• Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission and Vision
    • The Youth Workin’ It Team
      • Shae Pepper, Managing Director
      • Stephen Pepper, Operations Director
    • Recommendations for the Youth Workin’ It Team
  • Youth Work Resources
    • How To Plan A Youth Retreat Book
    • 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas
  • Contact Us

Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

  • Youth Group Games
  • Session Plans
  • Fundraisers
  • Youth Retreats
  • Life Skills
  • Interview Skills
  • Scavenger Hunts
  • Would You Rather Questions
  • Program Administration
  • Policies & Procedures
  • Youth Participation
  • Group Agreement

How To Create A Youth Behavior Policy

May 9, 2012 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

Youth behavior policy
Have both young people & their parents sign the youth behavior policy

Last week we discussed how to manage youth behavior and how a youth behavior policy can help with program administration. Creating a good behavior policy for your project is all about helping youth understand your expectations, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and the consequences that will apply should the group agreement be broken.

Check out our guide below on how to create a youth behavior policy:

Set expectations from the start

This will create clear boundaries for youth to stay within. One way to do this is by having a written youth behavior policy that both young people and their parents review and sign. In our example provided at the end of this post, there is a space for both parent and youth signatures. When you create the group agreement, take the time to go over the youth behavior policy and make sure that all the young people involved in the project understand all parts of the policy.

Include positive expectations around participation. Outline exactly what is considered ‘participation’ within your project.  Do youth just need to be present? Do they need to answer questions or participate in games? What does ‘participation’ look like for you?

Be specific when identifying both behaviors and consequences within the youth behavior policy

Let the youth know exactly what is going to happen should they break the team agreement. I’m a firm believer in being given an opportunity for a second chance. In my program administration, I work hard to provide clear boundaries and also opportunities for improvement, growth and change.

In the example youth behavior policy provided below, you will see there are reminders and warnings before action is taken in the case of most negative behaviors (with the exception of zero-tolerance behaviors which are also clearly outlined in the policy, along with their immediate consequence). I choose to give reminders and warnings for each specific type of negative behavior, rather than just having negative behavior accumulate rapidly resulting in a youth’s loss of attendance.

Below is an example of how this looks in practice; you might find it helpful to open the example document and read along in the ‘Behavior, Attitude and Consequences’ section.

For example, Jon has been swearing and I’ve given him a verbal reminder; he then calls someone a name. Rather than jumping to provide him with a verbal warning, I will provide him with a verbal reminder about that specific behavior. If he swears again, he will receive a warning for swearing. If he calls someone a name he will then receive a warning for name calling. He won’t receive vague threats about what might happen. I clearly remind him at every step what the next step will be. “Jon, I want to let you know that this is your final warning about swearing, if you swear again, you will receive a written warning and that will mean you won’t be able to attend the project next week, but you will be able to return the following week. Keep that in mind, ok?” Whatever the behavior is that results in Jon getting a written warning, it will be outlined in the letter provided to him and his parents. He won’t receive a vague letter about ‘negative behavior’ – it will clearly outline what he did incorrectly, what steps were taken before his written warning and the exact incident that resulted in him receiving the written warning.

A good youth behavior policy should enhance your youth work and program administration, not make it more challenging. It should help you be a more fair and consistent youth worker, while also providing clear boundaries for the youth on your programs.

Here is the example youth behavior policy referenced above. We hope that it provides a basis for creating your own behavior policy for your youth work.

Question: What items would you/do you include or exclude from your own youth behavior policy? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

Filed Under: Youth Work Program Administration Tagged With: Behavior Policy, Boundaries, Managing Behavior, Youth Behavior, Youth Work Resources

501 Would You Rather Questions

501 Would You Rather Questions

52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas

52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas cover

How To Plan A Youth Retreat

How To Plan A Youth Retreat cover

Categories

Best Of Youth Workin' It
Book Reviews
Guest Post
Spotlight on Youth
Types Of Youth Work
Would You Rather Questions
Youth & Society
Youth Group Activities
Youth Group Fundraiser
Youth Group Games
Youth Retreat
Youth Work Program Administration
Youth Work Q & A
Youth Work Session Plan Ideas
Youth Worker Stuff
Youth Workin' It Stuff

Tags

Administration Balloons Boundaries Budget Christmas Communication Facebook Food Food Games Global Issues Global Youth Work Goal Setting Group Development Group Games Guest Posts Interview Skills Life Skills Parents Planning Policies and Procedures Relationships Relay Games For Teenagers Scavenger Hunt Ideas School Self-Esteem SMART Social Media Strategic Planning Team Building Twitter Up Front Games Volunteering Volunteers Water Games For Youth Would You Rather Youth Behavior Youth Cartel Youth Group Bonding Youth Participation Youth Retreat Center Youth Retreat Themes Youth Scavenger Hunt Youth Work Definition Youth Work Resources Youth Work Training

Search Youth Workin’ It

All Content © Copyright 2011-2025, Stephen & Shae Pepper, youthworkinit.com