Peter A. Witt

Texas A&M University | TAMU

Out-of-school time (OST) settings are powerful contexts for youth development when programs and services are intentionally designed. Youth Development Principles and Practices in Out-of-School Time Settings was written to increase the capacity of students and professionals to facilitate youths’ optimal transition to adulthood through maximizing the...

Parents are often involved in their children’s youth sports experiences, sometimes as coaches, more often as spectators. In both roles, parents can make an important difference in their child’s experience and the developmental outcomes associated with youth sports participation. The positives and negatives of parents as coaches and spectators are r...

Executive Summary Forty percent of kids played team sports on a regular basis in 2013. Yet, numerous children and youth drop out of sports every year as well. This article explores the reasons why children and youth drop out of sports and offers suggestions for how parents, coaches, and youth development professionals can help to minimize unwarrant...

Edith May Witt served her country by joining the Red Cross in World War II as a staff assistant (or “club woman”) in Oran, Algeria, and worked throughout the Mediterranean theater, including several assignments in Italy. Edith Witt was also a talented writer and left behind a rich archive that illuminates the wartime experiences of civilian women....

Describes the development of two versions of a short form to measure perceived freedom in leisure. These scales are based on Ellis and Witt's (1984) earlier development of five scales that together were shown to measure this construct. Reliability and validity data are described. -Authors

The Youtube video for this presentation can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP2VZK_MneA&t=15s The presentation outlines various techniques for recruiting and retaining youth in programs.

Forty percent of kids played team sports on a regular basis in 2013. Yet, numerous children and youth drop out of sports every year as well. This article explores the reasons why children and youth drop out of sports and offers suggestions for how parents, coaches, and youth development professionals can help to minimize unwarranted and premature d...

In this chapter, you will read about some of the prominent youth serving organizations, including why each was created and the programs and services they currently offer. This chapter will enable you to understand more fully the current philosophies and practices of these organizations and some of their contributions to youth development. Based on...

Many of us were members of some kind of youth serving organization when we were growing up. Maybe you belonged to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCAs, YWCAs, 4-H or attended programs at your local parks and recreation department community center. Each of these organizations has a distinguished history, a history that s...

This chapter examines the competencies needed to to become a youth worker. For example, one needs to come to understand what youth work is; how it works; and how it can be undertaken. Fusco and Baizerman (2013) pose some interesting questions that form the basis for outlining the types of issues that people in the youth work field must be able to a...

The goal of this chapter is to set the stage for the rest of the chapters in this book by providing a set of general principles to guide youth development. These principles have evolved over the last 45 plus years as practitioners, researchers, and young people have defined the basic SOPS necessary to enable youth to develop fully from childhood th...

There has been a shift in the way youth development has been conceptualized – from thinking of youth as problems to be fixed to thinking of them as resources to be nourished and engaged in community life. This shift has spawned a great deal of thought and attention about how to prevent problem behaviors, while at the same time thinking about how to...

The chapters in this book make a collective rationale for the need for, and importance of, positive, organized out-of-school time (OST) programs that contribute to youth development. Two common threads run throughout the chapters; one is obvious and the other more subtle. The obvious is a focus on helping youth develop their potential and thrive by...

The positive outcomes that accrue to youth through their participation in out-of-school time (OST) activities and programs are the “whys” behind what youth workers do. Examples of whys include providing opportunities for young people to enhance their skills, develop relationships, and decrease negative behaviors. However, desired outcomes do not oc...

Video presents the 8 characteristics of quality youth programs identified by a panel of youth development experts as part of a landmark National Research Council Study. The video is part of a series produced by the Sequor Youth Development initiative. Other Sequor YDI videos can be seen on the Sequor YDI YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user...

If youth sport is to embody sportsmanship and ethical standards, all stakeholders (parents. spectators, coaches, athletes, youth clubs/schools, sports physicians, and the local community) need to collaborate. Thus, the purpose of this brief is to provide a framework for discussing some of the major ethical issues related to youth sports and present...

Parental practices share three major goals: “ensuring children’s health and safety, preparing children for life as productive adults and transmitting cultural values” (Kazdin, 2016). Children of Asian American parents are often perceived as doing well in school, making good use of out-of-school time opportunities and successfully progressing throug...

