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Abstract

Venka Simovska’s article “Case Study of a Participatory Health-Promotion Intervention in School” provides important insights regarding the active involvement of youths in service programs. This response essay extends Simovska’s discussions and frames them within three key areas: positive youth development, youth voice, and meaningful participation. The paper agrees with Simovska’s assertions that more process-centered research is needed to identify and explain what happens within a program that yields positive development. While many youth workers verbally declare that the focus of their programs is the youths they serve, many fail to carry out this claim with their actions. Youth practitioners must seek to create meaningful relationships with program participants and help children become active agents in their own development.

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