Yesterday I spent the day with the nice people at Blue Horizon youth project in Aberdeen exploring the possibilities offered by the interweb.  I hope they had some fun along the way.

Most of the stuff we looked at is over on the web tools page.

Almost too real…

Horne & Corden’s YPC Part 1

Horne & Corden’s YPC Part 1

Today my youth work class at ICC unveiled their ‘mystery boxes’. The idea came from JJ Abrams’ amazing TED talk:

The task was to bring something which would intrigue the rest of the class but also enable them to learn something.

Mystery Box 1 contained 2 djembe drums and some ‘instructions’.

Beatless

Mystery Box 2 was a geek paradise… Warhammer 40,000.  Ross got far too into the game!!!

Ultramarines

The final mystery box contained some reflections helping people to think about ‘Where is God?’

Hmmm

The three ‘boxes’ were all very different and challenging in their own ways.  We all had a laugh and hopefully learned something new… even if it was that Sam never wants to play Warhammer again!

“Young People are Useless!”
“Adults Now Afraid to Challenge Young People!”
“Unless you have an official role, children are now ‘off limits’.”

These are just some of the headlines from reports and articles in recent years that point to a growing gap in the relationships between the world of adults and the world of young people. How did it come about that most adults feel estranged from most young people?  Kenny Wilson’s, book looks at this growing estrangement and the effect that it has had on young people. He identifies some of the key causes, poses some questions for society and invites those involved with young people, agencies, faith organisations and government, to begin to the process of repairing the damage and moving in better ways for future generations.

After all, who wants their son or daughter to be labelled as ‘useless’?

Buy the book from Youth Theology Culture

Being a youth worker can be a lonely job.  I know that sounds odd, especially given that the job is to spend time with young people and develop good working relationships with all kinds of people.  But the fact is that much of a youth worker’s time is spent on their own, preparing, reading, thinking…

Networks are crucial to help spark ideas, nurture new workers and sustain those of us who have been at this for some time.

The Internet provides lots of ways to keep in touch with colleagues and I’m glad to say that our new Scottish Youth Ministry online network has been a great success.  Almost 40 people have joined in a week!

It was also good to see Youthworks, a real life, in person, network launched last Friday with 50 or so people gathering in Edinburgh.

So, if you are out there and you’re a youth worker then get involved.  There is no excuse for being lonely anymore!

After discussion with Chris today we decided to create a Scottish Youth Ministry Network online at http://scottishyouthministry.ning.com.

This network is for anyone involved in or interested in work with young people in Scotland.  We hope it will be a place where we can support, encourage and resource each other.  So join up and tell your friends.

I think I’ve decided to do my research for my masters on the use of social media in church-based youth work in Scotland.  I could of course change my mind again but on reflection this seems to be something that would be both interesting and worth doing.

I’d still like to have a go at ‘does youth work work?’ but think that might make a better large scale project for me and my lovely colleagues at the URC.

So, If you’re reading this and are involved in church-based youth work in Scotland let me know so I can come and interview you and your young people some time in the new year.

Anyone with any ideas and/or suggestions, please feel free to contribute said ideas anytime you like.

And I’ll try not to bore you all.  Honest.