There is growing controversy about the trend towards youth sports participants specializing in one sport at an early age. Part of the motivation of some parents and coaches in promoting early specialization is the desire to prepare their children for college athletic scholarships or hopefully playing a particular sport professionally (White & Oatma...

Parents are often the ones who introduce their children to the world of organized sports and provide them with emotional and other tangible supports such as transportation, purchase of equipment, paying for league fees, and coaching. Parents also can spend a lot of time watching their children participate and being cheerleaders and supporters. Unfo...

Parent practices share three major goals: “ensuring children’s health and safety, preparing children for life as productive adults and transmitting cultural values” (Kazdin, 2016) and high-quality parent-child relationship as critical for healthy development of adolescents. A key principle of parenting has been linked to the belief that if caring a...

Many parents coach their own children on youth sports teams, sometimes with good results, sometimes with negative results for both the child and the parent. Some experts have noted the advantages of parents coaching their own children as they best know the strengths and moods of their children (Dure, 2015; Lauer, 2016; Cumming & Ewing, 2002). On th...

The purpose of this study was to examine female players’ motives for participation in competitive sports, how they felt involvement has aided in their development, and explore negative experiences that had served as detractors to enjoyment. Focus groups were conducted with 31 players who currently participate on a competitive youth basketball team....

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The literature indicates a workforce readiness gap exists for both high school and college graduates. Findings suggest that employment in residential camp settings is one way to encourage positive workforce development. While a large body of literature supports the developmental benefits of camp for youth, fewer studies have inve...

Parental involvement is an often proposed, but rarely researched, key element of youth programs. Questions remain regarding the impact of parental involvement on program processes and outcomes. Qualitative data were collected over a one-year period with youth participants (n=46), parents (n=26), and teachers (n=5) associated with an international i...

This study sought to explore (a) how the Milton Recreation Center (MRC) became racialized as an African American space, (b) the factors limiting Hispanic parents from enrolling their children at the MRC, and (c) African Americans' attitudes toward increasing Hispanic participation at the MRC. The study employed qualitative methods including partici...

While the development of life skills (e.g., communication, problem solving, etc.) is a commonly targeted youth program outcome, the lack of standardized conceptualizations and instrumentation make it difficult to compare impacts across programs and develop validated best practices. In order to promote a more unified approach to life skill developme...

While the importance of evaluation program offerings is acknowledge by Extension educators, less emphasis is given to understanding program implementation. Simply assessing program impact without a clear understanding of the degree to which a program was actually implemented can result in inaccurate findings. The effective evaluation of both progra...

Youth practitioners often select life skills as intentionally targeted program outcomes. While research findings suggest the efficacy of program experiences to positively influence a variety of life skills, it remains difficult to compare these findings due to measurement incongruities. Individual life skills (e.g., leadership, decision making, etc...

The impact of HIV/AIDS on the lives of youth with this chronic illness suggests the need for additional support as youth develop. Summer camp can serve as a therapeutic intervention for youth with HIV/AIDS. Using a case study employing observations, focus groups, and interviews, we examined outcomes associated with participation in a camp for youth...

Participation in activities and experiences defined as play, recreation,and leisure has important developmental implications for youth. Elements and characteristics of leisure experiences contribute directly to the development of identity, autonomy, competence,initiative, civic duty, and social connections. Whether in informal or formal, appropriat...

Recreation programs sponsored by park and recreation departments in the United State are moving beyond simply offering programs designed to reduce at-risk youth deficit behaviors to approaches that include the broader focus of positive youth development for all youth. Using the Developmental Assets Model and the Protective Factors/Resiliency framew...

Previous studies have promoted the positive impacts of contact and connection with nature. Correspondingly, literature suggests that nature disconnect poses risks. Using a mixed-method design, this article examines how urban minority children perceive and define nature. While there is some research on the impact of contact with nature among childre...

This study employs a mixed-methods design and a social development model (SDM) to examine the role of socialization processes within an international immersion program for adolescents. Longitudinal data from 108 participant and 49 comparison group members are analyzed using structural equation modeling procedures. Qualitative data are also used to...

