YOUTH IN

COMMUNITY
ACTION
Who are the youth?
What is the role of the youth in
community action?
What is the significance of the
youth in development work or
community action?
 Youths are the parts of community. Community can
solve every problem with tenant of youths. Community
is not just group of people but it is the group of children,
young and old people who have different knowledge but
they are interested to work with each other. At young
age, youths have power to generate new idea to solve
problems of society. Suppose, in Specific Street, there is
the shortage of electricity. No one is interested to talk
this matter to higher authority. Youths of that street can
make the community to talk this matter to higher
authority and complaint irresponsible officers and
employees of electricity department.
 THE
YOUTH
 Youth is defined differently by various groups. The
Youth in Nation-Building Act of 1995 (RA 8044),
which established the National Comprehensive
Youth Development, defines youth as the critical
period in a persons growth and development from
the onset of adolescence toward the peak of
mature, self-reliant, and responsible adulthood
comprising the considerable sector of the population
from the age 15 to 30 years old. The World Health
Organization, on the other hand, defines youth to be
those between 15 to 24 years old.
 From the psychological perspective, youth is
defined as those within the adolescence and
early adulthood phase. In the adolescence
stage, the youth have already an integrated
image of themselves as unique persons and
are in the process of constructing their
personal identity. Also, this is the stage when
they cling to a peer group. In the early
adulthood stage, the youth form close
relationships with others (Philippine Medium-
Term Youth Development Plan (2005-2010).
 In a study undertaken by YAPS, it was
revealed that many young people do not go
through the expected course as many get
side-tracked by family life. The youth are
mostly concerned with issues related to
sexual-risk behavior and drugs. Often, this is
connected to a dysfunctional family and
society. Among the other issues of the youth
are education and quality of education
(Philippine Medium Term Youth Development
Plan (2005-2010).
 The other issues that the youth face
include limited access to quality education
and training, increasing number of out-of-
school youth and the lack of educational
and scholarship opportunities, low
educational attainment, high cost of
education, and limited government
funding for education. Also included are
the high incidence of poverty and the
youths lack of knowledge on history and
culture (Philippine Medium Term Youth
 In the same study, the youth generally feel that
they are adequately involved in decisions that
affect their lives and have significant influence in
key activities that affect their lives at home, in
school, and in the organization to which they
belong. Yet according to them, what they lack is
involvement and influence in community and local
affairs. They may be involved in government
programs and projects, but they are not involved in
the more crucial stages of project development
(Philippine Medium Term Youth Development Plan
(2005-2010).
 THE IMPORTANCE
AND ROLE OF YOUTH
IN COMMUNITY
ACTION
 The Philippine Constitution states, The
State recognizes the vital role of the youth
in nation-building and shall protect their
physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and
social well-being (Article II, Section 13).
The youth are a vital resource of the
community. They are not only a dynamic
foundation of community force but are
also considered as community change
agents. They are considered as
forerunners of social transformation and
 Because the youth are important, it is necessary to
provide them with the essential support for knowledge
enhancement and capacity building. However, the youth
need more than just knowledge and skills.
There are four integrated strategies that were
formulated to protect their social well-being, namely,
1. Building youth-caring communities
2. Developing community-caring youth
3. Reengineering the mechanism through which the
youth services are delivered
4. Becoming more responsive to the specific needs of
the youth.