- Youth work helps young people learn about themselves, others and society through
activities that combine enjoyment, challenge, learning and achievement. It is a developmental
process that starts in places and at times when young people themselves are ready
to engage, learn and make use of it. The relationship between youth worker and young
person is central to this process.
- Youth work happens in youth centres, schools and colleges, parks, streets and shopping
precincts – wherever young people gather. Youth work methods include support for
individuals, work with small groups and learning through experience.
- Youth work offers young people safe spaces to explore their identity, experience
decision-making, increase their confidence, develop inter-personal skills and think
through the consequences of their actions. This leads to better informed choices,
changes in activity and improved outcomes for young people.
- Youth work contributes to the government’s vision for young people – that they should
enjoy happy, healthy and safe teenage years that prepare them well for adult life
and enable them to reach their full potential. From January 2007, local authorities
have been required to secure ‘positive activities’, including youth work, for young
people in their area. These activities should be shaped by what young people say
they want, and should help put them on the ‘path to success’.
- Youth work helps young people learn about themselves, others and society, through
informal educational activities which combine enjoyment, challenge and learning.
- Youth workers work primarily with young people aged between 13 and 19, but may in
some cases extend this to younger age groups and those aged up to 24. Their work
seeks to promote young people’s personal and social development and enable them to
have a voice, influence and place in their communities and society as a whole.
- Youth work is underpinned by a clear set of values. These include young people choosing
to take part; starting with young people’s view of the world; treating young people
with respect; seeking to develop young people’s skills and attitudes rather than
remedy ‘problem behaviours’; helping young people develop stronger relationships
and collective identities; respecting and valuing differences; and promoting the
voice of young people. This is considered in more detail in the National Youth Agency
statement of principals and values, Ethical Conduct in Youth Work.