Youth programs are prime contexts for the intentional facilitation of positive development. However, not all youth programs achieve positive outcomes equally. In order to promote the identification and dissemination of the characteristics and processes of effective youth programs, increased focus needs to be given to program evaluation. This articl...

Five "need" theories of leisure behavior (surplus energy, relaxation, catharsis, compensation and task generalization) are outlined and their implications for a situation-response model of leisure behavior discussed. A Leisure Behavior Inventory (LB1) is described. It was constructed to ascertain whether the activities a person would like to partic...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Support for after-school programs is increasingly tied to whether programs achieve outcomes that make significant social, physi- cal, and/or educational differences for participants. As evidence of impact mounts, there is a growing need to understand and articulate the program processes that create long-term changes in targeted p...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Out-of-school time (OST) programs frequently struggle with recruitment and retention of youth in their programs. Recruitment and retention in OST programs can be thought of as two sides of the same coin: after the initial decision to try out a program, youth need to be continually recruited to keep attending, or to be retained in...

Ropes course research rarely investigates how program design and delivery contributes to program outcomes. This study used experience sampling and meansend analysis to 1) compare the meaningful involvement opportunities provided by two alternate ropes course design and delivery approaches, Challenge by Choice (CbC) and Inviting Optimum Participatio...

This study examines the utilization of a therapeutic summer camp for children with disabilities as a respite care provider for parents of camp participants. Interviews were conducted with nine parents, from seven different families of recent camp participants at Camp LIFE, a camp for children with disabilities located in Burton, TX. The interviews...

This book has now been replaced by Youth Development: Principles and Practices in Out-of-School Time Settings, published as an ebook on March 6, 2018. https://www.sagamorepub.com/

Organizations serving all ages Organizations that serve youth exclusively clearly have a mandate to promote youth development. Other organizations serve youth as but one part of their memberships or target groups. Examples of such organizations include government-run parks and recreation departments, public libraries, museums, Cooperative Extension...

Explains that positive youth development addresses broad developmental needs, discussing youth development within parks and recreation departments and the power of adults to support youth efforts, and noting that while the tone and structure of youth development is subtle and multi-layered, its tenets and practices are achievable in any park and re...

There is growing consensus that after school programs are needed to serve children of all ages. Parks and recreation departments need to recognize societal expectations and the forces driving the need for after school programs if they are to become significant players in the after school program movement. A sidebar discusses how to utilize research...

The report contains an Evaluation of the East Harris County Youth Program, an after-school program.

In the 1990s there was a remarkable resurgence of interest by elected officials in issues involving youth. During the late 1980s and early 90s, a series of events such as drive-by shootings involving youth, substantial increases in gang membership, more teenage pregnancies, higher school dropout rates, growth in single parent families, and increase...

Report provides and evaluation of the Roving Leader program offered by the Austin Parks and Recreation Department

Evaluation of the Totally Cool, Totally Art Program - Austin Parks and Recreation Department

consider the impact of their actions on fish and wildlife * Hunting is a necessary means of managing wildlife populations Table 1 provides the percentage of respondents who agreed, had no opinion, and disagreed with each of the statements. 1 Tables 2 provides the percentage of core TPWD user groups who indicated agreement with each of the statement...

Parks and recreation departments (PARDs) can help alleviate societal problems associated with at-risk youths. To better position PARD programs for reducing risky behavior, there must be scientific evidence showing their impact on youths' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The paper examines existing evaluation studies highlighting the positive ou...

The three research questions addressed by this study were (1) What were the major constraints that inhibited museum-goers from visiting museum attractions in Galveston, Texas? (2) What benefits did museum-goers seek from their visits? and (3) Can these constraints and benefits be meaningfully interpreted to identify target groups that are likely to...

Issues and problems faced by school students transitioning from elementary to middle school

Evaluation of the impact on several self-perception, behavioral, and family functioning variables of an Outward Bound school program with a family training component for adolescent status offenders indicated that treatment group subjects had significantly higher scores on all variables compared to controls at four weeks, though many differences dis...

Using data from a questionnaire administered to the same population (Alberta, Canada) in two surveys conducted four years apart (1988 and 1992), this paper investigates three issues related to the replication of research on leisure constraints and the interpretation of temporal changes in the experience of constraints: (1) the magnitude of changes...