Right. I’ve decided what my Masters research will focus on.
I’m going to explore youth workers in church settings’ attitudes to social media. I had a couple of chats over the last few days with Chris and Tim and they have helped me to focus.
So, my initial plan is:
To investigate youth workers in Scottish church based settings’ use of and attitude to social media tools.
I hope to find out
Who uses social media tools - demographics of use
What do they use and how
Are there policies or guidelines around use
what benefits do workers perceive?
How does that sound? Your thoughts comments and insights are very welcome, as always.
Barnardo’s released a report called Break The Cycle today. The research conducted by YouGov shows that:
just under half (49%) of people believe that children are increasingly a danger to each other and adults
43% agree something has to be done to protect us from children
45% think that children are feral in the way they behave.
A survey conducted amongst Barnardo’s young people – just over half of whom have been in trouble – found that most of them thought that young people get into trouble because of boredom and peer pressure.
Of the 393 youngsters, aged between 10 and 23:
44% said bad behaviour is encouraged when the media portrays their peers as misbehaving
84% said young people get into trouble because of boredom
88% said having more things to do and places to go might stop young people getting into trouble
32% would go to friends for help if they were in trouble
This report reminded me of a couple of things.
The first is that very wise saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Children are not aliens. They don’t materialise on the streets from outer space. They are ours. Our children, grandchildren, cousins, newphews and nieces and friends.
The Scottish Children’s Commissioner found last year that 64% of adults would like to volunteer to work with children and young people but only 5% actually do.
The blame, if there is any blame to be had, is squarely with us, adults. We ignore our children. We leave them to do what they please because it suits us. We don’t get involved with them. We don’t provide clubs, organisations, sports, art, music or education because we can’t be bothered. We’d rather watch tv and complain.
It takes a village to raise a child means that the whole of society is responsible. We all need to take an interest, provide opportunities, volunteer. Not someone else, you. We’re happy to drop our kids off at clubs and organisations and Sunday School but how many of us offer to help out?
I’m almost done with my Masters in Research. I have two modules to complete then a dissertation. The dissertation takes the form of a small research project. I want to get started soon and have it completed so I can graduate next November at the latest. If I’m super organised I could graduate in July.
Being super organised would include actually choosing a topic to research. That’s when things get complicated.
I have three potential topics:
1: Youth work and social media - models of good practice using web2.0 tools to work with young people
2: Does youth work work? - Does employing a youth worker make a difference? Probably a case study
3: Towards an evaluation framework - how could churches/projects evaluate what they do? Working towards an evaluation framework.
This is where you come in. Any thoughts, comments, ideas, avenues to pursue and general advice and suggestions would be very welcome.
There are lots of people I know who read this blog who never or rarely comment. It would be great to hear from some of you about this as I’d really value as much input as possible.
The other day my colleague emailed to say that he was working with a church who were considering employing a youth worker but they had asked a question that had stumped him.
‘Will employing a youth worker make a difference?’
It stumped him because they were asking for hard proof. Not a series of anecdotes. Not some platitudes or fob offs. They really wanted to know.
So, that’s my question. Does employing a youth worker make a difference? How do you know? Who says?
I’ll post some thoughts soon but I’d like to hear your stories, evaluation methods and research.
At Nairn last weekend we spent some time talking about accompaniment. Being with the young people in our groups, not to entertain them but to be with them on their journey.
These clips from The Legend of Bagger Vance seems to me to show the role of an accompanier.
The first clip is where Bagger (Will Smith) and Hardy are out pacing the course ahead of the match.
In the second clip Junuh (Matt Damon) is struggling. His new caddie, Bagger Vance, has watched him play the first of four rounds and let him make all the mistakes he can make. Now Junuh is ready to listen, to hear and to accept Bagger’s advice. Bagger starts the process of helping Junuh find his swing.
The thing for me about these clips is that Bagger only gives advice when asked. Advice comes as part of a conversation. Hardy must enter into the scene and swing the club. Bagger makes his comment about ‘the field’ but it’s then up to Junuh to respond. How many times do we give advice to people who don’t need it or don’t want it? Maybe it is good advice but just not the right time to give it.
