Category: Youth

Background Information

The Navy’s Child and Youth Programs are an essential part of the nation’s child and youth development aimed to promote quality, availability, and affordability of the care under the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD currently offers support to children either directly or via third parties. The department oversees the CDCs, FCC, SACs, and R & R systems, Military one source, and NACCRRA that operates child care subsidies (Zellman, Gates, Cho, & Shaw, 2008). Furthermore, the DoD assistance is rendered as a family support service that is availed on a “first come, first served” basis; thus, many families may miss out. The installation commander gives a go-ahead command for the construction of any CDC.

Zellman et al. (2008) report that the CDCs are available for children of active-duty military members, civilians employed by the DoD, and military retirees. Under this provision, low-income families pay $43 a week for up to 50 hours of childcare, while those with high income pay $126 a week. However, parents with children under five years pay twice as much as others. Moreover, although the DoD provides funds to the CDCs, the commander has the mandate to determine the extent to which the resources will be used to support the care program. Therefore, the priority should be directed to such family types as single-parent and dual military families, who have a higher demand for childcare (Bushatz, 2017). Under this provision, several types of families and child care processes are available to ensure that people serving in the military have appropriate care for their families and children. Bushatz (2017) states that the Department of Defense child centers are distributed in different parts of the world and are 800 in number. Child care facilities are available for children aged from six weeks to twelve years.

The centers are typically available for access from Monday to Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6: 30 p.m. However, in the event that parents’ work schedule is tight, the provision allows extra hours. Besides, fees paid for these services depend on the total family income, the type of center, and the nature of services that are available (Bushatz, 2017). Some of the possible kinds of care include:

1. In-home child care providers: The plan allows for home-based infant care, both on-base and off-base, for those that are certified through the service. Home care accepts a smaller number of children as compared to other available childcare facilities.
2. Off-base child care: The program is managed by Child Care Aware. It provides help to active-duty service members and activates Guard and Reservists (Trautmann & Gross, 2015). The program is also designed for those who do not live near an installation. It is applicable if the available military child care center is full and cannot take any extra number of children.

The economic status and other background disadvantages of families support the need for having appropriate family care. Cozza and Lerner (2013) state that reasonable care for children in a military family improves the quality of life of the family. For instance, military spouses face a range of economic and financial problems as compared to their civilian counterparts. Their wages are relatively lower because of their work schedules, and their constant movement makes it hard for them to acquire an extra job to boost their income. Military families have different demographic capacities. For instance, in 2011, the force had 726,500 spouses with more than 1.2 million children that lived in the household. In addition to this, 743,736 children were part of Guard and Reserve families. Out of the values mentioned above, the demographics breakdown is: 30.4% of white, 47.3% of black, and 37.4% of Hispanic military people have children and the need for better care (Cozza & Lerner, 2013).

Rationale and How the Funds Will Be Used

A large number of children in the Navy and military forces shows that there is a need for better systems of taking care of these children and their families. This provision includes an outdoor natural learning environment for children. The program helps every child develop self-regulation and concentration. Kemple, Oh, Kenney, and Smith-Bonahue, (2016) strongly suggest that outdoor games may improve the self-control and attention of the child, contrary to the commonly seen inappropriate behaviors. Trautmann and Gross (2015) state that over 40% of children in military families are less than six years old, which is a valuable time when they need physical and emotionally available parents. However, continuous deployment results in increased parent stress, child maltreatment, and child behavior problems (Trautmann & Gross, 2015), which has augmented the demand for outdoor programs to improve the behavior of children of all ages.

Also, children who have lost their parents in military actions have low motivational spirits. An outdoor learning environment improves one’s motivation and increased enthusiasm as compared to an indoor learning program since the child is helped to have a better attitude to the surrounding environment (Trautmann & Gross, 2015). Outdoor learning environments have been found to improve the communication skills of children who are enrolled in the program as the child is encouraged to lead a discussion, give contributions to the debate, resolve conflicts, and speak out. Although indoor activities can do the same, outdoor practices have proved to be more significant. The research conducted by James and Countryman (2012) shows that children in families that have a deployed parent have behavioral problems (the number has increased by 11% during the recent years), while 18% of the children have stress-related issues. It is thus a serious concern that requires an appropriate measure to resolve the issue. The main reasons for the increasing need for a child care program include;

1. Frequent Permanent Change of station makes it hard for parents to have any likelihood of extending childcare to extended family members.
2. Long working hours beyond those of a typical workday makes it challenging to obtain needed care. Therefore, there appears a need for a non-standard child care program for such personnel.
3. Unmet requirements for child care present another problem. In research by RAND, 9% of military families said there was a dire need to satisfy their requirements. However, such requirements are not easily met as most CDCS have a long waiting list (Zellman et al., 2008).

For these reasons, the program needs grant funding to achieve success and to provide for all the children and families that require these services the most. The current funding sources (namely, federal funding, state funding, and foundation provision) are not sufficient to cover all the needs (Trautmann & Gross, 2015). Thus, grant funding will go a long way to ameliorate the present situation. For example, the federal funding sources are under the Child’s Bureau, which is a branch of the administration of children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services. The source mainly funds child welfare in accordance with the requirements of the federal government (Child Welfare, 2013). The second source of funding is the Alliance of Children’s trust and prevention under State funding. Hence, it is only designed to provide support to community prevention programs through a set of policies, funds, and invocations, which cannot efficiently cater to all the vital services. Besides, the foundations and organizations involved in child care provisions are not consistent with their funding as well as service provision.

Evaluating the Sources of Grant Funding

The Navy’s Early Childhood Management Program’s success is ascribed to many factors, including qualified and skilled Early Childhood experts, standardized guidelines and processes, operative and competent management organizations, and a high-quality assurance team (CNIC, 2015). The Navy Early Childhood Management Program cannot accomplish its objectives without backup and prized donations of significant partnerships and grants they provide. Part 2 of this report presents a precise description of some of the potential grants and resources, which are associated with the Early Childhood Management Program (Bushatz, 2017). Its implementation ought to create extra affiliations at the community level concerning the demands of the implementation exercise.

Potential Grant Fund Supporters and Resource Centers (Organizations, Programs, and Government Partnerships)

4-H is the US’s biggest child empowerment establishment, serving over seven million 4-H children in urban, suburban, and rural inhabitants (Captain Planet Foundation, 2014). Stimulated by the university-based syllabus, 4-H members participate in hands-on learning events in science, healthy staying, and food security. Every Navy Youth Program (YP) is associated with 4-H, and due to the Commander, Navy Installations Command’s (CNIC) partnership and prescribed contract with 4-H, every YP has access to all the 4-H program curriculum, workforce development exercise, technical support, and grant funding.

Boys and Girls Program of America (BGCA) is another organization offering connections and YP with grants and programs associated with healthy and harmless undertakings and mentoring for children (Sargent, 2016). The emphasized fields are health, physical fitness and recreation, education and professional development. Each Navy Youth Program is linked with BGCA, CNIC’s association, and contract arrangement with BGCA, which permits every YP member to enjoy numerous BGCA program courses, workforce development training, technical support, and grant support.

Child Care Aware: This establishment provides broad information for guardians and child care workers. The Navy CYP allies with CCA on many initiatives, including Military Kid Care and Operation Military Kid Care.

Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC): Its role is to facilitate the transition and other learning activities connected with military kids (The School Funding Center, 2014).

Zero to Three: It offers services in the child-family field, in the sector of kid health, child development, and strategy creation for infants. Some of the Zero to Three common resources are:

• Free Parent Brochures & Guides: These are free documents given to guardians.
• Zero to Three Journal: It is published twice a month for early childhood teachers, childcare experts, and early intervention personnel.
• Public Policy: The standard policy subjects covered include but are not limited to infant policy topics, creating early childhood organizations, Federal Rules, and State Policies (Child Care Lounge, 2010).

Family Readiness & Fleet & Family Support Centers: This organization backs personal and family willingness via a complete array of plans and grants like relocation help to families shuffling from one place to another, kin employment activities, family occupation readiness, psychotherapy services, individual finance management, social skills, and advocacy services (Captain Planet Foundation, 2014).

Military Family Life Consultant Program (MFLC): This program resorts to services of licensed physicians for carrying out social duties, providing counseling services, and performing other related clinical duties to offer both short and long-term services to Navy members (FMCD, 2013). Likewise, consultants are also skilled in military-based disciplines, common alignment with the disposition cycle, military culture, and reporting necessities in line with the Navy Family Advocacy Program.

Loyal Kids Grant: Project Outline

Describe your “what if…” opportunity and how your school’s Creative Leadership Team will meet your school’s creative professional development needs (100-200 words or less)

The team’s “what if..” is to work with an open budget through accountability and transparency with the assistance of multifaceted team members to etablish a fully engaging and practical formula that can produce the anticipated results. The aim of this is to ensure that the budget is not fully committed to an initiative that will not produce the desired outcome (FMCD, 2013). Particularly, the team will look at the prevailing situation, funding sources, and available funds to determine the most appropriate and result-oriented actions to partake in. The team will also review the opportunities and challenges in the initial phase of the program to assess its efficacy and align it with the best actions that can be taken with regard to the program’s goals.

Outline goals and objectives of your Creative Leadership Team’s proposal

The team’s proposal goals and objectives are to:

• set up permanent stations with the help of organizations, policy-makers, and government agencies to support and extend childcare to all families;
• initiate and model partnership approaches for childcare service provision;
• carry out research regarding the need for childcare support in order to develop rewarding care options that can fulfill the wishes of families;
• avail information about training and support initiatives designed to enhance childcare quality.

Define what success would look like and how you will measure progress. Be sure to describe any ongoing assessment

A successful program will guarantee that at least more than half of the parents in need of childcare programs have the provisions available for their children. It will also ensure that all the children in the program have a chance of experiencing outdoor learning activities (Zellman et al., 2008).

One of the ongoing assessments is measuring the number of favorable child care provisions within a time frame of six months. The assessment aims to monitor if the communication skills and interaction capacity of the children are improved, to determine any behavioral changes, and most importantly, to conclude whether the program is effective (Kemple et al., 2016).

How will you identify and share Creative Leadership capacity building “promising practices” so other schools can benefit from your experiences?

Joint programs with the care providers from the different schools, in which they are allowed to experience ways of appropriate outdoor learning, will be used to share the idea. Such programs will include seminars and visits to other schools that can benefit once the program is up and running (Zellman et al., 2008).

