Youthwork Magazine November 2011

Unashamed Youth Ministry

Why Christian youth work must become more open about its purpose by reflecting on its practice and not being afraid of its Christian voice.

Luke already had a broken collarbone when he came on the residential. We didn’t think he could get into much trouble with his arm in a sling, but a few days later after a heated argument with another young person, Luke ran off into the surrounding fields. He later told us that his intention had been to take some time out, calm down and circle back to the camp but things went quickly wrong… Initially he had a lucky escape by avoiding a herd of cows, then he had to fight his way one-handed through a field of crops. The next obstacle was a narrow stream, unfortunately Luke didn’t see it as he burst out of the vegetation and he fell headfirst down the muddy bank into the water.

Hurt, wet and cold, Luke pressed forward refusing to acknowledge the difficult situation he was in. He would just keep going. So he got himself up and blindly pushed ahead to face the final hurdle: a small wire fence. He reached out with his one free arm to climb between the rungs, and received a sharp jolt of electric current through his body. After great effort and many shocks, he pulled himself through the fence. When he finally arrived back at the camp around half an hour later, he was covered in mud with ripped jeans and tears streaming down his face.

Luke’s misadventure is a true story. Sadly, many of the obstacles he faced could have been avoided and his tale now serves as a reminder of how important it is to pause and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes the church can be guilty of a similar attitude to Luke; we just keep going without properly assessing the seriousness of the situation we are in. If we took the time to look around us and reflect honestly, we might realize there are things that urgently need our attention.

The Issues

We have known for a long time that young people are leaving our churches. There has been a steady decline in youth attendance for decades and research data suggests that institutional churches are seeing a ‘Generational Half Life’[1] – essentially for every new generation that passes, church attendance halves. Perhaps even more worrying is the research that has come out of the US suggesting that while many young people identify themselves as Christian and regularly attend church, they have a great ambivalence towards their faith viewing it more as a leisure activity similar to music and sports than a radical way of life. This trait has been named ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’[2] because it has the effect of people being ‘good’ and feeling ‘good’ through worshipping God. Author Kenda Creasy Dean calls it ‘Almost Christian’[3] because while it resembles Christianity, it’s not the real deal. Although there are some cultural differences between here and the States that should be accounted for, there are enough similarities in these findings to make us in the UK sit up and take notice. The term ‘almost Christian’ will ring true for many youth workers struggling to engage young people in outworking their faith in meaningful ways.

For those of us working with young people outside of the church environment, the news isn’t much better. Although there are a great many community-based youth clubs and activities run by Christian churches, organisations and individuals, not many are reporting significant converts to the faith through these initiatives. It could be argued that salvation is not the necessarily the aim of this work and it is about doing something of benefit for others (a perfectly valid approach), but I also think there is another issue at work: we have become so worried about offending others that we simply don’t tell them about Jesus any more. Can it be that we now contradict Paul’s words in Romans 1:16 and are actually ashamed of the gospel?

I know a fourteen year old who is extremely passionate about animal rights. Unfortunately his methods for raising awareness of the issues are confrontational and aggressive. He recently staged a one-man protest outside the local pet shop complete with megaphone and placards, which resulted in his arrest. Undeterred, he has gone back numerous times to shout at anyone who will listen (and those who won’t) about the cruelty of keeping animals in cages. While I admire the passion, his method for spreading the message has aggravated and alienated people who might otherwise be sympathetic to his cause. When it comes to sharing the Good News that we have, none of us want to be like that and so it seems that many of us don’t say anything.

In the book ‘The Faith of Generation Y’[4], the authors researched Christian youth projects working predominantly with unchurched young people. Their findings suggest, among other things, that many Christian youth workers are not willing or able to share their own faith in these settings. Instead it was found that they prefer to rely on ‘doing good things’ and expect young people to ask them why. In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to: “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have”, and it is understandable for us to want to set such a good example that people are drawn to Christ in us. The problem with this as our only approach in sharing the gospel is that young people simply don’t ask the question! It’s not important to them why someone runs the youth café, just that it is open for them. For them to really engage with the Christian faith, they need to be introduced to it in a meaningful way and that is not always happening.

We are also guilty of using pretty sneaky tactics to get young people attending church activities. The old ‘bait & switch’ is a classic where young people are invited to a fun youth club night, but then forced to sit through a gospel presentation. It’s the same approach that salespeople use when trying to sell time-share!

