This presentation was developed for the Virginia Department of Education and aimed to build the capacity of primary and secondary school educators to understand risk behavior and behavior change in youth.

1. High-Risk Youth
Meeting Them Where They Are

2. Welcome
INTRODUCTIONS AND
OVERVIEW

3. Introductions
• Facilitator(s)
• Participants
– Name
– Grade/Level
– School Affiliation
– What is high-risk to
you?

4. Agenda
• Welcome and Introductions
• Kagan’s Children
• The Science of Behavior
• Emotional Development
• The Impact of Advancement
• Amy’s Story

5. Background
KAGAN’S CHILDREN

6. Miller vs. Alabama
• "Children are constitutionally different
than adults for the purposes of
sentencing."
• Children tend to show traits of
"recklessness, impulsivity, and heedless
risk-taking" because they are... children.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-osler/children-are-different_b_1659440.html

7. Eighth Amendment
• The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII)
to the United States Constitution is the part
of the United States Bill of Rights prohibiting
the federal government from
imposing excessive bail, excessive fines
or cruel and unusual punishments.
• The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that this
amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Clause applies to the states.

8. Miller vs. Alabama
• “As we move beyond Miller, we will wrestle
with something larger than just a group of
juvenile offenders. In play is nothing less
than our notion of childhood. We, and the
Court, should continue to resolve those
questions with the simple truth that
children are different than adults.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-osler/children-are-different_b_1659440.html

9. Unlocking the pattern
THE SCIENCE OF BEHAVIOR

10. Behavioral Principles
• Principle One
– Behavior Is Strengthened or Weakened by Its Consequences
• Principle Two
– Behavior Ultimately Responds Better to Positive
Consequences
• Principle Three:
– Whether a Behavior Has Been Punished or Reinforced Is
Known Only by the Course of that Behavior in the Future
• Principle Four:
– Behavior is Largely a Product of its Immediate Environment
http://ocw.usu.edu/Family__Consumer____Human_Development/oer-power-of-positive-pa

11. Social Cognitive Theory

12. Health Belief Model

13. Stages of Change

14. Reinforcing Consequences
“If you're always
going to do what
you've always done,
you're always going
to get what you've
always gotten.”
http://ocw.usu.edu/Family__Consumer____Human_Development/oer-power-of-positive-parenting/power-of-positive-
parenting/How_Behavior_Develops__Some_Important_Principles.html

15. Choosing our response
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

16. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Six to Seven Years Old
Normal Characteristics Suggested Behaviors
Feels insecure as a result of drive toward Give child time, freedom, and
independence. opportunities to practice being
independent.
Finds it difficult to accept criticism, blame, Be patient and understanding.
or punishment.
Child is center of own world and tends to Accept apparent selfishness.
be boastful.
Generally is rigid, negative, demanding, Set reasonable limits, offer explanation of
unadaptable, slow to respond; exhibits limits, help child keep within them.
violent extremes; tantrums reappear.
If not the winner, often makes accusations Avoid games that designate a winner.
that others are cheating.
http://www.dshs.wa.gov/ca/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd06.htm

17. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ten to Eleven Years
Normal Characteristics Suggested Behaviors
Is concerned with style. Allow child to select clothes and hair style,
within a firm budget.
Is casual and relaxed. Enjoy!
Likes privacy. Provide for personal space.
Girls mature faster than boys. Provide reassurance as needed.
Not an angry age; anger, when it comes, is Recognize and accept angry feelings, tears
violent and immediate; seldom cries but of temporary duration, and outbursts.
may cry when angry.
Main worry concerns school and peer Provide opportunities for appropriate
relationships. socialization.
http://www.dshs.wa.gov/ca/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd06.htm

18. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Sixteen to Nineteen Years
Normal Characteristics Suggested Behaviors
Worries about failure. Be available to talk and to listen.
May appear moody, angry, lonely, Accept feelings -- don't overreact; jointly
impulsive, self-centered, confused, and establish limits, but don't revert to
stubborn. childhood restrictions.
Has conflicting feelings about Avoid ridicule of inconsistent behaviors.
dependence/independence. Accept needs for separation.
http://www.dshs.wa.gov/ca/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd06.htm

19. Reevaluating Community
THE IMPACT OF
ADVANCEMENT

20. Whose world is it?

21. Spheres of Influence
Where they were … Where they are …

22. The Social Network
Like Dislike

23. Context, Experience, Learning
• Assumptions of experience can disrupt
learning at all levels
• Hands-on, non-traditional, extra-classroom
experiences can enhance learning
• Its not a race; long-term learning is built on
processing experiences with children to
better function in and with the world
around them
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/nyregion/for-poorer-students-an-attempt-to-let-new-experiences-guide-
learning.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=michaelwinerip

24. A Trip To The Parking Garage
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/nyregion/for-poorer-students-an-attempt-to-let-new-experiences-guide-
learning.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=michaelwinerip

25. Discussion
• What are our “parking garage” opportunities?
– Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART) example
• How can we better partner with communities
to enhance learning?
– It takes a village
• What technology should be using that we
aren’t?
– Assumptions about access
• Can we protect children from messaging that
conflicts with our education?

26. Betterment through evaluation of outcomes
AMY’S STORY

27. Questions to Guide Discussion
• What skills or knowledge could have
positively affected this outcome?
• Did we fail Amy or did Amy fail us?
• What should we being doing differently so
that Brian has a different future?
• How do we ensure that our information is
relevant (e.g. teen parenting vs. parenting)

28. Questions and Evaluations