Why is your Creative Leadership proposal innovative?:

The program takes into consideration the availability of a natural learning environment for the children. The children will also be given a chance to lead group discussions for them to express their emotions and thoughts adequately (Kemple et al., 2016).

Describe the collaboration planned for your Creative Leadership program. How will you foster school-wide partnership and collaborate with others beyond your school?:

Continued meetings and seminars to lure other schools to enroll in the program will be an imperative strategy. In a bid to facilitate this, collaborations and agreements with different institutions will be made available for those willing to join, practice, or be part of the program.

Describe the sustainability of your proposal and how you will implement aspects of it beyond the grant funding

Apart from the grant funding, the program will also depend on the payments made by the parents. What is more, the outdoor environment will limit the expenses, thereby guaranteeing that the program will run for a longer time (Child Welfare, 2013). The success of the program will also attract more organizations that will be willing to take it to the next level as the numbers of military families are on the rise (Cozza & Lerner, 2013).

List critical contacts and the role each leader of this project will play (e.g., superintendent, principal, art teachers, other teachers, budget coordinator, public relations manager, parent liaison, and community partners’ roles

1. The commander has the mandate to determine the extent to which the resources will be used to support the care program.
2. The budget coordinator will be responsible for assessing the needed resources and their costs to start and run the program.
3. Parents will have to indicate the possible period in which they would like to have the services provided for their children and the potential payments they find convenient.
4. Caregivers (teachers) will provide education and care to children.

Project timeline (indicate key milestones) and describe work plan spanning October 2017 – May 2018:

1. Obtaining funding from the grand funding institution – at least one month.
2. Structuring of the leading team and the program milestones, including licensing policies from the military and state departments – almost three months.
3. Initialization of the program in the schools, including registrations and enrolling children as well as teaching staff – about two months.
4. Coordination and scheduling of the program’s working periods through the week. It will include holding meetings with the parents and families enrolled in the program. After the joint approval, it is estimated that successful implementation of the plan will take at least one month.

Table 1. Project Timeline.

Outline budget, including how $2,500 will be used. List other resources/in-kind contributions that are being applied to this program, provided by your school/district or community

Other resources provided by the community/school:

• training/coaching materials from schools;
• teaching and coaching volunteers from schools/community;
• community campaigns/advocacy to create awareness about the program;
• community kitty to help in fundraising.

References

Bushatz, A. (2017). SGLI coverage: What you need to know. Web.

Captain Planet Foundation. (2014). Captain Planet foundation grant guidelines. Web.

Child Care Lounge. (2010). Grants for early childhood education. Web.

Child Welfare. (2013). Child welfare financing in the United States. Web.

CNIC. (2015). Introduction to navy CYP. Web.

Cozza, C. S. J., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). Military children and families: Introducing the issue. The Future of Children, 23(2), 3-11.

FMCD. (2013). FY 2012 Financial management code directory. Web.

James, T. & Countryman, J. (2012). Psychiatric effects of military deployment on children and families. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 9(2), 16-20. Web.

Kemple, K. M., Oh, J., Kenney, E., & Smith-Bonahue, T. (2016). The power of outdoor play and play in natural environments. Childhood Education, 92(6), 446-454.

Sargent Jr, J. (2016). Department of defense research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT and E): Appropriations structure. Congressional Research Service Washington United States. Web.

The School Funding Center. (2014). School grant search and grant alerts. Retrieved from www.schoolfundingcenter.com

Trautmann, J. & Gross, D. (2015). Impact of deployment on military families with young children: A systematic review, Mosby, Inc., 63(6), 656-679.

Zellman, G. L., Gates, S. M., Cho, M., & Shaw, R. (2008). Options for improving the military Child Care System. Web.

Introduction

There is no doubt that all the people using the benefits that society can give should do their best to secure its successful future. Although it affects people of all ages, I believe that it is extremely important to consider this issue concerning the younger generation. The society is ruled by adult people, and they act as the presence of our society; according to this logic, younger people are our future, and this is why numerous issues related to them are so important. I strongly believe that young people’s consciousness should be discussed as often as possible; they have equal odds of saving or destroying the society in the future as it all depends upon the external influence that they experience when their personalities are shaping. Our century can be called a century of unlimited opportunities but many fruits of technological advancement are used in the wrong way. Unfortunately, many young people in Saudi Arabia and all over the world tend to use modern information technologies without thinking, and such a state of things can lead our society to serious troubles.

Young People and Modern Technologies: Misuse and Ignorance

Young people present a real power that can contribute either to the survival or to degradation of society. Nowadays, all the people who care about the future of their countries believe that a lot of attention should be paid to teaching the younger generation to discern good things from the bad ones. One of the most difficult issues connected to youth culture is their lack of consciousness when it comes to the use of modern means of communication and other things that were invented to promote knowledge among the masses of people and share the information that can help us to change our lives for better. The rise of technologies such as radio and television broadcasting, and then the Internet and social media was an important process that could take place only due to the efforts made by hardworking and talented people of the past centuries.

In the very beginning, technological development was supposed to propel the humanity to the next level, help to decrease or estrange illiteracy over the world, and become a power that would be able to unite the humanity and let different nations to share their experiences. It seemed to be a really good idea; due to these efforts humanity got many opportunities that could facilitate its development. Nevertheless, every coin has two sides; with time, new technologies and social media have become a source of money for some influential people. Nowadays, these information mediums are mostly used not to provide people with new knowledge and encourage them to grow personally but to entertain them and distract their attention from the sensitive issues to the far-fetched ones. Worse still, it is quite easy to deceive the majority of young people, offering them something that looks good but has no meaning. Unfortunately, modern mass media can have an enormous influence on our personalities and this undeniable fact makes this situation a real catastrophe.

There are a lot of ways to change the mindset of those who use the Internet. We all know that deep thinking can take a lot of energy; to some extent, willingness to decrease mental activity is one of the natural mechanisms preventing us from overworking. Bearing that in mind, different people create social network trends that can change young people’s attitudes towards their countries and parents, promote selfishness, and make them live by many pseudo-values. It often happens that the lives of those who contribute a lot of time to using social networks turn into a senseless race; what is worse, many people still do not see this problem. In their opinion, everyone should be given the right to define their own goals. Of course, freedom to act at will is extremely important but the situation is quite different when it comes to young people who are easy to manipulate.

The misuse of the Internet and media by young people remains one of the most urgent problems of our society. Although some people tend to underestimate its significance, the present situation indicates that young people are becoming less interested in gaining new knowledge and becoming many-sided people. Instead, the Internet serves as entertainment; a wide range of programs and services can be used to entertain them, and it often makes people addicted (Buckingham & Willett, 2013, p.9). I believe that all the goals of using the Internet that does not involve thinking to constitute a public danger. It may sound too categorical but it is enough to inspect the conduct of people spending a lot of their time using the Internet (not for work) to make sure that the consequences of this misuse are devastating. In modern society, we often tend to avoid discussing this problem, as its consequences are not visible at once. Many types of dangerous content can be found on the Internet.

It includes pornography, photos, and videos depicting violence against animals and people, materials encouraging smoking and drug addiction, and many others (Weber & Dixon, 2016,p. 234). What is more, the Internet can be used for wasting time and money playing online games of chance. Apart from that, many sites and social media allow users to keep their names a secret; in many cases, it encourages some of the users to start uttering threats to someone they hate. As for these purposes of using the Internet, their negative influence is quite clear. The matter becomes more questionable when it comes to the regular use of social networks. On the one hand, there is nothing bad as you can communicate with your friends or relatives who are far away. Nevertheless, there is a certain mindset promoted with the help of social media; actually, they teach young people to judge everyone by appearances, assert themselves by underestimating other people, and adhere to more materialistic values. Thus, young people should be very careful, they should analyze if there is a negative influence that they do not notice; in other cases, our society is going to experience a degradation undermining everything that was created by our ancestors.

What are the Consequences for Arabs and Other Nations?

What are the consequences of young people’s ignorance and misuse of modern media? It is possible to list plenty of spheres that will be affected in the case of our inactivity; even worse, its consequences can spell a disaster for future generations. The discussed problem is severely connected to the cultural decay that is already taking place all over the world. Frankly speaking, the society of our country is not an exception; the effects of media misuse are so devastating that they can negatively influence even those raised in cultures with strong traditions and religious beliefs. It is really hard to start addressing the issue until there are people who see no problem in modern mass media situation. In their opinion, serious harm can be inflicted only when someone menaces them with a gun. To me, it is a real problem that they cannot see that a lot of information distributed in social media every day is also a weapon. The only thing that helps this influence to stay unnoticed is that a gun can kill a person immediately whereas harmful information is a time-delay weapon. Consequently, its effects are usually seen when it is too late to change something.

I believe that the discussed problem can prevent modern children from forming a mindset based on moral values peculiar to our culture and the ones common within humanity. Its negative effects can also affect our children’s sense of national identity, making them see Arabic culture and heritage as a relic of the past. If we speak about moral values, they remain the factor preventing our society from a breakdown. To keep people together and make the nation stronger, it is extremely important to raise children who always have good intentions and want to do something that will bring benefits not only to themselves but to everyone connected to them. However, this situation severely differs from the real one when our children grow up keeping in mind that a dog eats dog. If we change nothing, we are going to face a significant decay in morals in a short period. As for our culture, it may not seem obvious but many modern Arabs using social media tend to pay too much attention to the values peculiar to the Western world. In themselves, these values cannot be called good or bad; the problem is that they make Arab youth deny the importance of preserving the culture of their nation and their traditional mindset. These long-term consequences present a strong reason to start searching for the solution.

Can this Challenge be Addressed?

It is very important to pay more attention to young people and children’s consciousness when it comes to the use of media as it can help us to keep the society healthy. Fortunately, there are a lot of young people who know how to use media and the Internet to evolve their intelligence. As for me, I know that sometimes it is hard to understand the influence produced by something found on the Internet; nevertheless, it remains critical to teach young people and children how to identify harmful ideas through the disguise. To be more precise, I believe that the most important step to take should be implementing the information on the proper use of the Internet at schools. What is more, this knowledge should be illustrated with many examples to make children and teenagers understand the risks. I suppose that it is going to increase the consciousness of the younger generation, especially if they trust their teachers.

Conclusion

To conclude, the importance of the discussed issue cannot be overestimated as the younger generation is everything for society. Although many younger people tend to use media and the Internet without thinking, the situation can be ameliorated if we involve many experienced teachers able to explain and increase the level of their consciousness.

References

Buckingham, D., & Willett, R. (2013). Digital generations: Children, young people, and the new media. New York, NY: Routledge.

