Browsing by Subject "Youth"
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Item 4-H grows out of first boys and girls clubs(University of Minnesota Extension, 1900) University of Minnesota ExtensionItem 4-H pledge comes of age(University of Minnesota Extension, 1920) University of Minnesota ExtensionItem 4-H youth conservation programs take root(University of Minnesota Extension, 1926) University of Minnesota ExtensionItem 4-H's unique approach teaches life skills(University of Minnesota Extension, 1900) University of Minnesota ExtensionItem Beyond Orange Slices: The Contested Cultural Terrain of Youth Soccer in the United States(2019-06) MANNING , CHARLES (ALEX)This dissertation builds on my four-year ethnographic immersion into the world of youth soccer in the Twin Cities and dozens of interviews with players, parents, and coaches. My dissertation, titled “Beyond Orange Slices: The Contested Cultural Terrain of Youth Soccer in the United States”, demonstrates how various spaces of youth soccer in a metropolitan city are social environments where social inequalities, identities, and discourses of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and community are constructed, challenged, and reproduced. In my dissertation I examine how the field of youth soccer raced, classed, and gendered; how larger social systems of inequality appear and shape taken for granted, but prevalent cultural spaces, such as sport; and how practices of youth soccer serve as a contested cultural site of meaning with regards to parenting culture, families, sporting discourse, youth development, community, identity, and social difference. The first section of my dissertation focuses on how youth soccer is a social field with seven different sites of youth soccer. Within these different locations of soccer’s social field, clubs create, maintain, and define a group identity that is centered on how they “do” youth soccer. Different communities “do” the sport in a manner that is informed by various parenting styles, ideals about community, and visions for proper youth development. The second section of my dissertation is about gender and how different forms of playing and coaching the game are shaped by cultural ideas of masculinity and femininity during youth. Throughout the field of soccer, players, coaches, and parents often intentionally strive to challenge gender norms about who can play and succeed in the game. Yet, many participants often still reproduce gender hierarchy and normativity through soft essentialism. In the final section I argue that soccer, and youth sport, is a useful and particular sociological window into how the dynamics of race and racism operate in the United States, particularly within diverse (racial and ethnic) social spaces. In this section, I show that in many cases youth soccer is a “cosmopolitan canopy” where social difference is supported and co-exists seemingly with ease and normality. Participants in these diverse social canopies of soccer frequently view such diversity as a positive feature of the sport and reproduce happy diversity talk. However, within these diverse soccer spaces, biological notions of race, racist microaggressions, and other forms of racial marginalization and exclusion appear frequently, simultaneously, and often with no formal challenges or reconciliation. These racist ruptures reveal the tenuous characteristics of diverse social spaces and sport, and highlights the limited inclusive potential of diversity discourseItem Central Blood Pressure Regulation in Relation to Obesity in Youth(2017-08) Hultgren, NeilAbstract Introduction Measures of central blood pressure (BP) are hypothesized to be positively associated with obesity status in youth. However, few studies have addressed this topic with a large sample size and wide range of BMI values. Methods A total of 310 participants (males/females =151/159) aged of 8 to 18 years old (mean±SD: 12.8±2.7 years) were recruited. Height (cm) and weight (kg) were measured using a wall-mounted stadiometer and an electric scale. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated (kg/m2) and obesity status was determined using age – and sex- derived BMI percentile (BMI%) with the following categories: normal weight (NW) represented as <85th BMI percentile; overweight/obesity (OW/OB) represented as between 85th to < 1.2 times the 95th BMI percentile); severe obesity (SO) represented as ≥ 1.2 times the 95th BMI percentile. