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Anyone who has worked with local communities will know how, all too often, young people are blamed for just about everything that is seen to be wrong in an area, be it litter, graffiti, vandalism or noise. To make matters worse, those doing the blaming are often the older people within the community, which encourages social divisions. Many of the problems are associated with fear, especially fear of crime. While this is often seen as an issue for older people, there is plenty of research that shows that young people are also fearful too, and they are certainly most likely to be victims of crimes such as mugging. The purpose of local project work is not to allocate blame, but to make things better in the long term. This means first asking why the problems are so bad in any area (and also exactly what the problems are, and how bad they really are). Involving local young people in local action does help. As well as being 'something to do', it can also provide young people with skills in everything from teamwork to using tools, and may also involve project planning, publicity and fundraising. As well as youth projects, BTCV training programmes and short courses (www.btcv.org/training) offer accredited training leading to qualifications such as NVQs. There is also plenty of evidence to show that involving young people in practical work, such as mural painting, tree planting or similar projects, leads to less vandalism of the completed projects, sometimes with the people who worked on the project acting as its guardians. Youth work in the environment can vary enormously, not least because of age differences. Work with young children may mostly be done through schools. Developing school projects and gardens can be a good way to build a permanent resource for a school. While young children are often very keen to get involved in this work, interest in the environment tends to drop off sharply at around the age of 12-14 as other concerns become more important. Work with young people is more regulated than any other type of environmental or conservation work. Concerns over child abuse mean that anyone participating in youth work needs to be checked with the police. This is a routine process that can take several weeks to complete, so allow time for it in your plan. With this in mind, under no circumstances should any group set up a project to work with local young people without getting advice and guidance from experienced and trained workers. See the section in Part 2.10 on risk assessment for more guidance here. Ideally there should be a trained youth worker involved in both planning and delivery. There are plenty of guidance manuals and training courses available - see the appendix for more information. The situation is different in Northern Ireland and new legislation will come into force in 2005. The NI Volunteer Development Agency (028 9023 6100 or www.volunteering_ni.org) can advise on work with young people and vulnerable adults. All content copyright © 1986-2009 BTCV Ltd. Registered charity No. 261009 |