Weber, S., & Dixon, S. (2016). Growing up online: Young people and digital technologies. New York, NY: Springer.

The Particularity of the Organization

Somerset Rural Youth Project is a charity organization based in rural regions of Somerset in the UK and it was established in 1997. The organization is located south of Bath and Bristol. Some of the areas it covers include Exmoor National Park, Mendip Hills, and Quanntock. The pioneers of the project established it with the objective of focusing at the needs of more than 3,000 youths in Somerset area.

In its operation, the project focuses on youths whose age falls between 11 and 25 years. The projects Chief Executive Director is Heather Black. When establishing the project, Heather’s objective was to use youth work in assisting the young people to contribute positively towards the rural development of Somerset. Since its inception, the project has undergone significant growth and attained numerous achievements.

In its operation, the project focuses on attaining a number of objectives, which include improvement in the health and well-being of the youth, engaging in green activities, provision of rural employment, and learning and development of a stronger community.

With regard to health and well-being, the project mainly focuses on youths aged between 13 and 19 years. Some of the health issues that the project addresses with specific reference to the youth relate to sexuality, drug addiction, and effect of bullying on the mental health of an individual. Through this program, the project has managed to promote health and well-being positively amongst the youth.

On the other hand, the objective of the green activities project is to help the youth to engage in various outdoor activities such as conservation of wildlife, environment, and environmental restoration. This aspect is an important considering the high rate at which climate change is occurring. Due to the implementation of the green activities program, the organization has been in a position to preserve the global climate.

Through the rural employment and learning team, Somerset Rural Youth Project has managed to offer practical support to youths aged between 16 and 25 years who are already in the job market. This program also incorporates provision of a nationally recognized qualification program known as the “Skills Towards Enabling Progression”.

This program has significantly contributed towards the improvement of the level of skills amongst the youth. In a bid to enhance development of a stronger community, Somerset Rural Youth Project also provides recreational facilities to the youth.

Some of the ways through which the entity has achieved this goal is by restoring a community center at a local church and by creating a BMX bike track. The project also provides loan facilities to the youth through the Moped Loan Scheme at a highly subsidized rate. The loans aim at enabling the youth to access economic means of transport.

Since its inception, Somerset Rural Youth Project has been committed to developing innovation amongst the youth, and o attain this objective, Somerset Rural Youth Project ensures that it has a well-trained staff who can encourage the youth to nurture and develop their skills and interests. In an effort to reach a large number of youths in the county, the project has established mobile working teams.

Additionally, the project has also developed substantial resource base with regard to tools and equipment. For example, specially manufactured trailers are used to transport the necessary equipment to the rural areas.

Additionally, the entity also has minibusses that can easily be converted to seminar and meeting rooms and coffee bars. Through this strategy, the project has been in a position to offer services to a large number of youths.

Quality Management of Organization

In an effort to survive in the long term, Somerset Rural has embarked on a journey of quality management. One of the issues that the firm is focusing on relates to quality assurance. Over the past few years, the firm has become very concerned with regard to the quality of services it delivers to its customers. In an effort to improve its service delivery, the firm has integrated a number of elements.

One of these elements relates to quality assurance. In a bid to achieve this objective, Somerset Rural has become very committed with regard to quality improvement through training. Training is an important aspect in a firm’s effort to incorporate total quality management concepts such as quality assurance. Employee training forms the basis upon which a firm can ensure that its products and services are of high quality.

This assertion emanates from the fact that training contributes towards the employees being effective and efficient in the course of executing their duties. Currently, Somerset Rural is considering employee training as an important investment in its quest to deliver quality products.

The firm has been committed to establishing a training drive for its employees. The objective of the training drive is to encourage youth workers to be more committed in the course of executing their duties. This move will play a critical role in the firm’s effort to develop a client-focused culture amongst its youth workers.

Through the training drive, Somerset Rural stands a chance to impart sufficient knowledge regarding quality concepts and techniques. Considering the dynamic nature of the charity industry, Somerset has formulated policy aimed at ensuring continuous learning in the organization. From the training, the firm will develop its human resource base. For example, it will be in a position to offer high-quality products and services.

Through the learning process, the firm will influence its employees to change the attitude on certain issues that might negatively influence the employees. Employee training is one of the most effective ways through which a particular organization can empower its human resources. Through training, an organization can empower its human resources through various ways.

One of these ways entails formulating an employee training program and undertaking the training itself. Secondly, an organization can undertake employee training by outsourcing the services of an external employee-training agency. Irrespective of the method used, the training should contribute towards attainment of the desired results.

However, to be effective in its training process, it is paramount for an organization to undertake the process throughout the various organizational levels. Additionally, the training should be undertaken systematically.

This objective is realizable by beginning with top-level managers, then middle level managers, and then the non-managers., which means that the training process should start small and should incorporate all the employees.

If all employees are involved at once in the training program, it might result in the entire training program failing. Additionally, it is important for a firm’s management team to ensure that the employees are aware of the quality improvement areas prior to its commencement.

Decision to integrate employee training in its quest to delivery high-quality services arose from the recognition of the importance of developing a strong human resource base in delivering quality products and services to its customers. The firm’s management team is committed at transforming the charity organization into a more business-like entity through innovation.

This move will enable the firm to deal with the challenges within the industry. The success with which a firm undertakes employee training is dependent on a number of elements. One of these elements entails developing a comprehensive understanding of the employees. This aspect is only attainable through need identification. In a bid to be effective in its employee training, the firm undertakes a comprehensive annual self-assessment.

The assessment enables the firms to identify areas that it should improve through employee training. Consequently, the firm is in a position to transform the training process from being need-based to being on-the-job results. The training is also beneficial because the firm can increase the probability of accessing external funds from non-governmental organizations.

In line with its commitment to establish itself as a business-like entity, Somerset Rural has incorporated the concept of business planning in its operation, and to achieve this goal, the firm has integrated a number of points. A firm must develop a comprehensive understanding of its target customers to be successful in business planning. This aspect forms the basis on which a firm designs its products or services.

Consequently, Somerset Rural is committed at undertaking a comprehensive study on youth aspirations. The firm intends to achieve this goal by undertaking a study through the University of Exeter. The study will enable the firm to develop a better understanding of youths’ needs. In its quality journey, Somerset Rural also expects to receive accreditation from external quality management bodies such as C2E.

This element will contribute towards the firm attaining an optimal market position as a quality-conscious entity. Moreover, the firm intends to outsource the services of business development managers in an attempt to ensure effectiveness in its marketing process, which will contribute towards the firm attaining a higher competitive advantage in its service delivery.

Challenges Ahead

The external business environment is characterized by numerous challenges. The challenges emanate from different sources such as the political, economic, technological, and social environments. Currently, the global social environment has become very unstable, which stands out clearly in the wake of the high rate of unemployment and crime.

In its operation, Somerset Rural is committed at delivering social services such as health, transportation, and employment creation. One of the ways through which the firm creates employment is by funding the youth to engage in some profitable projects. However, the number of youths who require these social services is increasing by the day, which poses a major challenge to the firm because it does not have sufficient funding.

Additionally, rural areas do not offer sufficient employment opportunities compared to urban areas. Consequently, the entity has to ensure that it engages the youth in alternative economic activities, and this aspect is a major challenge for the firm because it has to implement various programs, which might be costly to formulate and implement.

With regard to the economic environment, one of the major challenges that Somerset Rural Youth Project is facing relates to decline in funding. Through its operations, Somerset Rural Youth Project plays an important role in stimulating the country’s economic growth. Normally, the average budget for the project is £850. By investing this money in capital projects, the firm has been in a position to improve the UK’s economy.

The entity contributes to the country’s economic growth by providing employment to more than 5000 youths. Currently, the project has more than 30 highly trained support staff. It has also established 60 youth clubs whose role entails the provision of mobile services using the club vans. Through the National Citizen Service, the government forms one of the main customers for the project.

Despite the project’s contribution, its future prospects face a major challenge with regard to funding. Due to the 2008 global economic recession, most governmental and non-governmental organizations were affected. For example, they were unable to access credit finance from various financial institutions, and thus to deal with this challenge, most governmental organizations cut their spending.

As a result, their ability to offer grants to charity organizations such as Somerset Rural Youth Project was adversely affected. In its operation, Somerset Rural Youth Project receives funds from the youth budget of Somerset County Council. However, the council is increasingly cutting the youth budget.

Additionally, the County Council is transforming its budget into being more urban-centric. Therefore, the probability of Somerset Rural Youth Project attaining its goal of providing employment opportunities to the youth will be affected.

The funding challenge for the entity is not yet over given that the European region is facing a sovereign debt crisis. Therefore, there is a high probability of the Youth Project continuing to experience a funding challenge. If this phenomenon is not adequately addressed, the firm’s future success is doomed because it will not be in a position to achieve its mission. Another challenge that the project is facing relates to increased competition.

Currently, the entity is facing an increment in the intensity of competition within the charity industry. The competition mainly emanates from the government. In an effort to improve service delivery to the youth, the government has increasingly become committed at establishing the Big Vision society. Increment in the intensity of competition is also expected to emanate from other bigger national entities such as Barnados.

This entity has established an effective national network. Consequently, it has managed to achieve economies of scale in its operation as evidenced by a decline in the volume of its overhead.

The entity also faces a major challenge in its quest to minimize isolation amongst the youth especially in the rural areas. This problem emanates from the fact that it has become difficult to minimize cases of bullying amongst the rural youth. Small communities characterize the rural areas in the UK whereby the residents know each other.

In such a society, the probability of youths developing mental health cases is relatively high as compared to larger societies. This aspect arises from the fact that occurrence of bullying is likely to be high in such societies. In extreme cases, such occurrences can degenerate to serious isolation amongst the youth. Consequently, the existence of such societies poses a threat to the Somerset’s effort to nurture youths’ well-being and health.

Excellence Journey

Considering the changes in the external environment, for example, increment in the intensity of competition, it paramount for the firm to implement effective strategies that will improve is survival. One of the aspects that the firm should focus on is quality assurance. In a bid to be effective, the firm should take into account a number of quality improvement approaches.

The approaches should assist the firm to identify areas that it should improve in its quality assurance. Some of these approaches include use of fishbone diagrams, conducting Pareto analysis, benchmarking, and use of flow charts. Additionally, the firm should also consider implementing the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle.

By following the PDSA cycle, the firm will manage to undertake a comprehensive continuous improvement in its operation. This observation arises from the fact that the firm’s employees will be required to conduct a continuous review of its current performance, which will increase the probability of identifying gaps that should be addressed, hence improving the planning process.