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure body composition. Brachial systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure was measured with an automated cuff. Central BP was obtained from SphygmoCor MM3 systems, which utilizes applanation tonometry to derive radial-aorta SBP (r-a SBP), radial-aorta DBP (r-a DBP), carotid-aorta SBP (c-a SBP), and carotid-aorta DBP (c-a DBP). Central BP measures were compared across obesity groups using ANCOVA with post-hoc Tukey HSD, adjusted for age, Tanner stage, sex, and race, with further adjustment of height for brachial BP. Unadjusted Pearson correlations examined the relationship between central BP measures with obesity (BMI, BMI%, body fat (%), visceral fat mass (kg)). Linear regression analyses examined the association between body fat (%) and visceral fat mass (kg) with brachial and central SBP and DBP after adjusting for age, Tanner stage, sex, and race, with height included for brachial BP. Results There were 120 NW, 89 OW/OB, and 99 SO participants. Body fat (%) was significantly different (p<0.001) among all obesity groups: NW (25.1±6.1 %), OW/OB (39.5±7.2 %), SO (48.0±4.9 %). Brachial SBP (bSBP), r-a SBP, and c-a SBP significantly increased (p<0.001 all) with increasing obesity status. BMI was significantly correlated (p<0.001 all) with bSBP (r=0.64), r-a SBP (r=0.57), and c-a SBP (r=0.52). BMI%, body fat (%), and visceral fat mass (kg) were also all significantly correlated to all brachial and Central BP measures. In multiple regression models, higher values of body fat (%) were significantly associated (all p<0.001) with higher brachial (r=0.66) and central SBP (r-a r=0.59) (c-a r=0.55) as well as brachial (r=0.44) and central DBP (r-a r=0.42) (c-a r=0.46). Higher values of visceral fat mass (kg) were significantly associated (all p<0.001) with higher brachial (r=0.61) and central SBP (r-a r=0.60) (c-a r=0.55) as well as brachial (r=0.39) and central DBP (r-a r=0.42) (c-a r=0.44). Older age was significantly associated with higher r-a SBP (r=0.59. p<0.001) and c-a SBP (r=0.55, p<0.01). Conclusion Central BP, regardless of measurement site, is highly associated with Obesity status (BMI, BMI%, body fat (%), and visceral fat mass (kg)) and hypertension status among youth.Item Co-creating community change: responding to violence through youth media practice(2014-05) Sethi, Jenna KristenYoung people have unprecedented access to media. They are not just "watching" media content; they are critiquing popular media and creating a variety of their own media projects to examine their lived experience (Sefton-Green & Soep, 2007; Chavez & Soep, 2005). The purpose of this critical qualitative study was to illuminate the ways youth, as active agents, address violence in their communities through producing media. The second purpose of this study was to better understand the youth work practices that support young people who examine and change their communities. The following questions guided this project: How do youth experience violence in their communities? How do youth create media to address violence? What does the process of creating media to address violence mean to them? What youth work practices support the efforts of young people in the process of creating media to address violence in their respective communities?Constructivist, critical and participatory theories guided this study (Guba & Lincoln, 2000; Friere, 1970; Cammarota & Fine, 2008). Semi-structured in-depth interviews (Kvale & Brinkman, 2009; Patton, 2005; Madison, 2005) with 15 staff and young filmmakers, mural and spoken word artists in three different urban communities were conducted in order to better understand this phenomenon. Findings expand upon our knowledge of young people's experience with violence. Their experience required a multifaceted analysis of violence including: physical, structural, institutional and emotional realities. Young people in this study created media to address these forms of violence through a sustained and complex process that included personal growth, building media skills and community development. Youth workers supported this process through creating an intentional sense of belonging attuned to young people's context, culture and community. They also co-created spaces where spiritual healing and critical hope could flourish by standing with youth to examine and speak back to injustice inspiring positive change.Item Communicating Biosecurity in Animal Agriculture: Evaluation of Communication That Encourages Dialogue, Learning and Action(2023-05) Schuft, AbigailIt is well documented that implementing biosecurity on an animal farm is beneficial to the animal’s health and wellness and in reducing the risk of production losses caused by diseases. However, compliance of biosecurity protocols has been shown to be low, and a lack of training has been blamed. A preliminary Systems Thinking model is presented to demonstrate how complex factors, including biosecurity, are intertwined with disease response such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). Additionally, to increase the appeal of biosecurity education and better understand teaching methods specific to biosecurity, three research projects were completed. First, biosecurity workshops were developed and delivered to youth in Minnesota to encourage positive changes and long-term outcomes for healthier animals. Nine animal species were the focus of programs where learning gains increased by 38% (p≤0.001) on average and the participants retained the knowledge over time. Most participants indicated