide, and advances in Artificial Intelligence, climate change, and environmental destruction. I conclude by providing some reflections on how critical posthuman theory may provide a lens through which young people might consider what it means to be human in the technologically mediated Anthropocene, and also as a paradigm for embracing new possibilities and a praxis of hope. Full article

Digital self-tracking tools can be part of body work to measure, monitor, and optimise progress towards idealised versions of the self. Fitness and calorie trackers are obvious examples but menstrual tracking apps, which can track a large range of bodily ‘symptoms’, can also be part of body work. In this article, I present accounts of young people’s menstrual and fitness tracking experiences from existing literature, illustrating how both types of trackers can function as part of their users’ body work. I interweave these stories with an autoethnographic account of my own embodied experiences with and through menstrual and fitness tracking apps. I explore the ways in which health, beauty, and wellness can become enmeshed in self-tracking practices; how emotions, stress, and sleep can become personal problems to solve; how tracking tools can make body work feel more ‘real’; and the mutual but asymmetrical shaping of digital tracking tools and their users. Though there is an existing body of work on young people’s experiences of digital self-tracking tools more generally (particularly health and fitness tracking tools), young people’s use of menstrual tracking apps is a relatively understudied phenomenon to date. The themes identified in this article point towards possible avenues for future research. Full article

While all vulnerable adolescents are more at risk online than their non-vulnerable peers, those with special educational needs (SEN) require targeted and specialised support. Although they are not a homogenous group, SEN adolescents commonly experience social isolation and a lack of connection or meaningful relationships with peers in their offline lives. Many perceive the internet as a route to alternative means of communicating and interacting with others. Accessibility tools enable autonomous access to the online world, which offers support groups, new friends, entertainment, and connections. This can lead to both potential online relationship-risk encounters and positive experiences. With the attraction of online environments comes the need for digital skills and awarness of possible online risks, yet for adolescents with SEN, their difficulties dictate a need for more than rules, controls, and digital skills. In this study, 4894 adolescents aged 13 to 17, of whom 1207 had SEN, completed the Cybersurvey 2019, an online questionnaire about their digital life. Adolescents were asked about the benefits of using the internet, their online safety support, offline social support, and any online relationship-risk encounters. All participants were recruited through their schools. Descriptive statistics and multiple analysis of variance tests showed that, compared with their peers, adolescents with SEN experienced significantly more social isolation and less parental online safety support. They were also more likely to use the internet for positive purposes, such as socialising and coping. Overall, adolescents with SEN encountered more online relationship risks than their non-SEN peers, with older teens more likely to encounter such risks than younger peers, regardless of their SEN status. Multiple analysis of variance tests also identified that boys perceive internet use as positive to a greater extent than girls, suggesting a gender difference in experiences of the digital environment. A multiple linear hierarchical regression revealed that SEN status, age, social isolation, poor parental online safety support, and greater perceived positive internet use, all significantly predicted online relationship-risk encounters. This article discusses important implications and recommendations for policy and practice related to SEN and online safety and highlights areas for future research to consider. Full article

The aim of this study was to investigate whether playing music during PE lessons had an impact on the intrinsic motivation of high school students, including enjoyment, competency, freedom of choice and stress. Using a mixed method approach, intrinsic motivation of 40 students (25 girls, 15 boys) was surveyed. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was combined with a focus group discussion to collect pupils’ and teacher’s perceptions. Data analysis showed motivation scores to be significantly better during PE with music than PE without music. This difference was also reflected for joy or interest, with pupils experiencing more joy during PE with music. Students reported feeling more enthusiastic with music, which gave them more energy; they participated with higher motivation and had more fun. In addition, the combination of increased concentration and self-confidence resulted in higher competence scores during PE with music. No significant differences were found for freedom of choice and stress in either condition. It can be concluded that playing music during PE positively influences students’ intrinsic motivation. More specifically, the influence of music is mainly found in increased students’ perception of enjoyment, interest and sense of competence. The findings of this study should be the impetus for PE teachers to implement music more often. Full article