It is paramount for the firm’s management team to conduct a comprehensive market research in a bid to be effective in its quest to attain a high level of quality assurance. The research will play an important role in timely identification of the prevailing market needs. Consequently, the firm will be in a position to address these challenges, and thus the firm will develop a strong positive publicity.

After identifying the market needs, the firm should undertake a comprehensive planning and evaluation. The evaluation will aid in identification of whether the implemented strategies are in line with the firm’s goals. Findings of the market research should be communicated to employees with the objective of enabling them to understand the market needs hence appreciate the need to address the needs thereafter.

Another strategy that the Somerset Rural should consider in its quest to attain its quality objective is benchmarking. This strategy entails the process of comparing a firm’s performance against that of the competitor. Currently, Somerset Rural is experiencing an increment in the intensity of competition.

In a bid to deal with this challenge, the firm should ensure that it develops a comprehensive understanding of its competitors. The firm should continuously evaluate whether the quality of its services is higher or lower as compared to those of its competitors.

Offering low-quality products and services can result in a decline in the firm’s reputation. This assertion arises from the fact that customers are increasingly becoming quality conscious in their consumption process. Therefore, it is paramount for the firm to ensure that it is in line with the market trends.

In the quest to ensure effectiveness in its benchmarking process, it is paramount for Somerset to not only bench mark itself against its major competitors such as Barnados, but also take into account smaller firms within the industry. Through benchmarking, the firm will be in a position to identify various organizational processes that contribute towards delivery of high quality products and services.

Somerset should also consider to the possibility of integrating various benchmarking strategies such as competitive benchmarking, internal benchmarking, and generic benchmarking.

In addition to external benchmarking, the firm should also undertake internal benchmarking with regard to quality. One of the ways through which the firm should achieve this objective is by setting a quality target to be attained within a stipulated timeframe.

Somerset Rural Youth Project, abbreviated SRYP, was incorporated in the fiscal 1997. During this period, it was registered as a charity organization. The organization was set up to reach out to the youths whose age ranged from 11 years to 25 years. According to Heather Black, the chief executive of SRYP, this project was purposely intended to utilize the talents of young people in helping other youths.

The SRYP was equally intended to contribute towards the development and growth of Somerset rural. In fact, the Youth Work Charity dubbed as Somerset Rural Youth Project had the vision of uplifting young people.

In Somerset, the youths are losing their sense of belonging, but SRYP was instituted to help such people to work willingly towards contributing to a better future. Thus, this organization prepares a viable future for the youths. SRYP endeavors to offer Somerset youths a future that is unlimited by access to services and opportunities.

The Somerset Rural Youth Project is quite different from other rivalry organizations. It provides the standard youth work, and other activities that can be accessed by everybody who is a teenager. Some of the business activities conducted by SRYP include offering advice to the youths concerning alcohol and drugs, various volunteering opportunities, social, guidance, support and sporting activities as well as health workshops.

The services provided by SRYP are distinctive in nature and cannot be compared to those offered by other rival organizations. For example, this organization delivers recreational, educational, economic, social, and business activities in a manner, which suits the rustic places.

Having been in operation for more than ten years now, the Somerset Rural Youth Project has shown a remarkable achievement record. It appears both as a service provider and as approaches developer. The Somerset project has quite a number of experienced staffs.

It receives significant aid from voluntary, private, and public sector organizations. Such extensive support from donors makes a pool of Somerset experienced staffs to be well positioned in sharing knowledge as well as assisting other people in developing and applying methods that Somerset pioneers.

From the case, SRYP is similar to any other project tailored towards assisting young people. The SRYP offers guidance, support, and advice on sports activities, training, employment, budgeting, and health. Furthermore, SRYP provides particular support designed to facilitate and assist the youths get to college, and work stations.

Such forms of assistance provided by SRYP also help young people in gaining the requisite expertise and skills directly via the training program called The Rustic Skills Workshop. The four teams established to handle SRYP matters have developed greater interests and approaches to ensure good practices. The teams are out to realize the excellence journey.

Given that, the SRYP mainly concerns testing and innovation, the staffs use a variety of strategies to reach out to the Somerset youths and deliver appropriate services. The means used to contact the inaccessible young people include mobile youth club vans, special designs of trailers, and minibuses. All these means of transport are designed to carry equipment and staffs to the meeting places, seminar rooms, and mobile coffee bars.

However, in trying to assist Somerset youths to be like other people who live in the urban centers, transport has always posed considerable challenges to SRYP teams.

Despite the challenges, SRYP offer moped loan schemes to help alleviate some of the encountered difficulties. Moped loan scheme (MLS) is amongst the most demanded services that SRYP offers to the Somerset youths. The price of MLS is highly subsidized for the youths who need economical means of transportation.

Other means of reaching out and informing the Somerset rustic youths is through creating stronger community links. SRYP currently uses activities such as the re-establishment of local churches into societal centers. On the other hand, the Rural Employment and Learning (REAL) team is responsible for the provision of practical assistance to the youths aged between 16 years and 25 years who actively seek for employment opportunities.

Green activities is another context drawn on by SRYP to make the youths take part in the useful outdoor activities namely conservation, wildlife, environment, and restoration.

Finally, to accomplish its excellence journey, the Somerset Rural Youth Project is wide-ranging both in its geographical coverage, context, and in scope. The project has achieved various objectives, and after ten years in operation, the number of supporters and partners has equally increased.

For instance, the total number of SRYP part-time and full time working staffs is 75. Annually, the SRYP teams reach out to over 2,000 youths while funds accrue from nearly 50 sources. These make SRYP to be amongst the largest organizations endowed with profound administration burden.

Initially, the organization received funds or financial support from only two sources, RDC (Rural Development Commission) and the Country Council. The funding arrangements have experienced considerable changes, and the impacts from these changes are great.

Somerset Rural Youth Project uses various strategies to pursue its quality or excellence journey. From the time the project was instigated, the teams have developed an approach of good practice. There are greater potentials and interests developed by team members. Everything that surrounds the Somerset Rural Youth Project revolves around testing and innovating.

The staffs are often given confidence and support in order to develop their skills and interests towards benefiting the youths. To realize these, the project members have organized themselves in various groups to complete the journey.

For instance, four mobile teams work across Somerset Rural and throughout the country. These teams use minibuses that are customized for the effortless transport to seminar rooms, meetings, and mobile coffee bars. Besides, there are trailers specifically designed and manufactured to take various equipment and tools to the rural areas.

The SRYP staffs usually focus on particular work areas. To accomplish their quality journey, the work of the teams recently concentrated on community and economic programs.

The community program

Every team in the community program covers a geological area. In fact, each of the four teams is obligated to work on particular themes reflecting the interests and strengths of team members. The adopted models include:

Advice on Health education: The staffs working for SRYP recruit and train youths to become peer mentors and instructors. Such volunteers attend classes that offer courses on residential issues where they cover child listening, communication, and protection skills.

The courses are offered over the weekends. The volunteers are also taught about the responsibility of various agencies, as well as when and how to refer individuals and groups to such agencies for assistance.

Reducing criminal activities: SRYP staffs work closely with agencies and youths including education colleges and Safer Sedgemoor Partnership. With the assistance from these groups, the SRYP staffs develop various approaches that can be used to reduce crime in the rural areas.

The undertaken activities range from the involvement of the youths to investigate how crime can be reduced to removing graffiti and repairing bus shelters. The teams offer advice on cookery, sexual health, independent living, moped and car maintenance, personal finance, and substance abuse.

Sports development: SRYP has an Activity and Sports Mentoring Project that is meant to encourage the youths to learn about hale and hearty existence as well as participate in relaxing sports activities. The activities help the youths to work with communities that participate in field events, to enhance societal relations, and to develop the decision-making skills of young people.

Creative Arts: Somerset Rural Youth Project has art-based activities meant to assist the youths in overcoming any difficulties they encounter. SRYP staffs visit artists in their work areas and take part in artistic activities. This helps Somerset to reach and help youths who never realized that they had creative talents. SRYP positively channels these youths to carry out activities for their personal benefits.

The economic program

This program involves the participation of the four SYRP teams. The SRYP teams offer numerous support that are intended to assist the youths in gaining access to training and employment or to overcome problems that each person encounters. This program includes the following modeled projects:

The rurality.com: This scheme takes mobile satellite dishes, mobile phones equipped with infrared devices, and laptops to the youths living in the most rustic areas.

Young people using this equipment are able to acquire ICT skills and access the internet. Through this project, the SRYP have the chance to incorporate the youths in their work, and offer further guidance, advice, and information. The organization is currently developing a website to be used by the youths.

“Me in My Ex-moor” (MIME): This project helps the youths from Ex-moor schools to record the current personal life experiences and reflections, interviews with grown-ups concerning life, as well as vision and in sound. Such information could be used in future by the youths who grow up in the rustic places.

The REAL (Rural Employment and Learning) SRYP team look for the unreachable youths from the smallest communities found in Somerset to offer them guidance and advice. Therefore, since this team works intimately with Job Centre Plus and Connexions colleagues, it is strategically positioned to refer the youths to other organizations when it is deemed appropriate.

In the ‘Wheels to Work’ national program, the SRYP offers the Moped Loan Scheme. This scheme has provided the needed independence to over 340 youths to attend college or work where they prefer.

The project faces many challenges accruing from Local Area Agreements, Children Trust Progress, and Defras Rural Modernizing Delivery work. It has unluckily schemed none deliberate distrust to the future expectations of the project. Attached to this, challenges come from organizations offering potential financial support. They are incapable of financing the project due to their need for demonstrating monetary value.

The challenge results from comparative costs incurred by urban projects to the high per capita costs earned in rural areas. The project experiences difficulties at this time. Black Heather remarks that the strain related to Rural Proofing process is becoming extinct, and the respect in liberation of urban services is costly.

Even though the general story about SRYP encourages, concerns are arising on its financial, operational, and political systems. The project and its supporters work in these schemes. They do not allow the testing of approaches and provide relatively shorter time for the provision of services. Hence, this hinders the wide adoption of effectively proven approaches as standard practices.

Change is viewed as a personal benefit despite the fact that it is painful, natural, and inevitable. Learning and experiences in the recent years are not lost if the work of the project is to be entirely absorbed into another organization. In fact, it is unlikely to happen in Somerset Rural Youth Project as the organization apprehends.

