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Question 6: <br /> What do you currently value most in your life? Why? <br /> Focus group youths show a strong personal value of friends, family, and individual <br /> freedom. Education, sports, music and a value of self and beliefs were also important to <br /> them. <br /> Question 7: <br /> With whom do you communicate your successes and disappointments? <br /> They point out particular teachers and friends as those to whom they go with personal <br /> successes and disappointments. There was some feeling that parental expectations are <br /> extremely high. Some respondents felt that fathers generally are not involved in the <br /> young person's life, and that mothers do seem more available to youths. <br /> Question 8: <br /> How can the community become aware of the good that youths do? <br /> Youths responded that they perceive themselves differently from those predominant <br /> .� perceptions shown to them by adults or that they see relayed in the media In general, the <br /> news/radio/TV tend to focus on the negative. The youths feel that the community doesn't <br /> have an accurate picture of what they do. There was a feeling that parents are too quick <br /> to judge and that they tend to focus on the negative. Findings in youth responses show a <br /> wish for the positive activities of young people to be highlighted- <br /> The top prioritized comments were: <br /> 1. Newspapers need to show good things, like acceptances to college, scholarships <br /> and community services. High school sections should be more than once a week: <br /> all around good deeds need to be portrayed—not just athletics. <br /> 2. Inter-school council with newsletter with information on clubs kept up-to-date. <br /> 3. Community needs to make the effort to investigate the good youths do—to learn <br /> how to find and support them. <br /> Peer Relationships <br /> Question 9: <br /> Are there programs and/or opportunities for interactions between youths from different <br /> areas of the county? If not,how could it be improved? <br /> Responses to the focus group topics and to the student evaluation of the forum <br /> overwhelmingly revealed the strong desire for more opportunities for youths from <br /> different areas in the county to come together. Stated opinions clearly show the desire of <br /> the youths to "Come together as a unit, talk together and listen to one anothers' ideas". <br /> One respondent saw the need "for once to come together without being competitive". <br /> 6 <br />