Anyone else out there going?

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The BBC News website is running a story about the findings of a government-commission poll of 15 to 19 year olds. Of the 765 surveyed, nearly 90% felt they would find work - an overwhelming positivity from the young people.

However, when contrasted with another survey on adult’s views of young people joining the workforce, it makes interesting reading. Almost a third of the 1,000 adults questioned thought that teenagers would only work reluctantly, doing the bare minimum to get by.

The surveys appear to highlight a gulf between the attitudes of young people and the older generation’s perception of them.

This reinforces the negative perception of young people by society that Barnardo’s have highlighted through their new campaign.

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In summary, Barnardo’s commissioned a YouGov survey on adult’s attitudes towards children in the UK. The results found that around half of the 2000 people interviewed felt children were increasingly becoming a danger to others. Martin Narey, Chief Executive of Barnardo’s said:

“It is appalling that words like animal, feral and vermin are used daily in reference to children.
“Despite the fact that most children are not troublesome there is still a perception that today’s young people are a more unruly, criminal lot than ever before.
“The British public overestimates, by a factor of four, the amount of crime committed by young people.
“The real crime is that this sort of talk and attitude does nothing to help those young people who are difficult, unruly or badly behaved to change their ways.”

Congratulations to Barnardo’s for raising awareness of these sad attitudes, and for working to change them. For those of us trying to encourage and champion young people, it seems we have a lot more to do!

Thanks to EasyRew for this one (via Facebook).

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Maybe I’ll put some photos up later.

I’ll get to blogging again next week, but thought I’d let you all know that I’m still here!

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I’ve been aware for some time of various government incentives to try and track young people through their involvement in statutory agencies. I know of colleagues in Westminster who carry around barcode scanners to record and identify each young person they come into contact with so they can track their progress. This drive towards accreditation and outcomes in ‘professional’ youth work is a personal lament of mine as it goes against the very values inherent in the discipline.

Yet chatting with my uni colleagues on Thursday, I was shocked to hear a youth work professional admitting that they actively dissuade their own children from giving any information to youth workers! This is because in their particular borough, all interactions from various agencies are recorded onto a single database and over time build up a raft of information, creating a profile of that particular individual.

While there may be legitimate uses for this data, what is happening is that the records are never removed and so any interaction with the police, social services, schools etc. are permanently visible to the professionals who access the system regardless of whether a young person has reformed, changed, grown, or otherwise developed from when those interactions occurred.

A young person who is stopped by the police for being drunk one friday night, or who popped into an information shop to get advice on contraception, may find that information available to their doctor or teacher or social worker years later!

This is one of the reasons that I am grateful to be working for a voluntary agency: I am not required to work towards targets, figures and recorded outcomes.

So be careful out there… don’t talk to youth workers!

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Like earlier gatherings this will include a mix of plenary sessions, workshops and ’surprise’ events. Amongst the plenary speakers will be Gabriel Eichsteller on the history of social pedagogy and Catriona Kelly (Oxford University), author of two major books on the Pioneers and growing up in Soviet Russia. There will be a number of workshops on the Albemarle Report published fifty years ago and at least one to mark the fortieth anniversary of the launch of the Community Development Programme. From the booking form:

At the heart of each conference are the workshops. Usually numbering around 20. The breadth is always impressive covering an enormous range of topics linked to the history of youth work, adult education and community work. As before some will focus on the historical development of practice in countries outside the UK. A feature of this conference is that around half those attending deliver a workshop. This is a relaxed gathering of enthusiasts keen to talk to and learn from each other. Amongst those already promised are workshops – youth work as social medicine revisited; on the anarchism and informal education; Robert Owen and the origins of the community school and community work; youth work with girls and young women; and the history of the Community Development Projects.

If you are planning to attend we do hope you will consider offering a workshop. If this is not feasible simply come along and enjoy the wide variety that will inevitably be provided by participants

The conference, now in its eighth year, will take place from 6-8th March 2009, at Ushaw College in Durham. You can download the booking form here.

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As a co-owner of Hanging Rock Outdoor Center in Danbury, Jolly shared his love of paddling with everyone from young children to senior citizens…

The local paddling community is mourning Jolly’s death, said his friend and fellow paddler, Robert Myrick.
“He helped tons of people get into white-water kayaking who couldn’t really afford to spend $1,000 to $1,400 up front,” Myrick said. “He would work with them.”

Sounds like a good man, with a good name!

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