Embracing Youth and Managing Their Behaviors

We love our teenagers. They keep us young and infuse our culture with fresh perspectives and energy, and without them, we wouldn’t have much of a future. Teenagers are also a very important demographic and target market for many organizations, who rely heavily on their patronage.

Unfortunately, there can also be a down-side to teenage gatherings when behaviors shift to become less than desirable, and at times even criminal. The same youthful qualities that provide good energy and positive movement can become detrimental when that energy and tendency towards taking action is channeled in the wrong direction, fueled by the wrong factors and lacks a more mature appreciation for the consequences of those actions.

How do we help teenagers behave in a manner that makes them a welcome and desirable patron of businesses and organizations? Most importantly – we need to invest some time and thought into what might be contributing to both positive and anti-social behavior, and answer that investment with a program specifically built for and aimed at successful youth engagement. The right program will reinforce the good while effectively discouraging (or quickly addressing) the bad.

The following infographic lays out a standard approach to managing youth behaviors.

Youth Behavior Management Program - Copyright BluDog, llc 2021

Where do you start?

1 - Understand your current and historical youth-related situation (your as-is)

Begin by reviewing and analyzing incident history, youth-centric venues and events, community/contributing factors, and key stakeholders in the success of a youth behavior program. Stakeholders are critical resources that play important roles in effective programs.

2 - Understand your desired situation (your to-be)

It’s important to define the desired end-state before determining what behavior management programs and/or risk mitigation strategies should be undertaken. This is especially important for determining what positive reinforcement programs might look like.

3 - Consider the behavior management and risk mitigation strategies that apply to your situation

There are many mitigation strategies to discourage bad behavior as well as reward good behavior. The right program needs to do both.

4 - Operationalize your program

Programs require management and resource investments, and must be aligned with an organization’s values, brand and image. Marketing especially plays an important role in helping communicate the right message about any youth behavior management program.

5 – Implement

Once you have the right program, it’s time to acquire and prepare program resources. A broad training approach will ensure that everyone is on-board with the new program.

6 – Continuously Improve

Like any program, building and launching are just the beginning. As the program is implemented, it is critical to measure key success factors, analyze the programs’ effectiveness, and adjust as necessary. What worked last month may not be what’s needed next month – so it’s important to stay on top of what the program is telling you through well-measured and carefully analyzed results.

We all want to deliver better security programs, and embracing youth from a positive and reward-centric approach as well as a risk-mitigation standpoint is a step in the right direction.