As globalisation changes the sociocultural architecture of urban areas, adolescents increasingly interact with different sets of values and worldviews, which can be a potential cause of conflict and anxiety. To date, there is little empirical research on how adolescents perceive and experience social cohesion in a superdiverse metropolitan context such as the Brussels Capital Region. In this study, we elaborate on the relationship between social cohesion and ethnic diversity, using controversial topics as instruments to examine the erosion of social cohesion. To expose these processes, 34 in-depth interviews were conducted with pupils from Dutch-speaking secondary schools in Brussels. Through thematic analysis, the data revealed four overarching themes of controversies: Brussels, religion/philosophy, ethnicity/national belonging and political horizon, epitomising a paradox of conflict and consensus. Notably, during the interviews, the adolescents reported a climate shaped by actions of ‘silencing’, ‘avoiding’ and ‘voicing’ when discussing controversies in a heterogeneous classroom context. This analysis of adolescents’ perceptions of social cohesion hence corroborates the premise that conflict is not the opposite of cohesiveness, but rather an integral part of a pluralistic society. Full article

Because adolescent leisure is important to development, we consider its role in Portuguese adolescent wellbeing. Data for this study came from 303 adolescents in grades 10, 11, and 12 living in a large urban area in northern Portugal. Self-report data were collected in classrooms using a cross-sectional design in two urban high schools. Hypothesis testing used seven hierarchical linear regression models. Except for subjective happiness, experiencing boredom in leisure and/or the ability to make a boring situation more interesting were strong predictors of each wellbeing experience in the predicted direction. Perceptions of healthy leisure were associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, subjective happiness, self-esteem, and positive affect. Active leisure was important to adolescent self efficacy and positive affect. Those who could restructure a boring situation into something more interesting exhibited higher levels of wellbeing experience. Adolescents who perceived parental autonomy control were more likely to experience boredom in leisure. Full article

Doping constitutes one of the main problems in sports. The importance of sociological research on doping is widely accepted. However, such studies in Cyprus are scarce. The purpose of this study was twofold; first, it aimed to examine the knowledge about doping and the attitudes and perceptions towards sports and doping of high-school student athletes in Cyprus; and second, it aimed to explore whether the knowledge about doping and attitudes and perceptions towards sports and doping vary among student athletes with different characteristics (gender, nationality, engagement with team vs. individual sport, and grade level). The participants of this study were 164 high-school student athletes (16.6 ± 0.9 years old) who study in sports high schools in Cyprus, out of whom 106 were males (65.6%) and 57 (34.8%) females. Data were collected through the use of a questionnaire that was anonymously completed by the participants. A quantitative approach was used for analyzing the data. Descriptive statistics were calculated (i.e., mean, SD, and total scores for knowledge), and non-parametric tests (Mann–Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis) were employed, for comparing responses among different athlete groups on their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of doping. The findings reveal that most of the participants lack basic knowledge on doping issues. In terms of their attitudes and perceptions, most of the participants considered doping a serious problem in sports while demonstrating mostly negative attitudes towards doping. Statistically significant differences were found to exist in terms of knowledge among students of different nationalities and high-school grade levels. Also, statistically significant differences were found to exist in terms of attitudes and perceptions towards sports and doping among students of different genders and sport categories (individual vs. team), while differences were also found to exist among students of different nationalities in relation to their attitudes towards sports. The findings have implications for policymaking and educational practices, with the most prevalent need being to design and implement training programs to raise awareness among young athletes about critical features of doping and sports. Full article

