The Maltese Youth Policy 2004 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Maltese Youth Policy 2004 - Essay Example The policy covers the psychological, mental and physical realms of young people's health. Since the policy focuses on prevention rather than treatment, this is a wise approach by the Maltese government because it implies that they have realised that good health starts at an early age. This objective is to be implemented through establishment of health education. (Youth Forum, 2006a) The Maltese Youth Policy is also quite unswerving in its approach because it focuses on some of the dangerous activities that youth engage in and those that can be detrimental to their health. This has been achieved through placement of professionals to deal with those dangerous issues e.g. unprotected sex, addiction, promiscuity, careless driving, malnutrition and dangerous leisure activities. The Policy also considers the fact that youth need to be protected in their work places and therefore introduces the issue of promotion of safety standards within workplaces. There are some weaknesses in the policy too. The first is the fact that very little has been done to address the issue of diversity within the nation yet there are a number of foreign youth in the country. Additionally, the policy has described all the issues that need to be addressed but it has not implemented some of these issues. Part of the reason why implementation has been slow was because some of the terms in the policy are ambiguous. For example, the policy claims that it will 'promote' health as part of the holistic approach to health. However, details on how this can be achieved have not been clearly laid out. Additionally, the policy has not specified which age groups or classes will need health education. The policy has made a sweeping statement about the importance of early education as a base for healthy living yet there are various interpretations to the term 'early'. (Eurodesk, 2004) A Critique of the Youth Health policy in Slovakia, Britain and Finland The Youth Policy in Britain focuses on a number of issues facing young members of society. Some of them include; embracing diversity within the nations' youth agenda, promoting participation of the youth in activities that affect their country including sports and many others. However, there is very little focus on health. Despite giving numerous suggestions on how the overall well being of the youth can be improved, there is still little effort to link those suggestions to health. (ESPNsoccernet, 2008) However, there are some positive aspects about the policy too. The policy initiated a campaign against unhealthy eating habits and childhood obesity. It also created a personal health initiative where there would be focus on the young people between the ages of twelve and thirteen. This was introduced in order to assist young people in the process of making a transition from their teenage years into later stages of life. However, even this initiative is not all encompassing as it has not looked at emotional and mental aspects of health. All in all, one can conclude that the Youth Policy in Britain is quite elaborate but lacks precision under the health agenda. The Youth Policy in Finland is examined after every ten years through the Youth Act. The last change was