Content area
Abstract
During the past decade the field of youth development has grown by leaps and bounds. Numerous initiatives addressing the challenges that many youth face in their community -- especially those who are underserved -- have emerged with this growth. These initiatives have been guided by a variety of curricular models. Individuals who work in youth programs adopt models that let them hang onto their passion and values, which are what motivates them to work with kids. Teachers who are guided by national, state and local standards often try to include responsibility-based experiences in their pro~rams. An important point in all this is that no matter where youth-development programming takes place, it will remain a constant in addressing the challenges that youth face now and in the future. How society responds to these problems will depend on how leaders and teachers form interconnections among themselves, with the youth, and with the larger world.
