A youth, okechukwu chidoluo Vitus

outh is the time of life when one is young, and
often means the time between childhood and
adulthood (maturity ). [1][2] It is also defined as
"the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc.,
characteristic of one who is young". [3] Its
definitions of a specific age range varies, as
youth is not defined chronologically as a stage
that can be tied to specific age ranges; nor can
its end point be linked to specific activities, such
as taking unpaid work or having sexual relations
without consent. [4]
Youth is an experience that may shape an
individual's level of dependency, which can be
marked in various ways according to different
cultural perspectives. Personal experience is
marked by an individual's cultural norms or
traditions, while a youth's level of dependency
means the extent to which he still relies on his
family emotionally and economically. [4]
Terminology and
definitions
Top: Students of a U.S. university do an outdoor
class, where they discuss topics while walking.
Bottom: Women's Volleyball team of a US
university.
General
Around the world, the English terms youth,
adolescent , teenager, kid, and young person are
interchanged, often meaning the same thing, [5]
but they are occasionally differentiated. Youth
can be referred to as the time of life when one
is young. This involves childhood, and the time
of life which is neither childhood nor adulthood,
but rather somewhere in between. [6][7] Youth
also identifies a particular mindset of attitude, as
in "He is very youth ful". For certain uses, such as
employment statistics, the term also sometimes
refers to individuals from the ages of 14 to
21. [8] However, the term adolescence refers to a
specific age range during a specific
developmental period in a person's life, unlike
youth which is a socially constructed
category. [9]
The United Nations defines youth as persons
between the ages of 15 and 24 with all UN
statistics based on this range, the UN states
education as a source for these statistics. The
UN also recognizes that this varies without
prejudice to other age groups listed by member
states such as 18–30. A useful distinction within
the UN itself can be made between teenagers
(i.e. those between the ages of 13 and 19) and
young adults (those between the ages of 18 and
32). While seeking to impose some uniformity
on statistical approaches, the UN itself is aware
of contradictions between approaches in its own
statutes. Hence under the 15–24 definition
(introduced in 1981) children are defined as
those under the age of 14 while under the 1979
Convention on the Rights of the Child, those
under the age of 18 are regarded as
children. [10] The UN also states they are aware
that several definitions exist for youth within UN
entities such as Youth Habitat 15–32 and
African Youth Charter 15–35.
Although linked to biological processes of
development and aging, youth is also defined as
a social position that reflects the meanings
different cultures and societies give to
individuals between childhood and adulthood.
The term in itself when referred to in a manner
of social position, can be ambiguous when
applied to someone of an older age with very
low social position; potentially when still
dependent on their guardians. [11] Scholars argue
that age-based definitions have not been
consistent across cultures or times and that thus
it is more accurate to focus on social processes
in the transition to adult independence for
defining youth. [12]
"This world demands the qualities of youth:
not a time of life but a state of mind, a
temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a
predominance of courage over timidity, of the
appetite for adventure over the life of ease." –
Robert Kennedy[13]
Youth is the stage of constructing the self-
concept . The self-concept of youth is influenced
by variables such as peers, lifestyle, gender, and
culture. [14] It is a time of a person's life when
their choices are most likely to affect their
future. [15]
Other definitions
In much of sub-Saharan Africa, the term "youth"
is associated with young men from 15 to 30 or
35 years of age. Youth in Nigeria includes all
members of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
aged 18–35. [16] Many African girls experience
youth as a brief interlude between the onset of
puberty and marriage and motherhood . But in
urban settings, poor women are often considered
youth much longer, even if they bear children
outside of marriage. Varying culturally, the
gender constructions of youth in Latin America
and Southeast Asia differ from those of sub-
Saharan Africa. In Vietnam, widespread notions
of youth are sociopolitical constructions for both
sexes between the ages of 15 and 35. [17]
In Brazil , the term youth refers to people of both
sexes from 15 to 29 years old. This age bracket
reflects the influence on Brazilian law of
international organizations like the World Health
Organization (WHO). It is also shaped by the
notion of adolescence that has entered everyday
life in Brazil through a discourse on children's
rights. [17]
The intergovernmental organization Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development
defines youth as "those between 15 and 29
years of age". [18][19]
August 12 was declared International Youth Day
by the United Nations.