Our role as youth workers is a privileged one. Young people allow us to accompany them. We need to make sure that we don’t misuse that position and that we are there for the long haul.
This clip comes three rounds later…
We all fail. We all fall down. Who are the people who will pick us up? Is that you? Do we pick people up when they fall or do we criticise and blame people for not getting it right?
In the end Bagger leaves. He leaves when Hardy is ready to take his place and when Junuh is ready to go on. That’s what accompanying people is all about. Traveling the part of the way we share.
DK at Media Snackers has been on a bit of a campaign to get Youth Workers in the statutory sector to blog. It would seem that there are very few who do (he’s found one!), which perhaps is a consequence of Local Authorities attitudes to their staff having any kind of online profile (it’s BAD).
The same is true of the church. Rumour has it that the powers that be added Facebook to the list of blocked websites in the Church of Scotland’s offices the day before Gordon Brown (yes the Prime Minister) gave social networking a big thumbs up at the General Assembly. Facebook was unblocked shortly after.
This seems broadly representative of local churches and even denomination’s approach to the Internet. ‘I don’t understand it so it must be bad.’ I’ve had youth workers tell me they are not allowed to have BEBO or Facebook sites, they can’t have forums on their websites and all kinds of stuff about not being online. The reason most given is ‘Child Protection’. What a load of nonsense.
The online world is just as safe (or unsafe) as real life. What we should be doing is having sensible conversations about APPROPRATE online interaction with young people. There are lost of ways to have open and transparent contact online with young people.
It’s probably a good idea for you not to IM your youth group. But there’s no reason you can’t have a Twitter account telling them what’s coming up this week, or reminding them what to bring.
Having a group blog also let’s young people be creative in collecting content, writing and presenting what they have been up to. A blog would give your group a higher profile in the community. It would allow parents and supporters to see the value of your group. You might even get new members or more funding.
So, here’s a plea. Just because you don’t ‘get it’ don’t think it’s bad. There are loads of tools and opportunities around to make your youth work better. Don’t miss out because you don’t know where to start.
If you blog about your youth work, let me know.
If you would like to know more about getting online then in the next session I’ll be doing some training to get you started. Keep an eye out on the blog and the dates pages or get in touch from the contact page.
In the meantime check YoMo’s guide to youth work blogging HERE.
This weekend is the 10th Crossover Festival. Crossover is a brilliant event and I’ve been proud to be part of it. But this year I’ve not been involved. After the last event I felt it was time to step back and to allow others to bring their ideas and dreams to the event.
I have a sense that this might be the last one. That would be a shame but perhaps it has run it’s course. Only time will tell with that question.
I’ve been invited to visit and I might pop in at some point over the weekend but maybe not. I’m not sure yet.
On Friday I spent the morning at a meeting of Christian Youth Workers who are discussing setting up a network. To help us think about what the network should be and how we could describe it Neil Pratt from ICC led us through a discussion on ‘what is Christian Youth Work?’.
I’ve always been a little skeptical of the term. I agree that there are youth workers who are Christian but I see little that defines youth work as Christian beyond the motivation of the worker.
We ended up in a discussion about motivation, evangelism v education. For me, youth evangelism is not the same as youth work. Youth work is educational and not dependent on young people coming to faith.
Not surprisingly only 35% of youth workers felt able to help young people take advantage of the opportunities of Social Networking as opposed to 53% who felt they should focus on the dangers of the Internet.
There are a huge range of opportunities to do good, creative work with young people using online tools and social networking sites. The Internet is here to stay. Let’s get busy using it positively.
I am Stewart Cutler, a Youth and Children's Work Trainer with over 15 years of experience working with volunteers, students and professionals in the Christian Church and in communities around Scotland.
Welcome to my blog and website where I've been sharing thoughts about God, the church, youth ministry and life since 2006.
I hope you find this site helpful. Let me know what you think.
The opinions expressed in this website are those of the author, Stewart Cutler. They do not necessarily represent the views of his employer, the United Reformed Church, or any of the agencies he works with.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 UK: Scotland License.
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