Glossary

Activity Skills: skills that are specific to the activity or subject matter, such as learning how to paint park benches.

Adult-Centered Discipline: discipline that mostly just benefits the adult. If a kid acts up, the behavior must be stopped because it is irritating to the adult, not necessarily because the adult is concerned about the child or other kids in the group. This discipline is often used in a crisis, or when a leader is frustrated, angry, or doesn't know how to handle a situation. The adult may not explain the rules and expectations beforehand, but reacts according to mood.

Conflict Resolution: Conflict is when two or more people have incompatible needs or desires. How a person responds to conflict is called conflict resolution. Successful resolution of conflict depends on if the people use effective or ineffective strategies. An ineffective strategy would be aggression—hurting the other person. An effective strategy is taking turns. See the section on Conflict Resolution for more information.

Developmental Assets: positive experiences, opportunities, and personal qualities that influence the health and well-being of young people; 40 characteristics identified by Search Institute that form the foundation for youth to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

Ecology of Youth Development: the individual factors (i.e., personality, temperament) and environmental factors (i.e., family, school, peers, community, political system, economy, culture) that influence youth development.

Experiential Learning Model: powerful approach for learning life skills that emphasizes (1) hands-on experiences, (2) processing those experiences through discussion, and (3) applying the knowledge gained to other "real life" situations.

Life Skills: skills, such as decision making or public speaking, that are gained from an activity and are useful long after the activity is finished.

Modeling: learning by example. Kids learn by watching what others do, and the consequences of what others do. Kids especially imitate adults who the children admire and look up to. Also see the section on modeling.

Nonformal Education: organized, systematic teaching and learning that takes place outside the formal school system; not an alternative to formal education, but another kind of education essential for helping young people grow to optimal maturity.

Physical Aggression: hurting others physically by breaking a toy, slugging, tackling, or yelling at them. Boys are more likely to use this aggression. Physical aggression usually decreases as kids get older. (Aggression is different than assertiveness. Assertiveness means self-reliance, boldness, or standing up for your beliefs. Aggression means intentionally hurting someone.) Also see the section on aggression.

Protective Factors: factors or processes that serve to reduce the probability of negative outcomes (such as school failure, delinquency, and drug use) and enhance the probability of positive outcomes (such as autonomy, self-esteem, and good school performance.)

Relational Aggression: trying to damage the other person’s self-esteem, or friendships, such as saying, "you aren’t my friend anymore," or "You can’t come to our slumber party because you are dumb." Girls are more likely to use this kind of aggression. Also see the section on aggression.

Risk Factors: factors or processes that put youth at risk of not becoming caring, contributing members of society. The more risk factors present in a child’s life, the more likely that child will experience problems.

Search Institute: nonprofit organization that translates high quality, youth-centered research into practical ideas, tools, services, and resources. For more information on Search Institute, contact their Web site at http://www.search-institute.org.

Temperament: a child’s basic personality or disposition. A product of both genes and the child’s life experiences.

Youth-Centered Discipline: discipline that truly contributes to the healthy development of the kids. Put simply, the kids come first. The adult is more democratic, letting the group have some input on the rules and consequences. (See "Tips On Rule-Making" for more information.) Rules and expectations are explained clearly before the group member acts up. Above all, the leader is genuinely warm and concerned for the child’s well-being.

Youth Development Organizations: community-based organizations that promote the positive, healthy development of young people by providing challenges, experiences, and support; are not agencies that provide treatment for social problems.