Youth rights
Main article: Youth rights
Children's rights cover all the rights that belong
to children. When they grow up they are granted
with new rights (like voting, consent, driving,
etc.) and duties (criminal response, etc.). There
are different minimum limits of age at which
youth are not free, independent or legally
competent to take some decisions or actions.
Some of these limits are voting age , age of
candidacy , age of consent, age of majority , age
of criminal responsibility , drinking age , driving
age , etc. After youth reach these limits they are
free to vote, have sexual intercourse, buy or
consume alcohol beverages or drive cars , etc.
Voting age
Main article: Voting age
Voting age is the minimum age established by
law that a person must attain to be eligible to
vote in a public election. Typically, the age is
set at 18 years; however, ages as low as 16 and
as high as 21 exist (see list below). Studies
show that 21% of all 18 year olds have
experience with voting. This is an important right
since, by voting they can support politics
selected by themselves and not only by people
of older generations.
Age of candidacy
Main article: Age of candidacy
Age of candidacy is the minimum age at which
a person can legally qualify to hold certain
elected government offices. In many cases, it
also determines the age at which a person may
be eligible to stand for an election or be granted
ballot access.
Age of consent
Main article: Age of consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person
is considered legally competent to consent to
sexual acts , and is thus the minimum age of a
person with whom another person is legally
permitted to engage in sexual activity. The
distinguishing aspect of the age of consent laws
is that the person below the minimum age is
regarded as the victim, and their sex partner as
the offender.
Defense of infancy
Main article: Defense of infancy
The defense of infancy is a form of defense
known as an excuse so that defendants falling
within the definition of an "infant " are excluded
from criminal liability for their actions, if at the
relevant time, they had not reached an age of
criminal responsibility . This implies that children
lack the judgment that comes with age and
experience to be held criminally responsible.
After reaching the initial age, there may be levels
of responsibility dictated by age and the type of
offense committed.
Drinking age
Main article: Drinking age
The legal drinking age is the age at which a
person can consume or purchase alcoholic
beverages . These laws cover a wide range of
issues and behaviors, addressing when and
where alcohol can be consumed. The minimum
age alcohol can be legally consumed can be
different from the age when it can be purchased
in some countries. These laws vary among
different countries and many laws have
exemptions or special circumstances. Most laws
apply only to drinking alcohol in public places,
with alcohol consumption in the home being
mostly unregulated (an exception being the UK,
which has a minimum legal age of five for
supervised consumption in private places).
Some countries also have different age limits for
different types of alcoholic drinks. [20]
Driving age
Main article: Driving age
Driving age is the age at which a person can
apply for a driver's license . Countries with the
lowest driving ages (below 17) are Australia,
Canada, El Salvador, Iceland, Israel, Estonia,
Macedonia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, the
Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia,
Sweden, the United Kingdom (Mainland) and
United States. The Canadian province of Alberta
and several U.S. states permit youth driving as
low as 14. Niger has the highest minimum
driving age in the world at 23. In India, driving is
legal after getting a license at the age of 18.
Legal working age
Main article: Legal working age
See also: Right to work
The legal working age is the minimum age
required by law for a person to work, in each
country or jurisdiction. The threshold of
adulthood, or "the age of majority " as recognized
or declared in law in most countries has been
set at age 18. Some types of labor are
commonly prohibited even for those above the
working age, if they have not reached yet the age
of majority . Activities that are dangerous, harmful
to the health or that may affect the morals of
minors fall into this category.
Student rights in higher education
Main article: Student rights in higher education
Student rights are those rights, such as civil,
constitutional, contractual and consumer rights,
which regulate student rights and freedoms and
allow students to make use of their educational
investment. These include such things as the
right to free speech and association, to due
process, equality, autonomy, safety and privacy,
and accountability in contracts and advertising,
which regulate the treatment of students by
teachers and administrators.