they would make one or two changes because of the workshop and follow-up evaluation indicated many did implement changes. By implementing the changes, they further demonstrated how youth can act as an agent of change within the family, farm, and community. Another study evaluated education methods for biosecure barn entry and exit protocols by assessing the number of errors, length of time to complete and how it affected biosecurity compliance over time. Three simulated farm entryways were constructed with a unique set of protocols assigned (Protocol) using common industry practices. A participant learned operating procedures in one of three educational modalities (Method): listen, read, or watch. When half of the participants returned after a lapse of time (> 1 month), they had to rely on their recall of the procedures. Education method had no effect on errors or time to complete biosecure procedures. However, the number of steps required and time between visits were found to be predictors of errors and time. Finally, three biosecurity games were developed to explore disease spread risk and to engage group-based discussion to devise strategies to mitigate the associated risks. In the games, simulated people and places each have a stock of particles, and a daily routine of interactions promotes the transfer of particles back and forth. The combinations of the pathogen source, its concentration, biosecurity protocols and sequence of events could be explored through game play. The concepts of the games were assessed to explore their impact and adaptability for use in specific farm systems, facilities, and audiences. Qualitative feedback occurred through participant feedback and observations. Quantitative data was collected to validate particle transfer during the games. Players of all backgrounds learned about the variability of particle movement through interactions that mirror the reality of day-to-day pathogenic particle transfer risk because of playing all three biosecurity game designs. In conclusion, biosecurity communications that encourage dialogue, learning and action proved to be impactful for the various participants.Item Community based youth programs utilizing a culturally relevant framework (Educacion) to implement impactful learning opportunities for immigrant Latino youth(2014-12) Landrieu, Maria JosefinaA theoretical perspective of non-formal learning and social and cultural capital is proposed to provide a deeper and holistic understanding of the educational experiences of immigrant Latino youth participating in out-of-school time (OST) programs. An educaciόn lens informed by anthropological perspectives on education offers a promising view of how immigrant Latino youth and families have conceptualized notions of learning and education as part of larger global discourses of immigration, transnationalism, and citizenship education. This study aims to shed light on the reasons why Latino immigrant youth join well-structured OST programs and how they enact their agency and motivation to stay engaged and continue to participate in the program activities while reaping the benefits of the experience. Drawing on qualitative methods of participant observation, interviews and document review, this dual-site case study presents a framework for understanding the role of non-formal learning environments in the educational trajectories of Latino immigrant youth. The proposed framework identifies locally formulated notions of educaciόn and recognizes the need for non-formal learning environments, such as culturally based community youth programs, to act as a partner force in considering Latino families' responses to the education of their children. At a time in which Latino youth's educational needs are not sufficiently addressed by formal institutions, the role of these programs must be recognized as a potent and effective democratizing space that can redress educational inequities.Item Constructing Empowerment Among Youth in Nairobi, Kenya(2016-06) Nikoi, AcaciaThis dissertation examines how youth empowerment is conceptualized and experienced by youth in Nairobi, Kenya. The study is based on a four-year longitudinal study of youth who participated in a non-formal, vocational training program. The findings demonstrate the complex ways youth seek, engage, and enact empowerment in their lives and suggest that youth conceptualizations of empowerment are more complex than the discourse that surrounds youth empowerment efforts heralded through vocational or entrepreneurial training. Based on the findings of this study I propose a multidimensional model of empowerment that is grounded in youth’s lived experiences and constructions of the empowerment process. These dimensions - marketable skills and knowledge, personal development, aspirations, and undugu - reflect the economic, social, and cultural settings in which youth live. Through an examination of these four dimensions, I explore the role of empowerment as a catalyst as youth strive to move from youth- to