The majority of young people in Nuku’alofa and surroundings are not involved in crime and violence. A number of resilience factors deter youth from the path of crime and violence and enable them to engage meaningfully in society. These include strong faith networks, opportunities for meaningful engagement including training and employment, and Tonga’s high level of literacy and education, which enable students to focus their attention on social and political concerns in the world around them. Furthermore, the traditional collectivist structure of Tongan society, the importance of family reputation, the support of parents and extended families, a strong sense of Tongan values such as family honor and reputation and effective use of traditional structures to manage conflict and support young people to negotiate the complex path to adulthood were also very important enabling factors for success.

In-country consultations and available literature and statistics indicate that the majority of youth in Nuku’alofa are actively longing for employment and a meaningful way to use their time. They are caught up in the tensions of changing cultural norms and the corresponding conflicting messages about the role of youth and of young women in particular. The group that do become involved in crime and violence often come from homes where they lack parental and family support, are not successful in the formal education system, are marginal to church and other community-based groups, and end up vulnerable to peer pressure and alcohol abuse.

Nuku’alofa has a number of institutions, structures and services that exists for youth. However, this infrastructure needs to be strengthened through better linkages, more effective communication and coordination and more effort to reach the most marginalized youth, those who “don’t belong”, who are not involved in church groups and do not have strong family linkages

The situation of children, youth and women in Tonga is generally good in terms of basic indicators of living standard and access to essential health and education services. Even so there is emerging poverty, mainly in the Nukuíalofa urban areas, and some families, especially those who have migrated and those that do not have access to overseas are now experiencing difficulty obtaining sufficient food and other necessities. The youthful population structure means a high dependency rate and necessitates expenditure of a substantial portion of the national budget on education and health services.

Perhaps the most important issue is that modernization is challenging traditional values, and the Tongan community is taking time to adapt to changing economic and social needs. The education system is not yet adapted to the needs of the modern labour market, while women's employment tends to be stereotyped and undervalued. The conflict between tradition and modernisation is also evident in nutrition, with much of the community, including children, youth and women, consuming modern foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar while being prevented by traditional attitudes from taking the exercise necessary to burn off the extra calories. This is contributing to early-onset NCDs and limiting gains in life expectancy.

Many youth concerns have their roots in the limited nature of opportunities for youth to participate in employment and the difficulty of finding their independent identity in a society that is part traditional and part modern. Traditional parenting methods are not fully preparing young people for the challenges of living in a modern society and conservative attitudes to the supply of contraception to unmarried people are putting teenagers at risk of pregnancy and STIs.