National Youth Project Using Minibikes
MISSION STATEMENT:
"NYPUM provides at-risk youth of America an opportunity to develop
self-esteem, strong values and a sense of responsibility
using the minibike as a motivational tool."

The program is intense, with pre-requisites of 4 hours of bookwork and 21 riding lessons before participants can ride the mini bikes on their own. Participants learn how to check for safety, to ride properly, to have respect for the environment and to respect others' property. Each youth also has an individual behavior contract where goal sheets establish how long each youth is allowed to ride. Each goal is worth a certain amount of riding time per week which the youth must earn. This gives the youth an incentive to behave according to the personal goals they have set. NYPUM also provides a bonding experience. Youth increasingly interact with empathy, helping each other when faced with an obstacle or get stuck in the mud. Individual progress is seen in all youth who participate. Though many youth have not had the opportunity to ride before, their riding skills progress in just a few weeks.