from YAPRap October 2005
by Belinda Spalding, Hawkesbury Care
Most of us in the "youth work business" are there because we want to make a difference in the lives of young people. We want young people who are facing difficulties and often severe obstacles in life to reach their potential and go onto become positive, contributing members of society.
Then what's the problem??? The "problem" is that young people are often not easy to work with! Life has thrown them situations and challenges that have helped to shape their thoughts, actions and behaviour - often resulting in negative behaviour and attitudes that in most cases, present the most when you, the youth worker, try to help them.
In our youth service, we found that the young people we wanted to help and could see so much potential in, were often the ones that would drive us to the greatest frustration and make us question why we got into this business in the first place!! So, what do you do? Do you become another authority figure in their life desperately trying to make them behave or is there a solution, perhaps one that is more "preventative"?
I believe there is! In our youth service we decided that we as youth workers would decide what sort of culture and atmosphere we wanted in our programs and youth centre. When we came to this realisation, there were a few key things we decided to implement that we felt would contribute to the life of our centre and that would give us, the youth workers, control.
1. Decide what sort of culture you want
How do you want your youth centre or programs to look? How do you want them to function on a weekly basis? Do you want a culture of respect, fun and learning? Do you want your young people to contribute to the programs? Do you want it to be an atmosphere where young people can come and feel safe?
It is vital that you decide what sort of culture you want and work hard to create that culture. If we don't actively create the culture we want, it is then by default set by the young people who attend your service. The problem is when it is set by the young people - they aren't always coming from a healthy position in life and therefore your culture can end up looking and feeling quite sick and as a result, you don't get the full impact you were hoping for.
Take a piece of paper and brainstorm all your ideas - dream a little! What sort of service or program do you want? Get your ideas down and formulate a plan. Once you have got a good idea of what sort of culture you want, start to implement it. It doesn't happen overnight but with persistence and hard work, you can create any kind of culture you want in your youth service.
In our youth service for example, we decided that one of the things we wanted in our culture was for all young people to feel welcome, regardless of their family and current situation in life. We bought this culture about by:
- Getting our leaders and workers to model it - our leaders would make sure they were welcoming, spending time with new young people, making sure everyone was included in games and activities.
- This is the most important point - what we as leaders and workers model and make a priority will ultimately be what the young people do, as they follow and imitate you.
- Making a big deal out of young people - as our program runs week by week, it allows us to encourage and focus attention on all types of young people. We often encourage and bring to the group's attention individuals who have achieved something during the week, regardless of how small. This creates a culture of encouragement where young people know they will be accepted and encouraged in any area of life.
2. Protect your culture
In our youth service, we knew that for longevity and effectiveness, we had to protect our culture. We also didn't want to work so hard to create something that would be destroyed by the first young person that walked through our doors.
In our programs, we don't allow young people to do things that directly go against the kind of culture we are trying to create.
For example - we wanted to create a culture where young people could come and it be a "haven" for them, a place where they could feel safe. Therefore, if we find that a young person is bullying others and making it tough for another young person, we don't allow that behaviour to continue.
It is also vital that all of your staff, workers and volunteers place high importance on protecting your culture. When this happens, culture is better protected because the team is working together on it.
You can try different things to protect your culture, for example - we really wanted a culture of respect for our workers when young people were attending our programs. If we found that a young person was not respecting a worker, we would place high importance on dealing with the young person over this issue.
If after we had allowed sufficient time for the young person to adjust and understand our culture, they showed no respect for our workers and disregarded our boundaries on this issue, we would take the following steps:
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Sit down with the young person and talk with them about our culture and boundaries (we try to avoid using the word "rules") and make sure they understand it properly. We would talk with them about how we feel they are violating our culture and give them practical ways they can abide by the culture in the future. We positively reinforce them as a person and encourage them that we think they are fantastic.
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We then watch their behaviour over the coming weeks to see if there is any change. If there is, we encourage and reinforce to them that they are doing a great job and thank them for their change. If we see no improvement and the same behaviour is still a problem, we challenge them again. If we see no response, we ask them to take a week off coming to our service. We let their parents know and ask them to think about why they have to have a week off and what they could do to change when they come back.
Normally after they have had a week off, they come back and we find their behaviour has improved. If we find it is still continuing to worsen, the next time they take 2 weeks off. During their time off, we are in contact with them, their mentor visits them and we make sure they still feel connected to our service. In that sense, they aren't banned or don't feel punished but just taking time out.
In saying that, it is also really important to remember that the young people wont get it right all the time. Make sure you give young people that are new to your service time to adjust and learn what your culture is.
3. Work with the young people that are "culture destroyers"
We found that some young people caught on quickly and soon were helping us to continue to build and create our culture. Other young people didn't catch on so quickly or were difficult to work with. We have created a few different ways to deal with these young people. We still wanted to work with them because we believe that every young person should be given a fair opportunity in life. We also understood that some young people face such oppression and hardship in life, that bucking the system is a natural response for them - we wanted to give them a chance to change their ways.
- Work with the young person more intensely - we decided that with the young people who were causing trouble that we would match them up with a mentor and watch over them more closely. We spent a lot of time inputting into them, building their confidence and self esteem and we often see a total turnaround. They begin to trust us, they see people caring for them and their behaviour starts to soften. This can be hard work, but so rewarding.
- Create targeted, specific programs
We have since created programs that specifically deal with young people with behavioural problems. Instead of the young person attending the "normal" programs for a time, they come aside and attend some of our specialist programs where we can work more intensely with them on a wide range of issues. We are seeing huge successes in this and seeing young people's behaviour slowly start to shift.
Creating positive culture is hard work but pays huge dividends in the end. It also will reduce the frustration you as a youth worker feel, as you create the kind of culture you want to work in and the kind of culture you want young people to be exposed to. After all - aren't we there to offer them guidance and show them how they should live, not the other way around?
