Research has shown that parents tend to pass educational advantage or disadvantage on to their children. However, little is known about the extent to which the intergenerational transmission of education involves children's agency. In this study we drew from two traditions in sociological and social psychological theorizing--the theory of cultural…

This article explores the way in which government policy shapes the lives of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). In particular it examines how the concept of NEETs is set within a specific infrastructure and discourse for managing and supporting young people. The article provides a brief history of the NEET…

Adolescent drug abuse is a national concern with 22% to 35% of high school age individuals having used tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana (Kann et al., 2014). Additionally, approximately 5% of adolescents develop a substance use disorder each year (SAMHSA, 2014). However, only one in ten adolescents of the 1.3 million youth who need treatment will…

Youth unemployment has been a cause for concern in the United States for years. Youth unemployment costs society--through the loss of talent and costs of social supports and subsidies. Jobless young people are more vulnerable to a range of challenges, including the ills already plaguing their communities: high rates of unplanned pregnancy,…

Despite substantial research into underage youth's source of alcohol, few studies have examined how they go about obtaining alcohol through various means. This study explored the nature of alcohol access by Chinese adolescents and how their own perceptions around alcohol availability influence them to source alcohol in particular ways. This…

Background: The complexity of the childhood obesity epidemic requires the application of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in a manner that can transcend multiple communities of stakeholders, including youth, the broader community, and the community of health care providers. Aim: To (a) describe participatory processes for engaging…

This ethnography explores incarcerated students' experiences and dynamics of identity formation inside a youth prison school. Across two years, 100 students and 50 adults were engaged. The structure, discourse, and adult-student interactions revealed a fixation on framing students as threats with a racialized undertone while also exposing the…

Given the title of Literacy teacher, and expected to teach three 50-min periods a day to youth, ages 12 to 17, who were awaiting trial, the then 23 year old author's classroom was located in the basement of an adjoined building fronting two urban thoroughfares. Toronto's family court building still remains at the front entrance, but the back…

This article explores the utilization of the theory of a Black ratchet imagination as a methodological perspective to examine the multiple intersections of Black and queer identity constructions within the space of hip hop. In particular, I argue for the need of a methodological lens that recognizes, appreciates, and struggles with the fluidity,…

This short communication provides our insights into how or in what ways educators can more effectively support aspiration of at-risk/high-risk youth toward meaningful education. These are informed by the key learnings from our ongoing youth engagement research. Those insights emphasize the importance of "meaningful engagement of youth"…

Fewer than half of the young people attending vocational institutions in Norway complete their education within the allotted five years. Indeed, many of these students have non-linear paths to completion. However, it is not changes in the dropout rate that make this different from earlier generations but the expansion of formal education and the…

The Comprehensive Health Education Workers (CHEW) Project is a community-based initiative that educates sexual and gender minority (SGM or LGBTQ) young people about comprehensive--mental, physical, sexual, and social--health and that supports their comprehensive health needs with other services. Since October 2014, CHEW Project staff have served…

This article examines how martial arts students retell their stories about being left behind and how they have experienced, viewed, and struggled with the invisible violence. Popularly known as the "hometown of Chinese martial arts," Dengfeng is home to 48 registered martial arts schools and more than 70,000 full-time students. Drawing…

This article details the development and validation of a measure of critical consciousness, defined as the capacity of oppressed or marginalized people to critically analyze their social and political conditions, endorsement of societal equality, and action to change perceived inequities. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was…

In this article, we take a strength-based approach to understand how applied theatre as a vehicle provides opportunities for embodied voices to have a positive influence on the well-being, and attitudes to health, of young people who have been "pushed" to the margins. We begin by explaining the concepts of well-being, embodiment and…