Good News

But we must also recognize that while these problems do exist and should be addressed, they are not necessarily representative of every aspect or expression of the church. We only have to look at the thousands of young people attending Christian camps and festivals across the summer to know that young people are active and thriving in some congregations. It may well be that youth are missing from more traditional forms of church on a Sunday morning contributing to the Generational Half-Life, but that doesn’t mean they are not present or connected to other forms of church throughout the week. The surveys are not counting the young people who attend Youth Alpha courses on Monday nights, or those who go to the mid-week Bible study. We may need to work hard to avoid them becoming ‘almost Christian’, but the youth of the church are alive and well!

It is a different story for young people in general. The recent cuts in government spending have absolutely decimated the statutory youth services across the country and derailed brilliant youth programmes that were relying on funding and grants. As a result, some areas now no longer have any coordinated youth provision and young people have been left with no support or places to go. Coupled with high youth unemployment, soaring university fees, and the demise of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA), it is a difficult time to be a young person with many becoming angry or disillusioned.

But the good news is that we have the Good News! As the Christian church, we have something unique to offer young people who are being let down by society: a transformational hope in Jesus. Since the first disciples were commissioned in their duties to preach the gospel, the church has been compelled to defend the poor, the marginalized and the hopeless. Perhaps now more than ever we are needed to step up and help out in our communities and there is a big opportunity for us to develop new and creative work with young people who are losing other means of support.

Regardless of the political rhetoric, the Big Society agenda is pushing youth provision back to the third sector. For the first time in decades, voluntary youth services and charities are being asked to lead the way forward on their own terms rather than jump through the convoluted hoops of ‘targeted and accredited outcomes’ to justify their existence. While this brings certain challenges, practically it could mean that we see a rise in youth projects and services that unashamedly promote and explore the Christian faith. I believe that more than anything else, the key for Christian youth work moving forwards is to rediscover its authenticity and to stop being ashamed or apologetic about its mission. Working in this environment could be the antidote for those Christian workers who currently feel unable to share their faith, and will also provide compelling role models and positive examples for those young people who are ambivalent about living for Jesus.

Churches particularly will be best placed for this as they typically have the resources to make something happen. That may be vision, staff, volunteers, buildings, motivation, or simply finances from a tithing congregation. Imagine what might happen if churches decided to use these resources to work with young people in their communities! Already there are some very encouraging signs. There are stories of Churches linking up with other organisations to form creative and responsive activities. Some examples include churches taking on old youth club buildings, employing statutory youth workers, starting detached projects, and even forming a voluntary youth service with strategic partners to deliver work across an area where the council has pulled out.

What these pioneers show us is that it is possible to build partnerships with non-Christian businesses, organisations and individuals, yet still retain a clear and distinct Christian ethos. Of course any exploration of our beliefs must be done with sensitivity and respect to those around us, but our faith should be honest about its intentions, and secure enough to discuss them openly. As a result, when dealing with these partners, I have generally found people very respectful and supportive when we are clear about our methods and motivation. Conversely, the times where issues and misunderstandings have occurred are when we have not been up-front about our agenda. With this understanding, it is OK for churches to be running sex and relationships education in the community. It is possible to have sessions exploring Christianity run in statutory youth centres, and it’s celebrated when crime is reduced as a result of young people engaging in a worship service! We have an important role to play and need not be embarrassed about our reasons for being there.

This is a time like no other. Yes, it is vitally important for churches to take a long hard look in the mirror and address some of the issues in our work, but it is also a time for Christians to get out there and run projects and services that support young people in an authentic and honest manner, while modeling our faith. This is a time for Christian youth work to shine.

I had been asked to speak from my practical experience of Christian youth work, looking at current issues in the work. This is the synopsis that I gave in advance:

“From its early beginnings as a response to social need, Christian youth work has been concerned with the well-being of young people. This has most commonly been outworked by an army of volunteers, yet in the last decade there has been a huge growth in professional training and qualifications for employed youth ministers.

In this professional environment, what is the distinction between ‘youth ministry’ and ‘youth work’, and what impact has this had on practice? Is this work effective in transmitting the Christian faith or simply instilling common values? Additionally what problems and opportunities arise for Christian youth work now that the statutory sector has been decimated?

Using examples from face to face work with young people, this session will explore the key issues affecting current Christian youth work practice in the UK through stories and discussion.”

I gave my presentation in three sections, using stories from my work and keynote slides on the screen to highlight points and ideas. At the end of the first two sections we broke into discussion groups to debate some of the topics raised. This discussion was the most useful part of the presentation and I was really pleased with the amount of debate that occurred. The audience was a good mix of faiths (and none) from academic and practice backgrounds. I’ve tried to summarise the content I covered below, but I know there is a lot more I could have included. I’d love to hear your feedback!

'knock out!' by andi.vs.zf on Flickr

Introduction

The purpose of this presentation is to highlight some of the issues around Christian youth work practice. Due to the wide diversity of the Christian faith, I will talk in general terms and must be clear that there are various nuances and different opinions that won’t be covered here. I am also talking from a practice perspective – this is not a rigorous academic study.