Thus, the largest part of the youth project will have to close up in the contemporary competitive environment. Some of this project’s models would be discontinued. For instance, the Moped Loan Scheme will not be continuing regardless of how moneymaking and triumphant it has demonstrated to be.

The project continuation is the most important purpose of the SRYP. The Somerset Rural Youth Project workforce squanders a lot of time. Approximately, twenty-five percent on average time spent is used on preparing proposals, and presenting progress reports to institutions that is financially supporting them.

Though this is necessary, it consumes a lot of time. Therefore, the quantity of time used up by personnel in working with the youthful populace is condensed.

Additionally, there is reduction in the self-determination to the examination of new-fangled dreams in the project. In fact, the need to ensure that the objectives of fund donors to SRYP are achieved is the root cause of this problem. The project, in a number of ways has now turned out to be less innovative.

Conversely, SRYP has continued to raise a lot of money and developed numerous ways of operating in the company of youths. The project’s expectations are not totally protected and there is a complex financial state of affairs. Despite this, the SRYP without any doubt remains an example of high-quality practice. The project suffers in its ability to share out this best practice everywhere.

They experience bottlenecks in helping others adapt to its proven ways of work nationally. It is also irrefutable that a mixture in policy and monetary constraint are in suspicion and out of power of the associates as well as the project.

The natural history of work in the project as well as the present political and financial atmosphere makes the project to encounter difficulty in achieving its financial security.

Besides, it is difficult for the SRYP to visualize or spotlight on how its rural youths will fare on with the project in the near future. According to Clitheroe David, the project aims at flourishing particularly in the pastoral regions of the country where modest aid can be accounted for and felt.

Competition from other government services blows off the work of Somerset Rural Youth Project. It cannot have rest on its laurels in order for its services delivery to be appreciated by the Somerset community. In fact, the government has built its Big Society vision, thus creating more struggles in the markets.

Other minor local charities with small amount expenses, also deliver home services thus offering opposition to SRYP. Generally, the Somerset Rural Youth Project should continue with its operations even though the market is getting very competitive and the vessel becomes undersized.

The existence Somerset Rural Youth Project is roughly ten years in approximation. Almost fifteen thousand youths from the Somerset community have worked for the group. Among them are the professional players working in movable projects. They are equipped with designed vehicles and trailers to cover a special range of services.

These services range from trade and industry to societal services offered to Somerset community youths with less than three thousand residents. The Somerset Rural Youth Project management works with many able associate organizations. The Somerset project is effective due to the project environment and the mobility to get in touch with youthful group in ways that are unused to many legislative bodies.

Although this project has proved its worth like other rival organization projects, its imminent life is self-doubting. Indeed, NRYP has demonstrated first-class practice and its looms are matching well in the other parts of the nation. Moreover, the project is supported nationally, regionally, and locally yet its existence remains unsecure.

Due to the impending challenges, various strategies have been set up by the organization to meet its future demands and further explore the journey for excellence. To start with, a plan to start the ball rolling was put in place by the project. The first assessment for deploying the charity has been instituted. The charity has the eventual aim of developing the project into something similar to a business.

The BQF diverse membership provides a major bonus to the Somerset Rural Youth Project. The SRYP members bank their hopes in networking events and seminars that supply them with extra foods for thought to further their development. The group also ground breaks into dissimilar environs to discover whether they can be challenged. For this reason, they think about the project from the business point of view.

Usually, project excellence comes through self-assessment done by the organizations. The youth project conducts yearly evaluation to keep on charming resources from donors. This allows them to scrutinize the effectively finished activities and to gain knowledge on marketing competition trends.

Furthermore, the Somerset Rural Youth Project has discovered five long-term charitable trust plans in business. It has initially finished the most recent round of longitudinal schoolwork at Exeter University, which has attracted the youth desires. In this institution, the aid organization takes the leading role in all market positioning strategies.

Further, it has gained respect in C₂E accreditation as an outside indicator of loyalty to achieve excellence. In addition to that, to assist in marketing and promotion of services, the project has hired business development managers.

The initiation of an important training constrain has been termed to be extraordinary. NRYP has aimed at reaching and encouraging the youthful project staffs to take extra-premeditated approach to those services being rendered.

Finally, the organization can look for additional sources of funds to subsidize services offered to Somerset youths. Most young people from the rustic community hardly have any capital to initiate personal projects. Therefore, these additional funds can be used to jumpstart income generating projects for such category of youth. The quality of excellence is evident in the delivery of services.

The SRYP employs the youths who are currently delivering total results to customers. The employees’ training on how to consider and successfully manage resources is guaranteed by the project, thus its quality. It has enabled the organization to propel towards excellence in that there is efficiency.

In SRYP, efficiency in the field of service delivery ensures the attraction of additional funds from multiple sources. Overall, modernism has fostered the growth of SRYP. Through innovative learning, the human resource has continued to extend the delivery of esteemed services to Somerset communities.

Introduction

The following is a report on youth as a target market in tourism and leisure industry. Tourism and leisure industry is popular with most young people. It looks into how the youths perceive tourism and leisure activities. It also looks into how companies wish to market their services to the youths and the approaches they can use to reach out this wide and robust market.

Background information

Most countries define a youth as an individual aged between eighteen years and thirty-five years, which is the time of transition from childhood to adulthood. Though many young people love pleasure and leisure activities most of them cannot afford to pay for the costs that are involved in tourism.

Tourism and leisure are considered by the youths as a preserve for the elderly who have retired, have no jobs and are not thinking much about future. However, with appropriate marketing youths can embrace tourism and leisure industry and enjoy such services without feeling as though it is waste of time.

Most of the youths view leisure and tourism as pleasure and consider engaging in travelling and leisure activities once they retire. However, they have participated in leisure activities through work related travels and holiday sponsorships from the companies they work for (Nicholas, 2007).

Travel is an aspect of growing and transiting to adulthood. The youths therefore engage in travel and adventure activities either as an informal group, school or as a personal initiative to visit friends, new places and learning about other cultures. Earlier this was not seen as part of tourism but time has made the youths a market for the growing tourism and leisure activities (Schultz, 2000).

Although the youths do not have high disposable income, they have energy and avenues of receiving resources from their friends, relative and even employment opportunities that give them a chance to satisfy their passion for leisure and adventure.

Because youth travels are usually in large groups as either school travel or an organizational travel, the tourist agencies that deal with this market enjoy economies of scale emanating from having a wide customer base (Nicholas, 2007).

With the advancement in technology, communication and transport systems, it is now possible to travel to many places at an affordable cost compared to the cost in ten years ago. Travel logistics are now not complicated and most of the countries accept that tourism is a major industry and therefore have little restrictions for people coming into the country as tourists.

The young population is looking for adventure and not the experience. Most of the young people travel to see new places and meet new people as well as learn new things (Nicholas, 2007). Any new place gives youths a lot of pleasure and sense of accomplishment.

For the elderly, travel rekindles old memories and nostalgic feeling about the previous experience or information they have about a particular place. This makes it easier for the companies targeting the youths to provide affordable adventures when focusing on adventure rather than experience (Clow, 2007).

Strategies for reaching out to the youths

There are marketing strategies that would suit any company that is focusing on the youths as their target market. The first step is having a positive strategy that involves social media. Most of the young people are well connected to the internet and are compliant with the modern technology.

To reach out to this group of people, it is necessary to have pay per click that will reach out to the young people (Strokes, 2010). These pages create publicity for the company and provide an opportunity for the company to display its services dealing with leisure as well as the destination where they take the youth travellers.

This is imperative as the pages provide a forum for potential tourists to identify a company that deals with the tour and travel activities through pictorial displays (Pickton, 2000).

The second strategy is that a company that wishes to reach out to the target market must interconnect with the youth population. It must have good colours, and images, which communicate to the young people. This is because to the youth, image has a lot of meaning.

Creating a youthful perception may involve having a strategy of employing youths to work in the tour agency. Such employees will interconnect and build a rapport with the youth easily as compared to the middle aged and the elderly (Gregory, 1997).

From the background information, it is evident that the youth love engaging in leisure and tourism activities as a group rather than as individuals. For the youths, tourism or travel activities involve leisure and adventure, as they are memorable.

Companies targeting the youth’s market must have a strategy of reaching out the youth groups in universities, churches or organizations that deal with young people. This is because such organizations have leisure activities or travel activities in their budgets and having them consider a particular tour and travel company as their choice company of travel is imperative (McDonald, 2007).

To reach out the youth population the company must also consider the public relation marketing approach. Public relations involve activities that elicit media reporting or publicity without directly paying for it. For instance, a company targeting the youth population must consider activities that elicit participation of the youth.

Such activities include sports, travel, and leisure activities that elicit the attention of the youth. Sponsoring a sporting activity such as a football match by paying tickets for youthful fans elicits high level of publicity, which makes the potential customers aware of the company and the services, which it provides.

Sponsoring college activities such as orientation week or an entertainment event in the university exposes the company to potential customers especially the student’s clubs and organizations that engage in travel activities.

The student population represents a potential market in the long term as once they are through with schooling and get into organizations where they may need to travel, the company will have the advantage of being the tour and travel company of their choice (Hofstede, 2001).

Tour and travel as well as leisure activities do not involve tour companies alone. They also involve the destinations, the hotels, the airline services used during that travel and other stakeholders such as tour guides.

These stakeholders should create experience for the youthful tourist, as they are likely to act as repeat customers if the experience, which they will have, is pleasurable, memorable and exciting (Holbeche, 2006).

Most of the elderly people visit places where they have gone before when young and they had a pleasurable and memorable experience which they would want to rekindle in their old age. Therefore, creating a memorable experience for the young people is imperative in making them lifetime clients of a particular destination (Strokes, 2010).

The youth are challenged by the fact that they do not have much information on various destinations and they only look for any available destination that will give them pleasure. Creating and providing information about the organization and destinations is critical in reaching out this target market.

Such information may be in brochures or mailing lists providing information about different tour destinations, the experiences that they provide as well as the cost of that experience (Morgan, 2006).

To reach out the youth as the target market, it may involve adjusting prices to fit the young people. As indicated earlier young people do not have, enough resources or money and they therefore look for the lowest priced destinations, which can provide the adventure and the experience they are looking for.

Because the young people may not be widely travelled, they rarely look for experience as much as for the adventure. Pricing the ticket packages, the hotels with a specific destination and experience for young people at affordable prices will be the winning edge for attracting the young people who want to have fun, pleasure while saving on the expenses (Clow, 2003).

