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’?
I’ve been promoted. Have I mentioned this already? Sorry if I have, but I’m now an official co-host of the fabulous international podcasting sensation that is the Something Beautiful Podcast along with Jonathan and Thomas.
Some of the students on the Youth Work and Applied Theology course at ICC feature on this week’s Something Beautiful Podcast (episode 2.3). Laura, Jay and Justin talk about their work in Youth Ministry and how they make sense of their faith in their work with young people.
If you stick with it to the bitter end and make it through me babbling you get a wee treat. My youngest son Jack makes his second appearance in podcasting land doing the drop-in at the end. He was struggling with ‘emergent’, but then who isn’t!
You might also have noticed I’ve added a Something Beautiful widget in the sidebar for your listening convenience.
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.
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.
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