1) Youth Work VS Youth Ministry

I believe there exists a tension between ‘youth work’ and ‘youth ministry’. From a Christian perspective, both terms are used interchangeably and could refer to anything from a formal Bible study with young people through to a community youth club. No-one really knows what it means.

Many churches employ ‘youth workers’ when they really want someone to systematically teach the Christian faith to young people, whereas some youth ‘ministers’ end up doing some excellent community-based educative youth work. Both the terms are problematic and don’t adequately describe the activities undertaken. Worse, when people talk of youth work in a Christian context, it raises the suspicions of non-faith workers who assume we are seeking to convert young people to faith, or simply involved in bad practice that is not considered youth work.

Professional Development

The huge growth in professional training for Christian workers hasn’t helped things in this regard. You can do a fully validated JNC course in youth work, or choose one with a ministry/theology module, or do a theology degree with added youth ministry. All these options have a different focus and methodology, yet everyone can call themselves a youth worker!

While I fully advocate professional training in youth work (it’s helped develop a better quality of practice & more rigorous theological framework), it has had some side-effects:

• The general understanding of youth work by churches and employers has been mixed and often very poor, leaving workers with little or no managerial support or supervision. It has also led to conflicts with church leaders who expect the focus and results of the work to be more young people in church services.
• As the focus has moved to employing professionally trained workers, there has been less focus and recognition of volunteers who have historically done most work.

So how do we define youth work and youth ministry in a Christian context?

Outside In / Inside Out

Pete Ward (1997) proposed a helpful, if crude distinction between Christian youth work and ministry. He termed it ‘Outside In’ and ‘Inside Out’. In basic terms, ‘Outside In’ involves working with young people outside of the church community often through an informal education approach. ‘Inside Out’ involves working with young people already connected to the church, around issues faith & spirituality.

This is great up to a point, but it has polarised the issue between those who favour one of these ways of working. For workers who wish to draw new young people into church (outside in), it can often put them in conflict with the church leaders who may prioritise those within the established church (inside out). It also assumes that the purpose of Christian work with young people is to draw them into church, or rather, faith.

Purpose

All this raises the question about what is Christian youth work actually for? The answer probably varies depending on who you ask. Many people do youth work simply as a response to their faith because they want to help inspire, develop and resource young people, but their is no denying that most Christians believe the ultimate best for someone would be for them to come to an understanding of faith and become Christian. Does this mean that Christian workers are seeking to convert young people? Is this ethical and is it at odds with the wider values of respect, dialogue and democracy in youth work practice?

Youth Work and Ministry

Danny Brierley (2003) suggests that youth work and youth ministry are not opposed and should be seen as one coherent whole. He points to historical context for this and outlines in great detail how an informal educational approach is consistent with a Christian theological one (e.g. the ‘voluntary principle’ in youth work is similar to the idea of God providing people with free will).

“If youth work is the broad discipline involving all informal educators engaged with young people, then youth ministry is a ‘specialism’ within it.” (Brierley 2003,)

He suggests, that perhaps Christians should use the title ‘youth work and ministry’ to describe the range of work they do. It has never really caught on, but I would agree with his statement that youth ministry is a specialist discipline within wider youth work practice.

Discussion:

• What experience do you have of Christian youth work or ministry?
• How would you distinguish between the two?

2) Transmission of Faith

I’ve found that churches are not very good at being self-critical. Often they continue doing the same things in the same way, without really assessing how well things are going. In ‘The Faith of Generation Y‘, the authors unpack the world view of the young people they interviewed. Crucially, they found that young people today have:

• ‘benign indifference’ (Collins-Mayo et al 2010). They have no ill intent towards, or much interest in religion.
• ‘immanent faith’ (Collins 1997). They rely on themselves and a close circle of people around them rather than any ‘other’.
• ‘vicarious’ faith (Davie 2007). When their own resources are not enough, they access religion through the few who have a ‘chain of religious memory’ (Hervieu-Léger 2000).

It’s not an encouraging picture overall.

So assuming that the ideal result of any Christian youth work is to engage young people in the Christian faith (whether that is explicit or not), how is it actually doing? What impact is it having on these young people who are involved?

Transmission in Christian youth work (outside in)

There are a great many community-based youth clubs and activities that are run by Christian churches, organisations and individuals. Large numbers of these will encourage the exploration of the faith, so what changes are they seeing? In a lot of cases (including my own), not much. The reason proposed by Silvia Collins Mayo and her co-authors (2010) is that Christian youth workers have been so effective at relating to young people, that those young people’s beliefs have simply been validated rather than challenged. Often Christian youth workers are not willing or able to share their own faith, rather they rely on ‘doing good things’ and expect young people to ask “why?”.