Conclusion

The young people are an emerging market in the tourism industry and they cannot be underscored, Gone are the days when leisure and tourism was a preserve for the elderly people who had money and were enjoying their retirement packages. The youthful population wants to have leisure and adventure.

This market can be tapped by providing a good experience at an affordable price. Companies reaching out this target must focus on numbers and not only on the profit margin, as youths are markets similar to the mass market.

References

Clow, K. (2003). Integrated advertising for luxury items. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Clow, K. (2007). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing communications 3rd edition. London: Pearson Education.

Gregory, R. (1997). Leveraging the corporate brand. Chicago: NTC.

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences. California: Thousand Oaks.

Holbeche, L. (2006). Understanding change: Theory, implementation and success. London: Heinemann.

McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing plans (6th ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Morgan, G (2006). Images of organization. London: Sage.

Nicholas, I. (2007). Youth tourism. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Pickton, D. (2000). Amada. Integrated marketing communications. New York: Prentice Hall.

Schultz, M. (2000). The expressive organization: Linking identity, reputation and the corporate brand. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Strokes, R. (2010). E-marketing: The essential guide to online marketing. New Jersey: McGraw Hill.

Technical Characteristics

In this website, navigation and loading are easily performed. However, although contrast and font size have been used effectively on the home page to increase readability and appeal, the other pages are not as easy to read since the font is small and generally not as appealing as it is on the home page. The links are all valid and active as well as easily accessible and do not need other additional links like javascript (Canadian Youth Business Foundation, 2013).

Graphics on the home page are clean and aesthetically attractive. However, on the other pages, the images are not appealing. Despite this, all the scripts do not have errors (Canadian Youth Business Foundation, 2013).

Information provided by the customer is safeguarded, and there are no obvious security flaws that could be detected. It is also easy to get information on this website since there is a provision of a search engine (Canadian Youth Business Foundation, 2013).

General Evaluation

Despite some weaknesses on the technical side, it provides useful information that can be used by most business people. It has also provided contact information making it trustworthy (Canadian Youth Business Foundation, 2013).

References

Canadian Youth Business Foundation. (2013). Web.

Introduction

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the new social networking standards among the young adults and teenagers. The use of social media subjects youths to the dangers of cyberbullying. Indeed, cases of cyberbullying are on the rise in the United States. Scholars hold that children who are victims of cyberbullying are likely to suffer from depression, poor sleep, anxiety, and unhappiness among other psychological challenges. As more youths continue to use social media, there is a need for enactment of federal laws to curb cyberbullying and prosecute offenders. This report will discuss the impacts of cyberbullying on youths today.

Impacts of Cyberbullying

According to Craig et al., the victims and architects of cyberbullying exhibit numerous psychological signs, which include feeling nervous, agitation, helplessness, and loneliness (607). They claim that the victims of cyberbullying are always fearful and experience social difficulties. A study carried out on children in Norway confirmed that victims of cyberbullying have low self-esteem. Craig et al. claim that the youths remain with the challenge of low self-esteem for a long time. The challenge might persist even when they become adults. According to Craig et al. Youths who encounter different forms of cyberbullying are likely to engage in behaviors that might be self-harming. For instance, some victims suffer from eating disorders and self-mutilation. The girls who are victims of cyberbullying are at a high risk of experiencing eating disorders. The victims of cyberbullying also suffer from physical signs like stomachache, dizziness, backache, and headache. Craig et al. posit, “The more frequent the bullying, the more the young person is likely to experience symptoms of ill health, whether physical, emotional or mental” (608).

Craig et al. allege that youths who are victims of cyberbullying suffer from paranoia and phobic anxiety. “The stress associated with the bullying can also lead to the teenage suffering from stress-related conditions such as skin diseases and stomach ulcers” (Craig et al. 609). Some teenagers also suffer from binge eating and variations in sleep patterns. Craig et al. maintain that cyberbullying leads to the victims suffering from apnea or insomnia. The youths experience horrifying nightmares that disturb their sleep. Moreover, they exhibit psychosomatic signs like sleeplessness and abdominal pain. On the other hand, the young people who perpetrate cyberbullying suffer from a severe headache.

Donegan claims that cyberbullying subjects teenagers to stress and strain. In return, it leads to the young people exhibiting deviant behaviors. According to Donegan, many adolescents engage in criminal activities due to exposure to cyberbullying (35). Victims of cyberbullying go through a vicious cycle that compels them to participate in criminal activities as a defensive mechanism. As the youths look for ways to vent their frustration, they engage in antisocial behaviors.

Many youths who fall victims of cyberbullying are convicted of crimes. In most cases, the coping mechanisms that victims of cyberbullying adopt do not bear fruits. Instead, they exacerbate the overall quandary of improper conduct. Donegan supposes that youths do not prefer seeking assistance from counselors. Instead, they opt to resolve problems their way. Failure to settle the issue of cyberbullying leads to the youths becoming desperate. They become lost in emotional distress. The research by Donegan concludes that both the perpetrator and victim of cyberbullying are hurt emotionally. In return, they feel insecure. At times, the troubled youths may decline to go to school, thus performing poorly in their studies. Donegan cites violent thoughts and suicidal ideation as the extreme impacts of cyberbullying. He claims that homicide cases are prevalent among the victims of cyberbullying (37). Besides, cyberbullying is the third leading cause of fatality among the youths in the United States. According to Donegan, the victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying have a high chance of contemplating suicide, attempting to commit suicide and even committing it.

According to Faryadi, cyberbullying results in peer rejection among the young people (2253). The teenagers who suffer from peer rejection develop negative perceptions about the school, thus performing poorly in class. The adolescents fear getting scoffed at by their colleagues. As a result, they stop participating in group discussions and have difficulties in handling assignments. According to Faryadi, youths who are cyberbullied perform poorly academically. The bullying distracts the students making it hard for them to pay attention to academics. Cyberbullying leads to the students losing interest in studies. Additionally, the students start viewing school in a negative way. They start failing to report in class, therefore not being able to follow the classes consistently. Further, the teenagers stop participating in lesson.

Faryadi claims that cyberbullying has a wide audience. Information shared on social media reaches a wide audience. In most cases, victims of cyberbullying cease going to school due to fear that their colleagues know about the damaging information about them that is posted on social media. Eventually, some students end up dropping out of school while others perform poorly making it hard for them to progress to the next class. Faryadi holds that cyberbullying results in long-term changes in the mind of the victim. It becomes hard for the victim to remember whatever is taught in class. In other cases, the students are unable to concentrate in class or learn anything.

Faryadi claims that cyberbullying has adverse impacts on the perpetrators. The bullies spend a lot of time on the internet. They direct all their energy to cyberbullying, therefore having no time to study or do assignments. Besides, the perpetrators of cyberbullying experience anxiety since they fear being noticed. Hence, they are never at peace. Faryadi posits that it becomes hard for the bullies to study in a troubled environment. Accordingly, they do not do well in their studies.

Cyberbullying causes a lot of humiliation to young girls. At times, the girls are powerless and unable to deal with the challenge. The victims of cyberbullying decline to interact with their colleagues. Consequently, the turn to alcohol consumption to relieve the emotional pain associated with rejection or loneliness. Selkie et al. claim that youths who encounter unwarranted sexual advances through social media, suffer from severe depression. The study by Selkie et al. concluded that perpetrators of cyberbullying are at a high risk of engaging in alcohol and substance abuse. The survey found that a majority of the college girls who perpetrated cyberbullying were addicted to alcohol.

Conclusion

Cyberbullying has numerous adverse impacts on the youths today. Victims of cyberbullying experience emotional and physical challenges, which force them to indulge in alcohol and drug abuse. Further, some victims lose interest in studies, thus performing poorly in class. Cyberbullying also affects the offenders. Perpetrator of cyberbullying devote most of their time to perpetuating the vice. Hence, they do not have time to concentrate on studies, therefore failing academically. The offenders also indulge in alcohol and drug abuse.

Works Cited

Craig, Hase, Goldberg Simon, Smith Douglas, Stuck Andrew and Campain Jessica. “Impacts of Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying on the Mental Health of Middle School and High School Students.” Psychology in the Schools 52.6 (2015): 607-617. Print.

Donegan Richard. “Bullying and Cyberbullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis.” The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications 3.1 (2012): 33-43. Print.

Faryadi, Qais. “Cyberbullying and Academic Performance.” International Journal of Computational Engineering Research 1.1 (2011): 2250-2316. Print.

Selkie, Ellen, Rajitha Kota, Ya-Fen Chan and Megan Moreno. “Cyberbullying, Depression, and Problem Alcohol Use in Female College Students: A Multisite Study.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 18.2 (2015): 79-84. Print.

Main Issues Covered in terms of Youth Sports Participation in the United States

According to Atencio and Wright (2008), the main issue covered in youth sports participation in the United States revolves around the relationship between the African American culture and basketball.

While this relationship appears to be almost taken for granted, it forms the root of the levels of risk surrounding African American youths. The connection is also attributed to the concomitant and post-industrialism social anxieties facing these youths. The basketball game comes out as a platform through which policymakers use the game to turn young black adults from crime and gang-affiliated thoughts into positive alternative community groups. As an example, Atencio and Wright (2008) show that the sport has been central in changing the mindset of the community groups in African American neighborhoods, from poverty-stricken to socially cohesive individuals. Therefore, with sports serving as a medium for transformation, it transforms the black youths in the United States from gang-oriented to productive people in the community.

Cameron et al. (2017) show the other main issue covered as the connection between sports involvement among youths and the negative experiences encountered courtesy of organized sports. In the United States, like most other western countries, studies show that despite the health benefits long associated with physical exercises in sports, organized sports experience both harm and bruises. For example, Cameron et al. (2017) show that high levels of competitiveness among youths in the United Kingdom, United States, the Netherlands, and Australia cause physical injuries among young adults. Organized sports utilize inappropriate or excessive training, which, as recalled by youths, is a source of their body harm.

The other main issue addressed by Cooky (2009) is the mistaken assumption, based on a common idea in the United States, that creating or expanding existing structures is central to inclusivity. Despite being frequently reproduced among girl sports, the same is not the case since the newly created opportunities do not accept girls from minority groups in the United States. Messner (2002) contributes to this issue by arguing that even with the increase in the number of ladies taking part in sports, the mistaken assumption makes people believe that girls who fail to participate in sports do so because it is their choice. To counter this belief, Cooky (2009) gives an example of one research done by Acosta and Carpenter in 2005 that showed that with the number of girls/ladies actively involved in sports, the part that fails to participate blames limited opportunities as the reason for their non-involvement in sports.