There are growing concerns about the number of children and young people who are “Not in Education, Employment, or Training” (NEET). The literature suggests that further research is warranted to help understand what can be done to reduce the number of pupils at risk of NEET, to enable a successful transition into education, employment, or training. In this study, the views of schoolteachers (who provide careers support in schools and make NEET referrals) and career advice service providers (who receive NEET referrals from schoolteachers) are gauged to gain better insight regarding existing careers provision in schools and the efficacy of NEET referral processes. Using a qualitative interview approach, two schoolteachers from the West Midlands (UK) and three career advice service providers were recruited for the study. Thematic analysis of the interviews with schoolteachers identified four superordinate themes: Pupil Contact and Support; A Whole-School Approach to Careers Guidance; Broadening Horizons and Creating Opportunities; NEET Identification and Referral: When, How, and What Happens Next? The interviews with career advice service providers distinguished three superordinate themes: Navigating a Dynamic Landscape; Integration and Affiliation with Schools; Reaching Pupils at Risk of NEET. Taken together, the findings indicate that providing improved and continued communication, collaboration, and coordination of different services appear to be key leverages to address the multiple service needs of young people at risk. Full article

There is a growing interest in adopting a holistic circular economy (CE) to reach a sustainable and economically viable future, thus there is an increasing need for professionals in the field to do so efficiently. In this regard, good education and knowledge sharing are crucial. This knowledge sharing is bi-directional across generations, with everyone gaining equally from the various viewpoints and experiences. CE strategy research and education are beneficial for the implementation of sustainable development that considers economic, social, and environmental spheres. Additionally, attention is being paid to the younger generation, which is now focused on addressing climate change, as evidenced by the growth of the post-Greta Thunberg phenomena. As a result, this paper proposes a set of recommendations to improve measures for circular economy education (ECE) in order to train future CE experts who can contribute to achieving successful sustainable development. This research proposes, through a literature review and case studies analyses, that enhancing ECE can cultivate future CE specialists who can contribute to the successful pursuit of sustainable development as the demand for green jobs grows. According to our preliminary understanding, widespread ECE can be a critical tool for bringing together experienced circular professionals, students, and younger generations, in meeting their needs and advancing circular development through various forms, including specific training and reskilling of professionals required. However, we discovered a lack of consensus across the case studies on the ideal CE expert or educational modality, which is mirrored in the literature, indicating the need for greater collaboration among different disciplines and stakeholders. There also appears to be a general lack of awareness about the benefits of the CE, necessitating the collaboration between the private and public sectors in providing educational opportunities, accessible study materials, and research funding to accelerate innovation and competitiveness. Thus, institutions and businesses could play a role in standardising basic circular principles and competencies in CE as a means of providing basic guidelines that could be supplemented with specialised courses and diverse content ranging from public knowledge to more specialised professionals or students aiding the implementation of CE strategies, which reduce local disparities increasing green jobs accessibility for youth. Conclusively, this paper looks to provide recommendations for improvements in this field. Full article

This research aims to investigate the impact of the family on the social support for children with mental health disorders in a vulnerable environment such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ability of parents to provide consistent care giving using their social support. The main question of this research paper is: what is the impact of the family in the situation of COVID-19 on the diversity of the processes actors provided in creating social adaptability for children with mental health? The previous question was treated via the following hypotheses: H1: the more the whole family is committed to the social support of the child with a mental health disorder, the less independent the achievement of resilience on an individual basis; H2: the more the child with a mental illness belongs to the family, the greater the family’s involvement in social support, even for low-income families. This quantitative field study was conducted in southern Morocco by contacting a sample of respondents (86 respondents) from health institutions, civil society, and the children’s parents and relatives. The study reflected two main findings: that the majority of children were with their families during the pandemic; and the lack of independence of parents and children in the adjustment process. Full article