“For young people… who either do not realise or else do not care about the youth worker’s motivation, love is not enough. They need to know what the love is about if the youth workers’ behaviour is going to mean anything more to them than the fact that youth workers are simply nice people.” (Collins-Mayo et al, 2010)

If young people are to engage with the Christian faith, they need to be introduced to it. So why is it that Christian youth workers and ministers have not been able to convey the passion and motivation for their work? Why do many young people simply not get the importance of faith to these people?

Some are arguing that it’s because youth workers are uncritically accepting the ideology prevalent in much youth work training and adopting a “strategic liberalism” (Collins-Mayo et al, 2010).

“Proselytism (or evangelism) of any kind, whether overt or otherwise, is very difficult to justify within this strongly relativist ideological framework and so the idea that mature and sympathetic adults can work with young people to share an absolute value-set with them in order to equip them for a fruitful and happy adult life, or to share their faith in such a way that young people might accept it for themselves and benefit from it both temporally and eternally, is consigned to the past and replaced by a strange blend of postmodern relativism and progressive, neo-Marxist, so-called “liberal” Utopia building.” (J W Rephael)

So while in theory, informal education and Christian youth work share many values, in practice there has been some conflict.

Transmission in Christian youth ministry (inside out)

But what about youth ministry within the church? Are workers doing any better at teaching the faith to young people in the relative safety of the church and retaining them? Not really. We have known for a long time that young people have been haemorrhaging from our churches. The nineties were particularly bad. But the long-term trend is also worrying. It is suggested based on research data that churches are seeing a ‘Generational Half Life’ – that is for every generation that passes, church attendance halves.

“If neither parent attends [a religious denomination] at least once a month, the chances of the child doing so are negligible: less than 3 percent. If both parents attend at least monthly, there is a 46 percent chance that the child will do so. Where just one parent attends, the likelihood is halved to 23 percent. What these results suggest is that in Britain institutional religion now has a half-life of one generation, to borrow the terminology of radioactive decay.” (Voas & Crockett 2005)

Church attendance has been declining for decades but churches are only just waking up to it. Although there is some evidence that decline is slowing, there’s been a sharp downward trend. One of the possible reasons has surfaced in the National Study of Youth & Religion from the USA. Although 3 out of 4 teens in the US say they are ‘Christian’, they show great ambivalence towards faith. It is suggested that this is because what they have been taught and modelled is a weak and feel-good version of the Christian faith dubbed ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’ (Smith, Lundquist Denton 2005). It’s a challenge-free Christianity based on being ‘good’ and feeling ‘good’. The result is that:

“…young people possess no real commitment to or excitement about religious faith. Teenagers tend to approach religious participation, like music and sports, as an extracurricular activity: a good, well rounded thing to do, but unnecessary for an integrated life.” (Dean, 2010:6)

While the culture is different here than in the US, the issue is the same.

Discussion:

• Is Christian youth work and ministry compatible with informal education methods?
• Why have Christian churches largely failed to retain people?

3) Moving Forward

So where does this leave us? Firstly, I need to state that while I have painted quite a desolate picture of current Christian youth work, I am actually very excited. Although it is true that the church in the UK faces the above issues which urgently need to be addressed, there is also a great deal of creative, innovative and passionate youth work that buck these trends. Now, more than ever, there is a need for good quality youth provision by Christians.

Post-State Youth Work

With the recent decimation of the statutory Youth Service, the government’s Big Society agenda is pushing youth provision back to the voluntary sector with little or no funding. For the first time in decades, voluntary youth services and charities are being asked to lead the way forward as the state no longer has the resources or inclination to do so. While it is a tough environment, it is also a big opportunity for Christian organisations to develop new and creative work with young people who are losing many other means of support. Churches particularly are best placed for this as they usually have the resources to make something happen; buildings, volunteers, motivation, and often finances from a tithing congregation. Additionally, there is still funding out there:

Two-thirds (67 per cent) of the youth associations and clubs surveyed said they or their members had been affected by cuts…  A further 27 per cent said the impact of spending cuts on youth clubs in their area wasn’t yet clear… But almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of respondents said they had been able to access alternative sources of funding to help plug the shortfall. These included providing services to the Church of England, bids to trusts and foundations, and donations from corporate partners and local businesses. (Children & Young People Now, 14th June 2011)

But even if churches pick up the slack from the state, how will that change the faith of young people? What will make a difference to encourage them to explore Christianity?