From another perspective, Messner (2002) brings out another severe issue associated with youths involved in sports in the United States. In this alternate contribution, Messner argues that it should not come as a surprise when high-profile sports youths in the U.S. perpetrate crimes causing physical harm to their girlfriends. To build on his study, Messner (2000) gives an example of an incident in November of 2000 where six footballers representing Yucca Valley high school were convicted of rape, sexual battery, and false imprisonment. The trend has been on the rise among youths and adults in sports, where gang rapes and physical and verbal abuse are reported among young adults known to belong to school teams. With such reports, youths in the U.S. become representatives of violent acts making policymakers yield few results in their fight against ill-mannered young adults. This understanding by Messner begs the question of whether athletic youths are more likely to engage in violent acts compared to their non-athletic counterparts. However, Messner cautions his readers. They should not be surprised if this is the case because, according to such experiences, it’s clear to establish the connection between athletic youths and violent acts in the U.S.

Critical Race, Ethnicity, and Indigenous Culture Issues on Youth and Pro Sports

Based on the information presented by Gary (n.d), the National Football League (NFL) has been associated with the use of racist mascots as an inappropriate representation of the Native Americans. It has been argued that in sports, particularly among professional athletes, participants are the subject of the governing bodies running sports organizations. In the U.S., issues of racism, ethnicity, and indigenous culture remain relevant, and the governance systems have not yet fully incorporated every minority group in the country. With this, school and professional organizations still practice discrimination, even if to a small extent. Thus, Native American images, symbols, and names are still a practice of hostility to the less fortunate in the country. With this said, conflicts still exist in sports organizations, youth and professional alike, and that is why apart from states like Oregon, Maine, and Wisconsin, Native American mascots are still in use in sports throughout the country, which is offensive to Native Americans (Gary, n.d). In the words of Susan Harjo, Gary shows that being called a redskin portrays the worst kind of humiliation of associating with any Native American.

Borrowing from Atencio and Wright (2008), the argument raised is that even with the critical explanations made to show the connection between young adults and professional sportspeople, what culturally underpins basketball in African American neighborhoods outlines the broader notion that is black athletic masculinity. Despite the constricting cultural and socioeconomic conditions shaping urban basketball, only a few black communities benefit from the sport. The discourses surrounding black masculinity in the African American neighborhoods revolve around poverty, basketball, masculinity, and blackness, which sustain and constitute black masculinities and masculine hierarchies (Atencio & Wright, 2008). The traditional understanding of masculinity still holds its place in society, which is highly represented by incorporeal and discursive regimes that still define how youths and pro athletes understand themselves. Therefore, the notion embodied by the disciplinary practices within the sport ensures the understanding of cultural practices relies on the desires and subjectivities constituting the black neighborhoods.

Cameron et al. (2017) further show that based on the context of the negative experiences of young adults and pro sports athletes, that sense of self-worth is damaged. Additionally, sports also bring out multiple contexts associated with social exclusion among peers, and discrimination against these peers is founded on socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity. Athletic objectification continues to be a cultural practice among coaches, teachers, and parents. On the other hand, society also encourages sexual objectification in pro athletes, specifically women athletes (Cameron et al., 2017).

On the other hand, while female participation in sports is improving, the sport continues to assume that symbolic and natural boundaries still exist where lines have been drawn to limit how lesbians and gays, women, and racial minorities, among other disadvantaged groups, contest (Cooky, 2009). While history shows girls and ladies have always encountered struggles in their involvement in sports, the same fight continues to date. However, modern-day works correlate to the historical foundations in sports that still teach male athletes to practice hegemonic masculinity and black masculinity among African Americans. This concept still places the female athlete as a more miniature counterpart to the male athlete. In this example given by Cooky (2009), a 2002 research by Shakib and Dunbar showed that the girl basketball team was perceived as lesser in stature compared to its boys’ team counterpart. In other words, the aspect of both black and hegemonic masculinity places a lesser social value on the young and pro-female athlete.

While Cameron et al. talk about the abuse experienced by athletes among their peers. At the same time training, James (2016) shows that the high levels of poverty and low socioeconomic status in racial minority neighborhoods increase the possibilities of violence. Black masculinity plays a significant role in how violent acts are perpetrated within the communities. The only escape route is playing at the parks to escape the emotional and physical abuses at home, even if temporarily. According to Messner (2002), evidence shows that due to the overrepresentation of black athletes, it is possible to link violent acts among them, especially among basketball and football athletes. Once charged with violence and criminal behaviors, these youth and adults, particularly those whose reputations are maimed with serving sentences, end up being violent fathers who force their children to encounter experiences discussed by James. Aggressive images of athletes continue to surface, resulting in racial stereotypes that make people worry when youth and pro athletes begin to behave unprofessionally. To a great extent, these poor behavioral influences are dictated by men who assume the central position in athletic peer groups and present themselves are dominant. This understanding answers the question asked by Messner on whether athletes are more violent compared to non-athletes.

References

Atencio, Matthew, & Wright, Jan. (2008). “We be killin’ them”: hierarchies of black masculinity in urban basketball spaces. Sociology of Sport Journal, 25, 1, 263-280.

Cameron, N., McPherson, L., Atkins, P., Nicholson, M., & Long, M. (June 01, 2017). Child Athletes and Athletic Objectification. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 41, 3, 175-190

Cooky, C. (June 16, 2009). “Girls just aren’t interested”: The social construction of interest in girls’ sport. Sociological Perspectives, 52, 2, 259-283.

Gary, A. (n.d). The Aftermath of Redskins Indian Mascot Decisions: What’s Next? James, A., M. (2016). Park “Rats” to Park “Daddies”. Chapter 11, 221-236.

Messner, M. A. (2002). Taking the field: Women, men, and sports. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Introduction

People worldwide often neglect youth sports programs because they are perceived as inferior choices for students compared to academic excellence. Families and schools fail to focus on balancing learning and sports programs when it comes to creating a holistic environment in learning institutions. As a result, aspects such as physical education and other extracurricular activities are ignored by educators. Most students have the potential to become excellent athletes and often show high performance in sports programs. However, schools may decide to restrict their participation in sports activities if they do not get good grades. The blind-sided assumption that favors academic importance over sports programs has caused a skewed understanding of sports’ roles among school-aged students and the world (Chen, 2022). A learner’s overall positive development should focus on both aspects of academics and physical wellness to create a balance between students’ physical fitness and academic greatness, creating a holistic learning environment for students. Ultimately, it is essential to define the non-prioritization of school sports programs, the extent of the problem, and justify the solution and recommendations.

Purpose and Methodology Overview

The research report seeks to inform readers of the benefits of introducing a youth sports program at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). The program targets physical development in learners, resulting in well-rounded individuals in society. The research report will start by introducing the problem of failing to balance sports and academics, showing how the challenge is prevalent in schools globally. Furthermore, the report focuses on the advantages of sports programs that students miss when educators fail to integrate youth sports programs into their educational curricula. To show the importance of youth sports programs, the report will focus on secondary research to depict the imbalance of academics and sports in the current curriculum used by many schools.

Problem Explanation

The current education system is inclined to prioritize academic performance and use it to determine a child’s future failure or success. Educators introduce various systemized tests in stressful academic weeks to assess students’ performance. The attention on academic performance costs students in terms of physical wellness, which can be achieved through youth sports programs. In addition, learners are denied the chance to gain real-world outdoor skills (Chen, 2022). The current education system does create an imbalance between academic achievement and sports programs, falling short of the requirement of creating a holistic learning environment that encourages academic greatness and youth sports programs.

From a young age, children do not get to choose what may be critical to their life’s development and role as a member of contemporary society. Instead, well-wishers, schools, and parents heavily emphasize academic performance as a measure that guarantees success in life. While attaining good grades is a great way to secure high-paying and stable jobs, it does not necessarily dictate a student’s future success. Seldom does society talk about academic greatness and sports in the same breath as a result of the fear of adverse impacts that parents, well-wishers, and teachers may face (Chen, 2022). Factors that cause fear in parents or guardians of children and young adults include pressure resulting from career options, the child’s future, and their parents’ reputation.

Evidence of The Problem

The evidence of the imbalance between academics and youth sports programs is explained by the push for American education to create a rigorous curriculum that does not effectively imbue learners with soft skills. As a result, most employers complain that graduates lack soft skills and often question the education system. It does not require a unique insight to acknowledge that sports play crucial roles in developing children’s personalities into productive and well-rounded societal members in the future. Whereas academics enables students to acquire knowledge, sport teaches learners invaluable teamwork traits, persistence, leadership, hard work, and respect for others. In addition, sport nurtures unfazed acceptance of failure and success, stress management, and continuous enhancement of a student’s skills (Hirst-Bernhardt & Almasi, 2022). The inherent lack of these skills in current students and recent graduates highlights the imbalance and overemphasis on academics over youth sports programs.

The imbalance between youth sports programs and academics is portrayed in attitudes and stereotypes that favor academics over sports. The mental attitude towards sports programs shows systemic negativity as college sports is often viewed as a four-year activity that brings minute benefits to participants. The current education system encourages college athletes to identify careers outside of sports. Learners are often pushed into thinking they must choose their careers and majors with no focus on sports-related courses (Chen, 2022). There is a misconstrued conception that injuries and distractions associated with sports cause an increase in the adverse perception of youth sports, resulting in an imbalance between academics and sports programs.

The current education system has set academic achievement as the learning’s primary focus instead of concentrating on developing a whole human being, as shown in various educational aspects. For instance, schools and governments overemphasize science, mathematics, and reading while excluding history, vocation education, life skills, arts, social studies, and physical education. As a result, a nation is created with societal members who are out of balance with the development of a whole person capable of accepting and enduring the shocks and bumps in life. In addition, over-relying on standardized testing and grading has created a country where students only study to obtain good grades and pass tests instead of the intrinsic joy associated with learning. The focus on academic achievement is evident in the education system, and schools ignore youth sports programs because there is no pressure to focus on them (Rigby et al., 2022). Instead, academic achievement is linked to teacher pressure as standardized tests are connected to school evaluations.

Solution To the Problem

Today’s youth, including all school-aged students, is potentially vulnerable because of their lifestyle changes. They often show risky behaviors such as increased numbers of hours spent sitting, tobacco or alcohol consumption, minimal hours to rest, and high-stress exposure. In addition, they lose free time to partake in outdoor activities and report increased inappropriate eating habits.