Smoking age
Main article: Smoking age
The smoking age is the minimum age a person
can buy tobacco, and/or smoke in public. Most
countries regulate this law at the national level
while at some it is done by the state or
province.
Socioeconomic issues
The growth of youth unemployment, which
reached new heights of 22.5% across the
European Union, as well as the precarisation of
labor market conditions reveals that the gap
between labor market 'outsiders' and 'insiders' is
widening. One of the most dramatic possible
consequences of this growing divergence could
arguably be the disenfranchisement of labour
market outsiders, especially young people, from
social and political participation (Ferragina et al.
2016). [21] If the objective of policymakers is to
revive social and political participation in a
period of great disenchantment and declining
legitimacy for our democracies, there is
definitely scope for further enquiry and action
into the effects of youth outsiderness on social
and political participation.
School and education
Main article: Schooling
Young people spend much of their lives in
educational settings, and their experiences in
schools, colleges and universities can shape
much of their subsequent lives. [22] Research
shows that poverty and income affect the
likelihood for the incompletion of high school.
These factors also increase the likelihood for the
youth to not go to a college or university. [23] In
the United States, 12.3 percent of young people
ages 16 to 24 are disconnected, meaning they
are neither in school nor working. [24]
Health and mortality
The leading causes of morbidity and mortality
among youth and adults are due to certain
health-risk behaviors. These behaviors are often
established during youth and extend into
adulthood. Since the risk behaviors in adulthood
and youth are interrelated, problems in adulthood
are preventable by influencing youth behavior.
A 2004 mortality study of youth (defined in this
study as ages 10–24) mortality worldwide found
that 97% of deaths occurred in low to middle-
income countries, with the majority in southeast
Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Maternal conditions
accounted for 15% of female deaths, while HIV/
AIDS and tuberculosis were responsible for 11%
of deaths ; 14% of male and 5% of female deaths
were attributed to traffic accidents, the largest
cause overall. Violence accounted for 12% of
male deaths. Suicide was the cause of 6% of all
deaths. [25]
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention developed its Youth Risk Behavior
Surveillance System (YRBSS) in 2003 to help
assess risk behavior. [26] YRBSS monitors six
categories of priority health-risk behaviors
among youth and young adults. These are
behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries
and violence;
tobacco , alcohol and other drug use;
sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs), including human immunodeficiency
virus ( HIV ) infection;
unhealthy dietary behaviors;
physical inactivity—plus overweight .
YRBSS includes a national school-based survey
conducted by CDC as well as state and local
school-based surveys conducted by education
and health agencies. [27]
Obesity
Main article: Childhood obesity
Obesity now affects one in five children in the
United States, and is the most prevalent
nutritional disease of children and adolescents in
the United States. Although obesity-associated
morbidities occur more frequently in adults,
significant consequences of obesity as well as
the antecedents of adult disease occur in obese
children and adolescents.
Discrimination against overweight children begins
early in childhood and becomes progressively
institutionalized. Obese children may be taller
than their non-overweight peers, in which case
they are apt to be viewed as more mature. The
inappropriate expectations that result may have
an adverse effect on their socialization.
Many of the cardiovascular consequences that
characterize adult-onset obesity are preceded by
abnormalities that begin in childhood.