Authenticity

A big theme that has arisen out of recent studies on faith is the need for authenticity. The term has occurred in relation to Sikhs, Muslims and Christians: Young people are looking for the real deal. The diet of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is not substantial enough and young people are willing to engage in something meaningful and worthwhile:

“The primary challenge that Generation Y makes to the Church is to maintain its collective identity as the people of faith living out the stories of god.” (Collins-Mayo et al, 2010:106)

I believe that more than anything else, the key for Christian youth work and ministry is to rediscover its authenticity and to stop being ashamed or apologetic about its mission. Obviously this needs to be done with sensitivity and respect, paying attention to the values of youth work practice, but faith should be honest about its intentions, and secure enough to discuss them openly.

To Summarise

• There is great confusion and division over the distinction between youth work and youth ministry.
• If the purpose of Christian youth work & ministry is to explore the Christian faith and encourage young people to commit to it, then it has been largely failing. We need to re-evaluate why we do what we do and ask honest questions about our motives.
• There are great opportunities in the current climate for Christian youth work and ministry, but it must have a clear and authentic identity.

Bibliography

• Brierley, D. (2003) Joined Up: An Introduction To Youth Work and Ministry, Carlisle: Authentic Lifestyle
• Dean, K. C. (2010) Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, New York: Oxford University Press
• Children & Young People Now (2011) ‘Youth groups find alternative funding to make up for government spending cuts’, 14 June, http://www.cypnow.co.uk/go/youth_work/article/1074694/youth-groups-find-alternative-funding-government-spending-cuts/
• Collins, D. (1997) Young People’s Faith in Late Modernity, PhD Thesis, Guildford: University of Surrey
• Collins-Mayo, S., Mayo, B., Nash, S. (2010) The Faith of Generation Y, London: Church House Publishing
• Davie, G. (2007) ‘Vicarious Religion: A methodological challenge’, in Ammerman, N. (ed.), Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives, New York: Oxford University Press
• Hervieu-Léger, D. (2000) Religion as a Chain of Memory, Cambridge: Polity Press
• Smith, C., Lundquist Denton, M. (2005) Soul Searching: e Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, New York: Oxford University Press
• Voas, D., Crockett, A., (2005) Religion in Britain: Neither Believing nor Belonging, Sociology, 39: 11-28.
• Ward, P. (1997) Youthwork and the mission of God, London: SPCK

Let’s celebrate our inspirational role

This month, the National Youth Agency (NYA) is relaunching Youth Work Week. According to the press release, it is a chance to highlight the contribution of youth work to the development of young people and to turn public attention towards the positive roles played by young people in their communities.

It is quite a timely event for the sector as a whole, given the far-reaching public spending cuts, and for the NYA in particular, as it faces strong criticism over its role as a national body and an independent voice to local government.

I have previously stated that there is a lot of confusion over the term “youth work”, so I think it’s a great idea to promote our profession and raise the profile of what we actually do. To that end, there are a number of resources and ideas available on the NYA website.

But all this celebration and self-congratulation has got me thinking about those who had a positive impact on me. There is a long list of significant adults who inspired, encouraged and challenged me during my formative years. Many were youth workers — even though they may not have given themselves that title. They worked informally, in whatever environment was available, to educate and advise me.

The same is true for most of us. Regardless of our history or social standing, we can think fondly of adults who encouraged us when we were younger. Across the UK, there are still traditional youth clubs where workers and volunteers have served faithfully for 20 to 30 years. I’ve heard many stories of former young people who come back to the clubs years later to thank those people for what they did.

In my own work, I have been fortunate enough to see a few young volunteers go on to train as youth workers. But the truth is, apart from a couple of stories, we will never really know the full impact our work has on young people and, consequently, on society. It is that unknown, that untapped potential, that makes this work so exciting – and so difficult to properly evaluate.

In our current climate with the general confusion and anger over the state of the sector, it can be easy to get caught up in doom and gloom. It is after all our livelihoods, and many youth workers are facing redundancy. But regardless of all the important arguments, changes to policy direction and lament over traditional youth work values, there will always be inspirational adults who work informally in various clubs and settings to encourage and educate young people.

As we celebrate Youth Work Week, take a minute to remember those individuals who have gone before us and made an impact on our own lives. Then as we make plans and move forwards in these difficult times, let’s consider those young people we work with and commit to doing our very best for them.

There will always be a need for skilled youth workers to provide activities and education for young people. I intend to do that to the best of my ability.

Who would gain from a licence?

At the tail end of the summer, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced that it had no plans to introduce occupational licences, including one for youth work.

A licence would require an individual to gain a particular level of qualification in order to be registered as a professional worker. The decision to keep youth work as an unlicenced profession means that anyone can continue to call themselves a youth worker – a point that divides the sector.

