Citizenship & Civic Engagement

So, I've been sitting here re-reading and understanding universal and differentiated citizenship as both of these seem to have some pros and cons to how they would effect my issue. A universal view of citizenship for my issue would mean that nothing changes, we view at risk youth as at risk youth apply the same laws and rules to them as everyone else. While I think this is important so they know and understand the norms of society and how to live in that society this could also be a disaster. If we apply the same rules all the time that means we aren't recognizing differences, for some it's difficult in their situation to have the same opportunities as other people to lead a successful life. However, I also have an issue with labeling differences because then that makes it seem like these people aren't capable of doing well without help. Plenty of people can make it without their differences being identified and adhered to. This is how differentiated citizenship works and I think that it works for some issues but not for others. I think this is why we have a major issue with things such as affirmative action because we take into consideration other factors like race, and minority status.

As far as my issue goes though, I think in terms of policy it's important to look at a differentiated view of citizenship. With these youth it's important to set them apart from the rest of society to make the appropriate changes to help them go in the right direction. We need to establish what makes this important enough to view the differences to do something about it. Once the government establishes differences they can better handle policy which will help the situation. The likelihood of this happening though I can't really fathom being in the near future given our current economic state, and social programs are getting some money but with new programs and policy being implemented the likelihood of more happening doesn't seem within reach.