Ultimately, increased pressure to perform in a nation that prioritizes academic achievement causes an imbalance between academics and youth sports programs, which nurture additional skills to develop into a whole human being. The imbalance causes irrevocable adverse effects on the future of society as young learners lack the chance to make sports programs part of their behavioral patterns (Sáez et al., 2021). Thus, the research proposes introducing a youth sports program to reduce the imbalance in the school’s academics and sports, resulting in invaluable student benefits. As a result, it is significant to support the program by exploring how it would help learners. Sports enhance a person’s healthcare and teamwork and allow them to gain financial freedom by nurturing talent.

Promoting Healthcare

Sports participation can help boost a person’s health as well as well-being. Individuals participating in sports are often confident and have a high chance of indicating better mental health compared to those who do not acknowledge the significance of sport-related programs or participate in them. According to the University of Missouri (2021), sports affect the human brain by stimulating reward pathways and strengthening neurochemicals that boost human mood, such as dopamine. High dopamine levels, as well as other neurochemicals found in the blood, enhance a person’s well-being while curtailing an individual’s risk of developing adverse health effects such as depression and anxiety. The disorders are considered the most common among young persons, including school-aged children (University of Missouri, 2021). In another study, Malm et al. (2019) argue that people who conduct physical exercise regularly experience essential gains in the nervous system, which in turn lower their levels of stress. The positive effects of regular and persistent exercise on the human brain reduce the risk of young people engaging in self-medication (Malm et al., 2019). As a result, they cannot use drugs and alcohol to distract and relieve themselves from mental health ailments and stress.

In addition, developing a youth sports program will alleviate obesity, a significant problem for developed and developing countries. According to Wyszyńska et al. (2020), limiting sports in different schools adversely impacts the capacity of students to partake in outdoor activities that help lower body weight to normal levels to avoid obesity. Thus, exercise effectively regulates an individual’s body weight (Wyszyńska et al., 2020). Furthermore, consistent physical activity achieved from participation in school youth sports can help students maintain their weight and lower the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis, and cancers. Existing scholarship agrees that sports are vital in managing obesity among school-going individuals (Leiss & Kim, 2022). Introducing a youth sports program can help UMGC students improve blood flow, reduce fat, and maintain healthy body weights.

Enhancing Teamwork

A youth sports program can increase the ability of students to work in teams efficiently. Sports in schools create a team spirit that cultivates collaborative behaviors among students while promoting activities that encourage the combination of the efforts of different people to achieve a specific goal. As a result, a vibrant team capable of setting clear goals can be created by participating in team sports. Thus, a behavioral habit of collaborating with others in teams is nurtured in a youth sports program, setting most students to achieve successful careers. In addition, it would enable learners to translate the teamwork skills acquired in sports to gain leadership and influencer positions. McEwan and Beauchamp (2020) argue that students participating in sports programs comprehend the significance of good communication, requesting help when stuck, and supporting others. Furthermore, students can master the skill of accepting mistakes and leveraging constructive feedback (McEwan & Beauchamp, 2020). As a result, sports nurture students who can balance their weaknesses and strengths compared to persons who never participate in sports.

Additionally, according to the University of Missouri (2021), sports participation improves the potential of students to work efficiently in teams. Sports activities require learners to follow specific guidelines mandated by different sports. As a result, they become persons who are predictable while working with others and avoid making unilateral decisions since they can affect their team. Students also benefit their personal lives by forming good relationships, including romance or friendships. Success in personal relationships requires compromise, support, communication, as well as the willingness to work with others to achieve common objectives (MU, 2021). Sports can improve teamwork skills early, allowing future societal members to possess the necessary skills to interact with others.

Economic Growth

Sports programs can lead to the nurturing of talent, which may become a source of student income. Learners spend more time in school environments, allowing them to identify and nurture sporting talent. Therefore, the role of schools is crucial as they can offer learners the necessary resources to improve their sporting skills. Sports teachers play a vital role in helping and determining students evolve and improve their performance in various sports. Introducing a youth sports program at UMGC can help teachers and students discover the potential sporting talent that can be nurtured during formative years. If a student is talented in a specific sport and is supported, they can leverage available resources to train and improve their skills, resulting in professional careers. As a result, some students can succeed and achieve financial freedom through different sports (Downward et al., 2019). Schools can support sporting talent by hiring committed coaches and providing students with good pitches and training equipment. Ultimately, schools can improve sports orientation to offer gifted students an opportunity to earn from their sport.

Recommendations

Based on the research herein, it is critical to recommend reorientating youth sports programs through mass sensitization. Parents and teachers need a better attitude toward sports activities that will continue to percolate in the youth. Furthermore, creating programs that are positive and targeted at wholesome activities ensures minimal scandals and their longevity (Chen, 2022). Hiring specialized and skilled coaches will build a good image among the parent-student body and enhance the introduction of sports programs to schools countrywide.

Most parents are often worried that dedication to sports may discourage academic success. Thus, all school stakeholders should collaborate to create clear expectations. Teachers, parents, coaches, and administrators should craft eligibility policies for those interested in sports programs. The guidelines should be carefully designed to promote accountability among students. The policies must also be easily understood by all stakeholders, including teachers, coaches, parents, and students. For instance, students should be able to practice with specific teams even when their grades are low. Furthermore, it is essential to ensure disabled students get special programs where they can participate in enhancing an inclusive school and sports environment. Finally, creating sports clubs can transform the way students perceive sports (Dorsch et al., 2022). As a result, they will develop a sense of fulfillment and competencies applicable to real-world situations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is essential to explore the non-prioritization of sports in schools by defining the problem and exploring how to remedy the situation. Teachers and parents ignore sports as they are perceived to influence academic performance adversely. In addition, the emphasis on academic performance in the curriculum does not favor sporting activities. Introducing a youth sports program would remedy the issue and improve health, teamwork, and financial independence. The program can be introduced through stakeholders’ consultation to set clear expectations and create inclusive sporting activities.

References

Chen, A. (2022). Reconceptualizing Physical Education: A Curriculum Framework for Physical Literacy. Taylor & Francis.

Dorsch, T. E., Smith, A. L., Blazo, J. A., Coakley, J., Côté, J., Wagstaff, C. R., Warner, S., & King, M. Q. (2022). Toward an integrated understanding of the youth sport system.Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 93(1), 105-119.

Downward, P., Frick, B., Humphreys, B. R., Pawlowski, T., & Ruseki, J. E. (2019). The sage handbook of sports economics (reprint). SAGE.

Hirst-Bernhardt, C., & Almasi, K. (2022). Policy Position Paper: Hardwired to learn science but left out of the landscape: The role of expanding access to quality science education in America for elementary learners.Journal of Science Policy & Governance, 20(02), 1-7.

Leiss, J., & Kim, J. H. (2022). Against sedentary school environment: Rethinking the aims of education through physical education. The Journal of Educational Research, 115(2), 111-121.

Malm, C., Jakobsson, J., & Isaksson, A. (2019). Physical activity and sports—real health benefits: A review with insight into the public health of Sweden.Sports, 7(5), 127.

McEwan, D., & Beauchamp, M. R. (2020). Teamwork training in sport: A pilot intervention study.Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 32(2), 220-236.

Rigby, B. P., Dodd-Reynolds, C. J., & Oliver, E. J. (2022). The understanding, application and influence of complexity in national physical activity policy-making.Health Research Policy and Systems, 20(1), 1-14.

Sáez, I., Solabarrieta, J., & Rubio, I. (2021). Reasons for sports-based physical activity dropouts in university students.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), 5721.

University of Missouri (MU). (2021). Benefits of sports for adolescents. Benefits of Sports – MU Health Care.

Wyszyńska, J., Ring-Dimitriou, S., Thivel, D., Weghuber, D., Hadjipanayis, A., Grossman, Z., Ross-Russell, R., Dereń, K., & Mazur, A. (2020). Physical activity in the prevention of childhood obesity: The position of the European Childhood Obesity Group and the European Academy of Pediatrics.Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8.

The problem of doping in youth sports is one of the most urgent and even more acutely emphasizes the need to combat doping at all levels. Since children’s sports are the foundation of the entire sports system, the influence of doping and its distorted positive image concerning sports results acquires a very topical position. The next problem that does not cease to be relevant to this day is the problem of financing. In many countries, there is an irrational bias in the economic plan of support and development of sports. Another critical problem of sports concerns the preparation of the sports reserve. That is, it consists in distorting the perception of reality by the coaching staff and the management of organizations that train young athletes when planning their activities. The leadership and the coach set the wrong tasks, which leads to a distortion of the strategy, mistakes in planning, and an incorrect training process. The solution to the problems is for the states to become more careful about the allocation of financial resources in the field of sports. In addition, the answer lies in the correct motivation of managers and coaches so that they can set reasonable goals for athletes and help them achieve them.

The main abuses of athletes are alcohol and various drugs, and the most important is the abuse of doping: erythropoietin, anabolic steroids, diuretics, and stimulants of mental activity. The latter group includes cocaine, ecstasy, and other drugs belonging to the narcotic group. Addicted to the use of these drugs, some athletes may not only lose the ability to participate in sports but also expose themselves to the risks of overdoses and deaths. When doping is used, some athletes are deprived of their rights to participate in competitions by anti-doping committees, which negatively impacts their lives as they are deprived of all statuses and financial income. The example of the former American boxer Bob Hazelton is very indicative. He lost both legs due to abuse of pharmacology and barely survived when gangrene of the limb provoked the spread of infection.

Skill gamesmanship is the use of dubious, although technically not illegal, methods to win or gain a severe advantage in sports. The difference from cheating, in this case, is that technically the athlete does not commit deceptive actions, although the techniques they use are not completely honest. An example of the gamesmanship skill is a football game in which an athlete intentionally falls after losing during a free kick to win a penalty. Cheating includes injuring a strong athlete under the guise of accidental doping and match-fixing. Naturally, fraud should be punished and wholly excluded from the sport. This is because sports test the true physical strength of people and not their ability to deceive.

Performance-enhancing drugs have had a negative impact on athletes of all levels. This is because the anti-doping commission has deprived athletes using these drugs of the right to participate in competitions. Some athletes have received various heart and liver diseases due to using PED. The measures that are currently being developed to detect the use of doping and drugs by athletes are effective. Some athletes were excluded from participating in global competitions such as the Olympic Games precisely because the conducted testing showed the presence of prohibited drugs in the blood of participating athletes. Justification for using steroids in MLB is impossible to find since sports regulate the complete exclusion of doping, including steroids.