Hyperlipidemia , hypertension , and abnormal
glucose tolerance occur with increased frequency
in obese children and adolescents. The
relationship of cardiovascular risk factors to
visceral fat independent of total body fat remains
unclear. Sleep apnea, pseudotumor cerebri , and
Blount's disease represent major sources of
morbidity for which rapid and sustained weight
reduction is essential. Although several periods
of increased risk appear in childhood, it is not
clear whether obesity with onset early in
childhood carries a greater risk of adult
morbidity and mortality. [28]
Bullying
Bullying among school-aged youth is
increasingly being recognized as an important
problem affecting well-being and social
functioning. While a certain amount of conflict
and harassment is typical of youth peer relations,
bullying presents a potentially more serious
threat to healthy youth development. The
definition of bullying is widely agreed on in
literature on bullying. [29][30][31][32]
The majority of research on bullying has been
conducted in Europe and
Australia. [ citation needed] Considerable
variability among countries in the prevalence of
bullying has been reported. In an international
survey of adolescent health-related behaviors,
the percentage of students who reported being
bullied at least once during the current term
ranged from a low of 15% to 20% in some
countries to a high of 70% in others. [33][34] Of
particular concern is frequent bullying, typically
defined as bullying that occurs once a week or
more. The prevalence of frequent bullying
reported internationally ranges from a low of
1.9% among one Irish sample to a high of 19%
in a Malta study. [35][36][37][38][39][40]
Research examining characteristics of youth
involved in bullying has consistently found that
both bullies and those bullied demonstrate
poorer psychosocial functioning than their non-
involved peers. Youth who bully others tend to
demonstrate higher levels of conduct problems
and dislike of school, whereas youth who are
bullied generally show higher levels of insecurity ,
anxiety, depression, loneliness , unhappiness,
physical and mental symptoms, and low self-
esteem . Males who are bullied also tend to be
physically weaker than males in general. The few
studies that have examined the characteristics of
youth who both bully and are bullied found that
these individuals exhibit the poorest
psychosocial functioning overall. [41][42][43][44]
See also: School bullying
Sexual health and politics
General
Globalization and transnational flows have had
tangible effects on sexual relations, identities,
and subjectivities. In the wake of an increasingly
globalized world order under waning Western
dominance, within ideologies of modernity,
civilization, and programs for social
improvement, discourses on population control,
'safe sex ', and 'sexual rights'. [45] Sex education
programmes grounded in evidence-based
approaches are a cornerstone in reducing
adolescent sexual risk behaviours and promoting
sexual health. In addition to providing accurate
information about consequences of Sexually
transmitted disease or STIs and early pregnancy,
such programmes build life skills for
interpersonal communication and decision
making. Such programmes are most commonly
implemented in schools, which reach large
numbers of teenagers in areas where school
enrollment rates are high. However, since not all
young people are in school, sex education
programmes have also been implemented in
clinics, juvenile detention centers and youth-
oriented community agencies. Notably, some
programmes have been found to reduce risky
sexual behaviours when implemented in both
school and community settings with only minor
modifications to the curricula. [46]
Philippines
The Sangguniang Kabataan ("Youth Council" in
English ), commonly known as SK, was a youth
council in each barangay (village or district) in
the Philippines, before being put "on hold", but
not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay
elections . [47] The council represented teenagers
from 15 to 17 years old who have resided in
their barangay for at least six months and
registered to vote. It was the local youth
legislature in the village and therefore led the
local youth program and projects of the
government. The Sangguniang Kabataan was an
offshoot of the KB or the Kabataang Barangay
(Village Youth) which was abolished when the
Local Government Code of 1991 was enacted.
In the Global South
The vast majority of young people live in
developing countries: according to the UN,
globally around 85 per cent of 15- to 25-year-
olds live in developing countries, a figure
projected to grow 89.5 per cent by 2025.
Moreover, this majority are extremely diverse:
some live in rural areas but many inhabit the
overcrowded metropolises of India , Mongolia
and other parts of Asia and in South America,
some live traditional lives in tribal societies ,
while others participate in global youth culture in
ghetto contexts. [48]
Many young lives in developing countries are
defined by poverty, some suffer from famine and
a lack of clean water, while involvement in
armed conflict is all common. Health problems
are rife, especially due to the prevalence of HIV/
AIDS in certain regions. The United Nations
estimates that 200 million young people live in
poverty, 130 million are illiterate and 10 million
live with HIV/AIDS. [48]
See also
Children, Youth and Environments
Comprehensive sex education
Index of youth articles
Teenage
Youth activism
Youth culture
Youth sports
Youth unemployment
Youth voice
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