adulthood.Item Critical Understanding of U.S. Youths’ Citizenship: Community Belonging and Engagement of “Successful Citizens”(2011-07) Josic, JasminaAs today's youth is growing up and developing new civic attitudes in societies made more complicated by globalization, the argument grows for expanding the discussion about citizenship education. Unpacking the outcomes of democratic schooling and citizenship education in the United States through youths' experiences, this study examines this generation's ideas of citizenship in three ways: inquires about the meaning of citizenship for young people, within the institutionalized relations and social processes of schooling; develops a critical understanding of youths' citizenship through their constructions of citizenship; and problematizes implications of youths' citizenship constructions and experiences for future citizenship education programs. Viewing citizenship as a membership in a society, this study applies a conceptual framework consisting of three interrelated dynamics that shape the position of one's citizenship: the politics of institutionalized social relations, social processes and practices, and an individual's struggle for self-definition and identity formation as a citizen. The research is rooted in qualitative interpretive design with elements of critical ethnography and informed by poststructural feminist theory. The study explores the perspectives of youth in two public schools located in New York City and in northern New Jersey. Using two purposive samples of 28 high-school juniors and seniors exposed to advanced social-studies curriculum, the data were collected during a 12-week period through class and school-activities observations, researcher journaling, small group interviews of students, and follow-up interviews with individuals. The use of countertopographies to metaphorically represent analytical findings brings the processes that shape youths' experiences as citizens to the forefront. The study reveals the spaces of belonging for these youth as citizens, and the processes of learning versus experiencing citizenship occurring in the space of schooling. This research recounts the construction of their citizenship as occurring within individual struggles to balance social expectations of success and one's motivation to learn and engage opportunities in their communities. In translating the findings into a discussion about the needs of citizenship education programs and possibilities of developing critical citizens, this study assists in positioning young people as individuals capable of developing agency and their voices as citizens in their own right.Item Data Informed Solutions for Youth Voting and Civic Engagement(2019-11-06) Kawashima-Ginsberg, Kei; Dean, Michael; Simon, Steve; Kessler, PatItem Data to Policy Change: Creating an Interactive Dashboard to Voice Youth Perspectives(2024-05-01) Gjedrum, Maria; Glass, Allison; Sanchez, Antonio; Wilson, AlexandraThe Dashboard Safety Index Project, in alignment with the 2022 YMB Annual Report and YCB’s mission, aims to provide a continual platform empowering youth to express their perspectives for policymaking. This interactive tool fosters inclusivity and responsiveness by integrating youth voices into community safety and policy discussions. The project employs a comprehensive methodology, including multiple stakeholder perspectives, regional breakdowns, and alignment with UNICEF goal areas. Challenges such as missing data and inconsistencies in data collection are addressed, while recommendations for dashboard design and data collection prioritize user engagement and youth involvement. The project not only reflects a significant step towards inclusivity but also enhances the relevance and impact of public policies concerning youth safety, ultimately serving as a practical, user-centric tool for policy-makers and the community.Item Delivery of Eligibility Services to Hennepin County Youth: Access and Maintenance(Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2012-12-11) Ghere, Erin; Neal, Brad; Hernandez-Martinez, Martha; Schmitt, ChristiThis project was initiated by leadership of the Youth Eligibility Team within the Human Services and Public Health Department at Hennepin County, Minnesota. This team has responsibility for serving homeless and highlymobile youth ages 16-19 and pregnant youth and parenting youth up to age 21 who are seeing public assistance in the form of cash assistance, food support (SNAP), health care, specialized housing services and pregnancy or child care assistance. This project team was asked to research, evaluate, and provide recommendations on best practices in three areas: creating awareness of assistance programs amongst eligible youth; improving access to public assistance programs amongst eligible youth; and improving the ability of youth to maintain eligibility over time.Item Describing changes in local short-term outcomes of youth-focused comprehensive tobacco control and their effect on smoking outcomes among cohorts of Minnesota Youth, 2000-2005.