SEVEN characteristics for Youth Work

Youth Work is an educational practice;

            “Primarily educators who engage with young people in the diverse setting, using different methods and activities to stimulate informal education and learning” …. (pg. 2) I was an individual who was engaged in the environment, and the voices around me when I was in school and still is. Also, when creativity and diversity in a classroom are so important when I was in a classroom and how it should be still now.

Youth Work is a social practice;

            How to seek to, “Prioritize working with groups to nurture cooperative association amongst young people.” (Pg. 3) When I was a kid, I had a hard time engaging with other children because I didn’t feel like it was the easiest thing to do. But as a Youth worker, I have experience seeing the different values, attitudes, and behaviors with others.

Youth Workers actively challenge inequality and work towards social justice;

            How it takes place in the “Context of social injustice, often with young people and others who are on the margins, excluded by several personal, cultural and structural barriers.” (Pg. 3) No matter what the challenge is, we want to support each other.

Where possible, young people choose to be involved;

            Being interactive with you based on helping them with homework or playing an activity with the youth, because we want to be involved with what they are doing around the community. “Our view that youth work and informal education not only takes place in the environments” ….. (Pg. 3)

Youth Work seeks to strengthen the voice and influence of young people;

            Youth workers have several options and want to express on how the environment is the right time and place. We as youth workers have a job to shape a positive atmosphere where the children feel safe to prompt their ideas.  This will allow children to feel "Empowerment, participation, active citizenship and democratic engagement." (Pg. 4)

Youth Work is a welfare practice;

            We as youth workers practice, “Alongside its primary education role, promote ‘well-being and safety of young people.'” (Pg. 4) It’s when we give them a place to have fun but also feel safe and want to have an opportunity to experience social and behavioral part of their life.

Youth Work works with young people ‘holistically

"We work primarily with kids because they are young" (Pg. 5). Which I feel like we are as youth workers are ordinary problem solvers, that want to help guide the young people in the right direction. But it also depends on how we approach the situation based on the social and behavioral.

         These seven characteristics; show me what I do through the YMCA in Smithfield. We as youth workers want to apply certain part of these features to our daily routine like; I realized that I touch base on each and even parts of the social practice when the children want to play a game, but they don’t know how to ask. I as a youth worker help them go through the process on how to ask.

Sources:

*Google images

*https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0bWpWMmJ2XzJZLXc/view