Despite this, the voluntary registration scheme for workers proposed by the National Youth Agency (NYA) continues to move forward regardless. Earlier this year, the NYA committed £30,000 to explore the feasibility of a voluntary register and discovered “considerable support among key stakeholder groups and individuals for a registration scheme”.

The agency obviously didn’t ask me. If the scheme goes ahead it will be only for Joint Negotiating Committee-qualified professionals, although could be extended to voluntary and youth support workers. But registration will require a payment from individuals. As a qualified worker, I would therefore have to buy my own registration into a scheme that imposes particular values and sanctions upon my work.

The key question for me though in all this talk of licences and registration is will this benefit young people?

Young people do not seek out youth provision with qualified and professional workers; they go where they have relationships with others, or a particular interest. So giving some workers an extra badge of honour is irrelevant to whether young people participate.

Nor will registration suddenly improve the quality of work happening with young people. Although good management and training can help workers develop their practice and should be encouraged, there are still some bad qualified workers. A voluntary registration scheme for those individuals would simply gives us bad registered workers regardless of any criteria or guidance.

Despite claims to the contrary, registration will sadly not protect young people from workers with less-than altruistic motives. High-profile cases among professions such as the clergy and teaching prove that abuse still occurs in regulated environments.

So if it won’t directly benefit young people, what exactly is it for? If, as the NYA claims, there is demand for a registration scheme then it can only be about professionals wanting further recognition for their work. This may be a fair request given the breadth and diversity of the youth work sector, yet it would potentially be very damaging.

My own JNC-validated qualification and references serve me adequately. If we really do want to improve the state of youth work in the UK, let’s stop developing ridiculous titles, brandings and status, and instead invest in our work with young people.

Time to stand up for young people
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how young people are perceived by our society.
Our local council recently put some investment into a children’s play park, extending it and adding a variety of new apparatus including a zip wire. It has been a successful development that has encouraged a much greater use of the facilities.

In fact, it’s become popular with a wide range of ages from the very young to older teens that hang out in the evenings. Yet not everyone has seen the presence of young people in the park as a positive thing. Someone wrote to our local paper to complain: “From around 6pm each day, groups of youths aged between 16 and 20 muck about, deliberately attempting to break the equipment. This is the sole object of their play… “.

The attitude and assumptions of the letter writer really frustrate me. Just because young people choose to hang out in the park, it does not mean that they are intending to cause damage. But there is this stereotype that prevails in people’s minds of the hoodied thug out to cause nuisance to the general public. And that is exactly why initiatives to combat this perception are so important, and why the demise of Shine Week is particularly sad.

Shine Week was a government campaign launched in 2008 to celebrate the achievements of young people. Last year almost one million young people took part and huge plans were under way for this year’s event before it was culled by the new Department for Education (DfE) as a cost-saving exercise.

The DfE was “keen to emphasise that Shine Week has been a fantastic outlet to highlight the contribution of all young people”. However, despite the setback many youth organisations continued with their plans to celebrate the positive actions of young people and various activities were held across the country during July.

In addition, CYP Now’s Positive Images Awards are another example of promoting the good things young people do. But it is not just national campaigns that are needed to tackle this problem; we must also take some personal responsibility for promoting young people in a positive way.

Only last week I heard a school premises officer describe a seven-year-old child as a “waste of space with no future except crime”. I chose not to challenge him at the time and have regretted it since. As professionals, we need to stand up for young people.

So what can we do to challenge these stereotypes of young people? For me, I plan to respond to the letter in the paper, explaining how great it is that the teenagers use the park. But we are a creative and resourceful bunch, and will find numerous ways to endorse young people if we set our minds to it.

Changing the nation’s perception of young people may seem a huge challenge, but it is something that we can all play a part in.

Good riddance to ContactPoint
The coalition government plans to scrap the controversial ContactPoint database that holds the personal details of all 11 million children and young people in England, and personally, I’m quite relieved.
ContactPoint had been stumbling forwards for the past few years despite numerous concerns. It was originally proposed as a way to improve safeguarding after the tragic murder of Victoria Climbie in 2000 and, in theory, makes a lot of sense as there are undoubtedly some great benefits from having one central system. Workers can quickly look up a young person’s contact details or find out what other services are working with them.

But there are also some inherent problems in storing this kind of personal data. The Daily Telegraph reported in January that there had been at least four serious security breaches of ContactPoint before it had even been nationally available to practitioners.

Last year, The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust published a report on the state of UK databases. It found that a quarter of all major public sector databases are fundamentally flawed, including ContactPoint, which it issued with a “red warning” for its privacy concerns, inadequate security and the legal issues with maintaining sensitive data with no effective opt-out.

The report also found that this kind of data sharing across agencies can be a barrier to more socially responsible activities. For example, it can deter teenagers from accessing health advice for fear of the request being recorded and tracked.

