YOUTH WORK & YOUNG PEOPLE: RAISING THE POTENTIAL

The Scottish Centre for Research in Community Learning & Development has published a small collection of essays on Youth Work. While it just arrived on my desk this morning and I haven't had the time to read it properly it is a very welcome addition to the the, admittedly limited, Scottish Youth Work bibliography. It's the first actual indepent publication discussing Youth Work, as far as I can remember, since the Conceptualizing Youth Work reader which SCEC put out - and that must be back in 1999 or thereabouts.

Anyway, it's a collection of 5 relatively brief articles, including one by my good friend and professional collaborator Mr Alan Small. The first four articles explore the contemporary context for Youth Work practice and policy and trace the history of how we got here in the first place.

The final article, by Fraser Patrick, draws together the themes explored in the other four papers and offers some analysis of the opportunities for a positive future for a distinctive Youth Work practice in Scotland.

Get it from

Youthlink Scotland: 0131 313 2488, it'll cost you a fiver if you are not a Youthlink member, or £.50 if you are.

‘Fanning the flames of Fear’

Click on the headline to link to the Scotsman article.

I heard the author of this story, Helen Eadie MSP last night on Radio Scotland whilst driving, and I was, I have to say, a little taken aback at the extreme nature of the experiences described and the responses offered by the MSP for Dunfermline East.

While I can’t comment on the truth or otherwise of the events described it does surprise me to find a politician who, since 1976, has held posts specialising in Equal Opportunities claim

“If that fails I would be in favour of eliminating children under 15 completely from the streets at night.”

Does her support of curfews mean that she believes taking blanket measures against whole sections of society to address the behaviour of some members of that group is in keeping with the spirit of Equal Opportunities? It’s certainly not in the spirit of natural justice as I understand it.

What these sorts of stories do is legitimise the fear that many adults appear to have of young people.
What these sorts of proposals do is ameliorate that fear and support aggressive reactions to that fear. A cynic might say they also court support and votes from the adult electorate who believe this sort of thing is the norm after dark in Scotland.

Take a look at the comments from readers below the actual story, a great many of them refer to simply feeling intimidated by groups of young people. Try to ignore comments like number 9 & 11 – there are some other very sensible views expressed too.

My companion in the car last night tried to disagree with me by saying

“Colin, some young people do cause a lot of trouble and are a nuisance.”

As if I was trying to excuse any sort of behaviour by anyone under 18.

For the avoidance of doubt, I have no problem with the police and procurator fiscal taking appropriate action against people who commit crimes. The events described in MSP Eadie’s article are crimes and should be treated as such. Some young people commit crimes. Some adults commit crimes. There are mechanisms in place to address this without curtailing the liberty of an entire section of society.

It may be worth noting that the whole anti-social behaviour consultation, the Bill and all that followed was initiated just prior to the last election when candidates toured constituencies and heard from their constituents, (or at least the ones who attended these events) about how frightened they were of young people.

With elections looming in six months, could this be the start of a second wave of politicians using the media to fan the flames of fear.