(2010-07) Alesci, Nina L.Introduction: The halting decline in national youth smoking prevalence indicates the need for comprehensive tobacco control (CTC). Social ecological theory postulates that CTC reduces smoking by altering social environments that influence long-term youth tobacco use. At the local level, CTC's short-term outcomes result from 1) policy action, such as ordinances restricting public smoking and youth access to tobacco; 2) school-based prevention, such as trained teachers offering proven curricula; and 3) community mobilization, such as voluntary home smoking restrictions and youth engagement. Few CTC studies document the effect of a cutoff in CTC funding on these outcomes; most studies can only weakly assert that this multilevel intervention causes youth smoking reductions. The Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort (MACC) study evaluates the state's CTC 2000-2003 program, the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative (MYTPI), and the effect of its sudden, major funding cut. The current study tested for 1) increases in short-term outcomes during the MYTPI and their sustainability after its shutdown; 2) decreases in youth smoking during the MYTPI and increases in youth smoking after the shutdown; and 3) a link between baseline levels of and changes in short-term outcomes to reduced youth smoking. Methods: MACC is a multilevel, population-based, observational cohort study of Minnesota youth (n=3,636) nested in geo-political units (GPUs; N=60), which signified local communities. A comparison group of youth (n=605) came from six Midwest states that had not dedicated major tobacco control funding. Annual ordinance, youth access enforcement, and school administrator surveys; and a twice-annual youth survey capture short-term outcomes in Minnesota. The youth survey also measures smoking outcomes. Data were collected from the MYTPI launch to two years post-shutdown (2000-2005). Analysis employs latent curve modeling, growth curves using structural equation modeling to parameterize the intercept and slope as latent variables. Piecewise latent curves modeled the effect of a sudden drop in tobacco control funding on short-term outcomes and youth smoking. Parallel process latent curves tested for contemporaneous change between short-term outcomes and youth smoking. Random coefficients models accounted for repeated measures and where appropriate, the multilevel nature of the data. Results: Implementation of short-term outcomes from school-based prevention and community-mobilization increased during the MYTPI; however, this growth eventually stopped or slowed after the shutdown. Some policy action outcomes increased minimally, and one outcome of policy action declined post-shutdown. Increases in smoking stage were the same between Minnesota and comparison groups, showing no period effects for the MYTPI or shutdown. However, younger cohorts, with early-teen MYTPI exposure, smoked less than older cohorts by the same age. Only youth access ordinances scores and living in homes banning smoking were negatively associated with smoking stage. Discussion: MYTPI implemented less controversial educational and community-mobilization strategies, but was not as successful with permanent policy change before its shutdown. This lack of policy action and youth focus could explain why Minnesota youth did not differ from other states with concurrent national tobacco control. The study offers some evidence supporting MYTPI interventions, but study flaws may make the influence of several of them undetectable. Study limitations include lack of/poor comparison group, secular trends, selection bias, measurement error, and analysis issues.Item Developing evidence-based effective principles for working with homeless youth: a developmental Evaluation of the Otto Bremer Foundation's support for collaboration among agencies serving homeless youth(2014-02) Murphy, Nora F.The purpose of this research was trifold. First, it was an attempt to gain an understanding of the experiences of fourteen unaccompanied, homeless youth between the ages of 18 and 24, living in the Twin Cities metro area, who have utilized services at two or more of the six grantee organizations. The second purpose was to understand how the shared principles of these organizations have been implemented in practice. The third purpose was to explore the extent to which implementation of these principles helps lead to healthy youth development from the perspective of the youth. This study was conducted as part of The Otto Bremer Foundation (OBF) Support for Homeless Youth and is a component of a utilization-focused developmental evaluation. The researcher employed a multiple case study approach. Qualitative data were generated from interviews with the youths themselves, street workers, agency staff, and Foundation staff. Fourteen individual case studies were written, and a cross-case analysis was conducted. The analysis provides insight