This view of data sharing was also reinforced in a conversation I had with one youth work professional who admitted actively dissuading his own children from giving personal information to statutory youth workers. He felt that workers accessing information on a database was akin to “googling” the young person’s name – it gives them access to extra, perhaps invasive information. I believe he has a point.

Generic youth work is based on the voluntary principle: that a young person is free to choose to engage with a worker or activity. This empowers young people and they are able to provide as much information about themselves as they wish. A level of trust has to be built. However, if a worker is able to look up that young person’s address and see what other agencies have an involvement, it destroys that trust.

Of course, we all need to monitor our work and will often have to write up reports and record information, but there should be a balance between that necessity and the wishes of the young people on what information we hold on them. ContactPoint did not give them any choice.

Working together for the benefit of children and young people is vitally important and may well save lives. Perhaps now we can find better ways to do this that aren’t so invasive or that run counter to good youth work practice.

Drop this profession obsession
I’m getting fed up with the different schemes proposed to develop youth work and create a new professional status for workers.

First the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is piloting its youth professional status. If successful, this would be a new award for any graduate working within young people’s services – not just youth workers. To gain the award, candidates would need to demonstrate their understanding of the CWDC’s skills development framework.

Confusingly, this professional status is not considered a qualification or a new role, but “a symbol of an individual’s management potential.” It simply shows workers can adhere to the CWDC Framework – already contested as a watered-down set of values.

Then there is the rebranding of qualified youth workers as “youth work professionals” as proposed by the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Services (Chyps). This is a new title for any full-time youth worker with a Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) recognised qualification. A lot of workers like myself would automatically inherit this title because of our training.

The idea here is to distinguish youth work professionals from other professionals working with young people. Chyps are also supporting the youth professional status, so we could potentially end up with youth work professionals who have youth professional status.

Despite the jargon, I do understand the temptation for the change. It’s currently difficult to know which workers are trained to which level, and what that training entitles them to do (or not to do). David Wright, chief executive of Chyps is right in saying that: ” To the outside world, ‘youth worker’ is a generic term. But within the sector there is a variety of different disciplines.”

I quite like the idea of being classed as a “professional” rather than simply a worker. The title appeals to my ego a bit and might hold some weight with other agencies and organisations.

The problem is there are many, many voluntary organisations with unqualified workers doing an amazing job with limited resources. I’m a big advocate of training and education, but many agencies simply cannot afford to train their workers. This does not make them less professional.

One of the best workers I ever met was an elderly gentleman who volunteered at a youth club. He has little understanding of integrated services, nor was he ever likely to gain a JNC validated qualification, but he held the respect of those young people in a way I can only hope for. He was in every aspect professional.

So while I agree that we do need some clarification in youth work training and qualification, lets drop this obsession with being “professional”. If we concentrate on actually working with young people and doing the best for them, then maybe we can earn the right to be called professional.

You can view all my Youth Work Now articles here.

Safe sex – or healthy relationships?

There seems to be some consternation about the dropping of compulsory sex and relationships education (SRE) from the new Children, Schools and Families Bill before it was pushed through Parliament.

Critics claimed that forcing every child to attend classes was a breach of parents’ rights and would create more bureaucracy in schools. Yet many high-profile organisations, including sexual health charity Brook, are vowing to fight to give young people the right to high-quality SRE.

Good SRE is vital for young people and I would support the call to make it compulsory. However, the problem I’ve observed is that in schools, despite some exceptions, SRE is rarely of a high quality and often ignores important aspects of sex and sexuality.

I know one young man who is not yet in a sexual relationship. His class at school has talked about condoms and sexually transmitted infections during personal, social, health and economic education lessons, plus he has attended a sexual health drop-in at a local youth club. He knows how to have sex and what to do, so in many ways the education has been successful. Yet, while he may know how to take appropriate steps to avoid getting an infection, when he does start a sexual relationship, he has little idea about what constitutes a healthy and respectful relationship, or how to maintain one.

My concern is that while the biology and mechanics of sex are well covered, the emotional and relational aspects of intimate and sexual acts are rarely discussed. In SRE, the word “relationships” is largely ignored.

A survey of more than 20,000 young people by the UK Youth Parliament found that 61 per cent of boys and 70 per cent of girls aged over 17 stated they had received no information at school about personal relationships. Recent NSPCC statistics, and subsequent TV ads on abusive relationships among young people, show that this is an increasing problem that must be tackled.

Of course, as with any subject in school, the quality of SRE is only as good as the person delivering it. Often for teachers, this can be an add-on role in addition to their main subject, leaving little time for planning. Indeed, with the Children, Schools and Families Bill, it was the intention to create guidance for the school curriculum to help improve what is being taught, and assist teachers in improving their understanding and confidence in delivering it. This guidance is still going ahead, but will no longer be compulsory.

