Issues Facing Youth Name of the Student Instructor Institution Date Community Collaboration The community plays a major role in enhancing the behavior of individuals of its affiliation. School ...

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Issues Facing Youth
Name of the Student
Instructor
Institution
Date
Community Collaboration
The community plays a major role in enhancing the behavior of individuals of its affiliation. Schools must collaborate with the community to solve major issues affecting their student population. The two major issues facing the diverse student population in the scenario provided are drug abuse and depression. The issues are critical as they affect the students' physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The issue of drug abuse relates to some theories of education, such as the social learning theory. The theory contains tenets of peer pressure, where students tend to observe the actions of others and follow suit (Rumjaun & Narod, 2020). Some of the undesired behaviors are a result of learning from others that engage in the behavior within the school and in the community. For instance, students learn about drug abuse when they see their peers abusing various drugs and see that as being cool. The school should collaborate in the following ways with the community to deal with the issues:
A collaborative effort within the community and school helped develop policies reinforcing the desired behavior types. For instance, the community could help reinforce school policies that prevent drug abuse when the students are out of school. That will ensure that students do not engage in behaviors they would not engage with when in school (Valli et al., 2018). School and community partnerships and programs are also necessary to prevent issues of drug abuse and also to create awareness of mental health issues such as depression. The school could seek community volunteers to help push the agenda of dealing with the issues. For instance, having spokespersons within the community against drug abuse helps create a sense of responsibility in students even when out of school.
Community members should also be constantly included in school activities and opportunities such as mentoring opportunities. In so doing, students can have individuals they are familiar with discuss issues of drug abuse and mental health issues. Funding is another way the community promotes collaboration. For instance, the community could help fund programs that offer counseling services to students with mental health issues.
The rationale for the above involvement of the community is based on various educational theories. Behaviorism is one such theory that is concerned with observable response behavior. Issues related to the student population are based on the nature of their behavior and how they respond to particular stimuli (McGray, 2011). It concerns the elicited behavior, such as drug abuse and depression that fails to conform to society's expectations. The behavior also has a negative impact on the overall well-being of the student population.
Behavioral theory teaches that learning is an element of routines that are embedded into a student’s memory. It also involves the type of feedback they receive from their environments concerning the identified routines. The use of community collaboration helps create routines that are more acceptable in society and that help deal with vices such as drug abuse.
Mobilizing Resources
Resources are critical to the fight against drug abuse and mental health issues such as depression amongst the student population. The following are ways to mobilize resources for each of the groups identified:
Community organizations
The school can access financial support from community organizations through cooperating social responsibility (CSR) programs. Community organizations always aim to give back to the community to improve their brand image and support the people supporting their businesses and endeavors (Dmytriyev et al., 2021). In such cases, the school and its administration could submit proposals for support from community organizations.
Religious groups
The plan will mobilize resources from religious groups through fundraising crusades. Religious groups in the community are known to support the welfare of the community by assisting its members in dealing with issues. Setting quota payment systems for religious institutions could also help mobilize resources. Such ensure that religious organizations contribute a specific amount towards a worthy cause, such as drug abuse prevention efforts or counseling fees for students having mental health issues.
Family and Parents
The parents or immediate families are directly impacted by the issues under discussion, especially if their child is the one in either of the situations. It is thus important for the school to have strategies to mobilize resources from families that will help ensure their children remain in check even out of school environments. The school could elicit resources from parents by including activities such as counseling as part of the curriculum. That will ensure that parents and families have a constant contribution to words counseling efforts, drug abuse and prevention efforts, and also towards dealing with stimuli that lead to mental health issues.
Reference
Dmytriyev, S. D., Freeman, R. E., & Hörisch, J. (2021). The relationship between stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility: Differences, similarities, and implications for social issues in management. Journal of Management Studies, 58(6), 1441-1470.
McGray, R. (2011). Contemporary theories of learning: Learning theorists… in their own words. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2011.577173Rumjaun, A., & Narod, F. (2020). Social Learning Theory—Albert Bandura. Science education in theory and practice: An introductory guide to learning theory, 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43620-9_7Valli, L., Stefanski, A., & Jacobson, R. (2018). School-community partnership models: Implications for leadership. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 21(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2015.1124925