into how the principles are enacted, as well as how they support a young person's healthy trajectory. This study found that all nine principles were evident in case stories, albeit some more than others. All principles interacted and overlapped, but each added something unique to the organizations' approach to working with youth. Implications for practice, policy, and funding are discussed.Item Developing Youth Leadership and Its Importance in Youth Organizations(2010) Ammann, JoAnn M; Rauschenfels, Diane; Hyman, RandyDeveloping youth leadership and its importance in youth organizations is a quantitative study that involves 47 Nobles County 4-H members and adult leaders, who actively participate in the 4-H program and other youth leadership organizations. It represents results of a study within a small outreach in Nobles County, which resides in Southwestern Minnesota. It was the researcher’s intent that the study noted leadership qualities that were gained from involvement in extracurricular activities including 4-H.Item Early 4-H projects include seed corn contests(University of Minnesota Extension, 1904) University of Minnesota ExtensionItem Elliot Park Youth and Family Resources.(2002) Minneapolis Neighborhood Information SystemItem Essays in Macroeconomics(2014-07) Takayama, NaokiThis thesis is composed of three separate essays. In the first essay of this thesis, I study the underlying mechanism behind the decision on living arrangements and household formation. The decisions to leave home and to marry are critical decisions that are at the foundation of family formation with tradeoffs between the benefits from parental altruism and the advantages of marriage. This research uses large-scale micro data on Japan to study both issues jointly. This paper proposes three possible drivers in the mechanism: (1) the strong economy of scale in Japan generated by high living cost, (2) the weak bargaining position of women on the living arrangements when they marry, and (3) the gender wage gap and the career interruption cost for women. The results suggest that high living cost discourage people to marry and live without parents and the bargaining structure encourage them to stay single and live with their own parents. The wage structure seems to have relatively weaker effects. In addition, the estimates on the preference suggest that individuals dislike living with parents-in-law and desire to leave parents' home, while marrying potential spouse is preferable. In the second essay of this thesis, Satoshi Tanaka and I study the implication of the child support enforcement (CSE) policy. The child support enforcement policies, aimed at protecting out-of-wedlock children from financial disadvantages, brought unexpected changes in individuals' marriage and fertility behaviors during the 1980s and the 1990s. Our estimates from state-year panel data show that in states with strict CSE there has been a significant decrease in non-marital births and a significant increase in marital births. Taking into account all these changes, what are the effects of CSE on children's welfare? To answer this question, we build a heterogeneous-agent model that features endogenous marriage and child-investment decisions. Exploiting the state-level variation in enforcement, we estimate it using the National Vital Statistics Report data. We find that men's increased willingness to marry is the driving force behind the shift from non-marital births to marital births. As evidence for the mechanism, we show that the number of marriages has risen in the states with strict CSE during the same period, consistent with the model's implication. Our model predicts that a large increase in child investment comes through a secondary effect of CSE: the shift from non-marital births to marital births increases child investment through its income effect. In the last essay of this thesis, Bernabe Lopez-Martin and I study the long-run consequences of recessions for young individuals and the impact of government taxation. Recessions generate large increases in youth unemployment rates and young unemployed workers suffer significant losses in terms of the expected present discounted value of their labor earnings. We build a life cycle model with on-the-job human capital accumulation and aggregate and idiosyncratic productivity shocks (extended to consider ex-ante heterogeneous workers). The unemployment rate for young workers is higher and we find an important quantitative impact of the tax-wedge (consistent with cross-country empirical estimates): in countries where the tax-wedge is higher, unemployment rates are amplified, particularly for young workers. We compute the long-term earnings losses of individuals that lose their job in different states of the economy and find that losses are bigger: (1) in worse aggregate states of the economy, (2) for younger individuals, (3) in economies with a higher tax wedge, (4) for ex-ante lower ability individuals.
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