But this is more than just an issue for schools. As workers in non-formal settings, many of us are involved in SRE. From talking through personal circumstances with a club member, to running a sexual health drop-in and advice centre, we are all in a position to inspire and challenge young people around their personal relationships. For a long time, the message has been “safe sex”. It’s about time we change that message to “healthy relationships”.

You can view all my Youth Work Now articles here.

Too Many Youth Policies To Mention
My usual response when an election draws near and all the promised policies get trotted out is to roll my eyes and try hard to filter out the cross-party bickering.

It’s not that I’m disinterested in what the various parties are proposing; it’s more that I dislike the approach. Too often, political parties define themselves by their differences from each other on key issues rather than their commitment to making the world a better place.

This time around there seems to be a lot more at stake for those working with young people, so I’ve been paying more attention to the promises being made. And it seems the politicians are becoming more creative with their pledges.

Eighteen months ago, I attended a conference where an advisor to the Conservative Party explained its plan for a compulsory National Citizen Service for young people. The scheme, a flagship project aimed at 16-year-olds, was then a six-week form of community service with a residential and team building activities thrown in at the beginning. It has now become a shorter three-week programme, involving a residential, a local project, and some community work over a longer period.

Many in the audience at that gathering felt the money could be better spent with local youth organisations that already do this type of project, while others questioned the very idea of enforced “voluntary” community work.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats have produced Free To Be Young, a great manifesto with 57 party commitments aimed at improving life for the young. It’s hard to disagree with many of the statements, yet unfortunately I find it almost impossible to see how they could be realistically achieved. An idea like “encouraging parents to drink responsibly” is a case in point.

Labou,r on the other hand, are selling world-changing ideas such as giving every 11 to 14-year-old hands-on cooking lessons to help reduce childhood obesity. To be fair, they are also focused on getting young people back on track by promising a job, training or work placement to those not in education, employment or training (NEET) longer than six months.

But what we really need is a renewed commitment to supporting and investing in young people and local youth services. It’s encouraging that the Lib Dems have moved towards accepting the youth work union Unite’s challenge for a statutory youth service. This would protect youth work from future funding cuts, but it must support voluntary services as well as those run by local authorities.

We also need a government that actively views young people as partners in democracy and involves them in decision-making. Policies such as lowering the voting age to 16 are a good example, but there is more that could be done.

I’m looking for a party that understands the power of engaging with young people and investing in their future, not one that just pays them lip-service.

You can view all my Youth Work Now articles here.

Break down the youth work divide
Over the years, I have often picked up on a perceived divide between the voluntary and statutory youth sectors.

To illustrate what I mean, there was one guest lecture at a university youth work course where I was asked to talk about the benefits of the voluntary sector. During that presentation, one of the students took great exception to my description assuming that I was, by extolling the virtues of the third sector, dismissing the value of statutory youth work.

While many voluntary organisations work closely with statutory agencies, this either/or attitude is still quite common. I’ve heard statutory workers criticise voluntary organisations for their lack of professionalism and ad hoc approach, and have myself been vocal on the constraints and outcome-focused approach in the statutory world. Many writers have also commented on the distinctions, drawing neat dividing lines between the two.

The result is that these sectors can sometimes be unintentionally framed as mortal enemies, set against each other in an epic battle for young people’s attention.

Of course, this is nonsense. So why does this “them and us” mentality continue? I’ve come to the conclusion that it is simply based on a misunderstanding of the other sector.

I recently spent a Saturday training with a group of part-time statutory youth workers on accreditation in the local youth service. Personally, I was interested in how accreditation was being successfully integrated into generic activities, but these workers were there to learn how it must be incorporated into their work in order to meet the service’s targets.

What was noticeable during that session was how enthusiastic and passionate these workers were, even though most had given up their time voluntarily to be there. I had naively assumed that they would simply accept outcomes and accreditation as normal practice without question, but many of them were incredibly self-reflective and critically thoughtful about how accreditation affects their work.

Learning and laughing together was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and my preconceptions were proved very wrong.

There must be a whole bunch of workers in both the statutory and voluntary sectors who, like me, would benefit from spending some time learning about how each other’s organisations work. In fact, it should be a mandatory part of training.

Of course, there will always be differences in ethos and approach between agencies and sectors, with workers drawn to particular styles of working. We need that diversity. But in these difficult times when many youth work jobs and services are under threat from budget cuts, maybe we should finally forget about our differences and join forces to promote the excellent and vital work that we do.

You can view all my Youth Work Now articles here.