Previous research has indicated a relationship between risk propensity and the Dark Tetrad personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism). No research has yet been conducted to analyze the relationship between Dark Tetrad personality traits and adaptive or maladaptive identity development. Of interest is whether the Dark Tetrad personality traits are related to identity development and how these factors might affect risk propensity or participation in risk-taking behaviors (e.g., drug use). College students (N = 424) completed an anonymous online survey battery. Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism positively predicted maladaptive identity development, while narcissism inversely predicted pathological identity factors and positively predicted consolidated identity. Consolidated identity, disturbed identity, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy were found to be positive predictors of risk propensity. Finally, narcissism appeared to mediate the relationship between consolidated identity and risk propensity. This study highlights the need for identity-based interventions for adolescents and young adults who may be at risk for delinquent or externalizing behaviors. Further results and their implications are discussed. Full article

An increase in children exhibiting attention difficulties has created the need for more classroom-based intervention programmes. A promising link between physical education and improvement in executive functioning has been at the centre of attention. POTENTIAL constitutes a novel classroom-based psychomotor education programme to enhance students’ attention and listening skills by improving executive functions. A cluster randomised feasibility study was conducted to explore the feasibility of a definitive trial to assess POTENTIAL’s effectiveness regarding (i) recruitment and sampling procedures; (ii) compliance and fidelity; (iii) the acceptability of POTENTIAL by teachers and children; and (iv) the appropriateness of the outcome measures. Four early years classes with an inclusion unit participated: two implemented POTENTIAL and two received no intervention. Eight children in each class (n = 32) were sampled to investigate the appropriateness of the outcome measures. Teachers’ diaries were utilised to explore the acceptability of the activities and the fidelity and compliance to the implementation. The findings regarding POTENTIAL’s acceptability were positive. The recruitment targets were met, and compliance and fidelity were good. Mixed results were produced about the appropriateness of the outcome measures. Thus, the trial protocol could be scaled up in a definitive trial. This study highlights the need for more physical education programmes to support children’s executive functioning. Full article

Peer mentoring programs have proven to be extremely successful for high school students. Yet, most educational research studies rarely seek to understand the perspectives of peer mentors and the impact peer mentoring can have on their development. Even more limited is the research highlighting the experiences of Black and Hispanic peer mentors who reside in urban communities. This qualitative study examines (n = 14) Black and Hispanic high school peer mentors’ roles in providing support to their mentees and their perceived benefit of being a mentor. All peer mentors in the study attended high school in an urban, under resourced community in New Jersey. Analysis revealed three major themes: (1) leadership abilities; (2) witnessing their strengths through motivating others; and (3) Family influences on their mentoring style. We discuss the implications of our findings on future research and educational programming utilizing peer mentors to benefit urban youth of color. Full article

The photovoice literature has focused mainly on research collaborations between researchers in academia and community partners. There is limited evidence of undergraduate students facilitating photovoice research projects with underserved Black, Indigenous, and persons of color (BIPOC). Students’ participation in photovoice research increases their understanding of local issues and can empower them to engage with local communities to create change. This qualitative study explored students’ experiences facilitating photovoice research with BIPOC older adults and frontline healthcare workers. In this study, we trained college students in photovoice methodological skills by introducing photovoice as a participatory qualitative methodology, explained ethics issues and the informed consent process, and clarified the steps and requirements for the photovoice project. Students were paired with BIPOC older adults and frontline healthcare workers. They facilitated the photovoice research project in four stages. Throughout the study, students critically reflected and wrote about the various aspects of their experience facilitating the photovoice research activities based on weekly structured reflection questions. In their weekly journal, student facilitators commented on how both older and younger BIPOC participants were friendly and kind, flexible with the research activity scheduling, inspiring with their stories, and selfless. Students’ reflections indicated that their participants experienced greater emotional and psychological burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated by the long-standing epidemic of systemic racism. Student facilitators overwhelmingly recognized participants’ resilience and perseverance despite these life challenges. Our findings highlight the importance of photovoice in developing and strengthening college students’ qualitative research skills and stimulating critical thinking and creativity, a sense of critical consciousness about social issues and society, and a sense of empowerment. Our results will be relevant to hospital/long-term care managers, policymakers, and researchers. Full article