Recent years have seen an increase in violence among youth in Petah Tikva. A municipal committee, established to address the problem, has been guided by the understanding that comprehensive, system-wide attention to the characteristics and needs of youth could improve their well-being and reduce the violence. To cope with this challenge, the need arose for an up-to-date, reliable data base; the committee asked the JDC-Brookdale Institute to conduct a comprehensive survey of youth in PetahTikva. Therefore, the committee approached the JDC-Brookdale Institute to establish the infrastructure for municipal policy regarding youth, and for the development of local intervention programs for youth, particularly youth at risk. The study aimed to highlight directions for developing activities that are accessible physically and emotionally, and services for youth that take into account their characteristics, needs, and preferences. It focused on the youths’ characteristics; recreational and leisure activities; sense of well-being; peer relations; risk behaviors; perceptions of their neighborhood and city; relations with parents and other adults; attitude toward school; patterns of employment; future plans; contact with counseling and other services for youth; the integration into Israel of immigrant youth; and the system of services for youth in Petah Tikva. The data were collected in May 2002 using a questionnaire administered to a sample of 680 youth, focus groups with youth, and interviews with directors of services for youth in the city.
This report has two sections: The first presents the findings of the study; the second presents the steering committee’s recommendations for the development of programs and services for youth in Petah Tikva. The following were among the study’s findings:
- Violence is more prevalent on than off school grounds, and at junior high schools, in particular.
- The percentage of drug use in Petah Tikva exceeds the national average, and is three times greater among immigrant students in junior high schools than among their non-immigrant peers.
- The percentage of youth in Petah Tikva who participate in extracurricular activities exceeds the national average, but the percentage of participation in youth movements is small.
- Youth in Petah Tikva lack places for leisure and recreation, especially on Friday nights.
- Girls and students in alternative frameworks are more positive toward school and hence feel less alienated from school. However, the scholastic achievements of students in alternative frameworks are lower than those of other students. Moreover, these students do not receive enough tutorial help.
- A small percentage of the youth reported seeking professional counseling for a problem, and their unfamiliarity with services for normative youth was notable.
- Competition and a lack of coordination typified the services for youth, as did the lack of a definition of their areas of responsibility and target populations.
- The steering committee, together with the research team, formulated recommendations that were meant to improve responses to issues arising from the findings on violence, alienation from school, recreation and leisure time, and local services for youth.
- Based on the recommendations, the committee formulated programs and services, some of which are being implemented in the 2003/04 school year .
This study was initiated and conducted by the JDC-Brookdale Institute and the Petah TikvaMunicipality.