Adolescence & Health : Some International Perspectives

Think positive and not negative. For too long, the "deficiency" or "pathological" approach in understanding children and adolescents has been prevalent, but in recent years we have seen a greater interest in positive youth development programs with a shift from looking at the negative to turning the related programs and approach into something positive and highlighting the positive side of youth development. This has resulted in a focus on talents, strengths, interests and potential in order to facilitate a stronger and better youth development. Instead of viewing children and adolescents as "problems" or "issues" to be resolved, they are regarded as "resources" and "assets" to be developed. In particular, it is argued that it is important to nurture the developmental assets such as psychosocial skills in children and adolescents. The notion of positive youth development bears striking resemblance to the beliefs of Chinese medicine and holistic medicine, which maintains that when a person has inner strengths and talents, the chance of becoming ill will be reduced.