Bonding as a positive youth development construct: conceptual bases and implications for curriculum development.

Extensive literature and research studies indicate that promotion of bonding is crucial for the healthy development of the adolescent. With the objective to enhance the level of bonding with peers, parents, and teachers among Secondary 1 to 3 students in Hong Kong, a curriculum was designed to promote specifically a deeper sense of trust and mutual respect with parents, teachers, and peers, as well as a careful selection of friends and a healthy development of relationships with the opposite sex. Through activities students will learn the skills of building positive relationships. This article contributes to the construction of a service construct and provides a direction for curriculum planning that assists adolescents to develop bonding with significant others.