We had a good chat about it - youth crime and youth provision are, as always, high on the political agenda.

Read: A cabbie's diatribe on disaffected youth.

You can always count on Howard to find fault in others, I'd like to know what he (Howard) does to highten the profile of youth work and the poor services offered to young people by providers. I watched him recently on the Ch4 Knife-Crime debate and he hardly spoke a work on youth work??? shame on you Howard.....!

I agree......Howard sold out his youth work values when he (for cash) accepted a position on the YJB and he see's children and young people go to prison, for more and more trivial matters. I agree....shame on you!

I don't know why James has got it in for me.  The 'cabbie' story was attempting to point out that our rational liberal position is very firmly at odds with those who, for many reasons, hold vicious and punitive stances towards young people, especially those who offend.  As far as selling my soul to the YJB for thirty pieces of silver, I am an easy target but James, like many, do not know what battles and arguments I have fought and made behind the scenes (some with considerable success, some which met with abject failure).  I deplore our use of custody for so many young offenders but I am proud of the resources we have levered for youth crime prevention.  When you get the opportunity to be part of something like the YJB, the immediate dilemma is whether or not to get your hands dirty or stand 'principles intact' on the sidelines.  Most people do not get the chance; I did, though I nearly resigned soon afterwards on account of the street robbery initiative and the incarceration of mobile phone thieves.  The advice to me at the time was not to go; I would simply be replaced by someone whose views were more in keeping with the prevailing political views of the time.  That is the harsh truth of the matter.  I don't know what James is talking about when he refers to cash - yes, I get a payment as a Board member but - given the time I put in - it probably amounts to relative little (probably less than a sessional youth worker).  Anyway, tarnished as I obviously am in his eyes, he can feel happy that my term of appointment comes to an end at the end of this very month: I will no longer have the opportunity to act 'shamefully', as he sees it.  I simply continue to profess that I have contributed as much to the welfarisation of criminality rather than to what others see as the criminalisation of social welfare.  The reality may not yet, if ever, square with the rhetoric, but - as we already have in Wales - we are rather closer now that we were when I joined the Board to a position of seeing young people who break the law as children first and offenders second.  Read the latest annual report. 

And finally, if he knew rather more about my past and my principles, he would know that I have taken every opportunity to advocate for youth work, which is my spiritual, professional and academic home.  I may not have done so on TV (time gave very little chance to say anything) but I certainly did during the hearings of the Street Weapons Commission and in the preparation of the final report.  Indeed, I think the whole commission was persuaded that there needs to be at least reconsideration, if not immediate restoration, of local community and youth provision that does not have to run with recurrent funding crises nor twist and turn at the whim of short-term targets.

Long ago I had to make a choice as to wheter to snipe from the sidelines or get stuck in.  I know that some people - including my dear late friend Bert Jones, whom I wrote a tribute column about to which I believe James replied - felt that I had 'sold out', and so I have to endure the critique, but to blandly assert that I can be relied on to find fault with others - what on earth is that referring to?  I was explain the bigoted views of the taxi driver in the context of the particular circumstances of his family life and place of residence. 

I enjoy reading your articles Howard - I think this particular one will ring true with many people who work with wider members of the community, and the 'Cabbies' viewpoint is perhaps understandable if he's been subjected to some of the waffle & jargon I hear spoken sometimes about youth work and he's then thinking well how come with all this work going on he's still struggling to shield his kids from others antisocial behaviour?!

I also enjoyed the Channel 4 programmes which I thought highlighted quite well the differences between projects that appeared effective and some that didn't.

Where James deserves credit though is in instigating a reply ;-) It would be nice to see a lot more people engaging in dialogue online - and even nicer to see some of the higher profile people in the youth work world engaging not only on these forums but with some of the youth workers who have set up blogs like Hilary Mason

Mike Amos-Simpson:

I enjoy reading your articles Howard - I think this particular one will ring true with many people who work with wider members of the community, and the 'Cabbies' viewpoint is perhaps understandable if he's been subjected to some of the waffle & jargon I hear spoken sometimes about youth work and he's then thinking well how come with all this work going on he's still struggling to shield his kids from others antisocial behaviour?!

I also enjoyed the Channel 4 programmes which I thought highlighted quite well the differences between projects that appeared effective and some that didn't.

Where James deserves credit though is in instigating a reply ;-) It would be nice to see a lot more people engaging in dialogue online - and even nicer to see some of the higher profile people in the youth work world engaging not only on these forums but with some of the youth workers who have set up blogs like Hilary Mason

 

Mike,

 Thanks for your constructive words.  Indeed, I think the biggest challenge for us in youth work is to get more dialogue, comment and communication going.  If I 'provoke' some of that, then I am happy.  I am not looking for compliments (though warm fuzzies are always nice to have) but for critical contribution.  I have no problem with James having his views on anything, but I do wish that people the more personal vindictiveness could be avoided.  We would find it quite intolerable in other arenas of our lives.  I have argued before that we should restrict ourselves to the professional debate and refrain from personal attacks - but the last time I said that, I was accused of fuelling censorship and denying freedom of speech!!!  So perhaps I should leave it there.  My sadness in the youth work field is that so few people do write and comment in purposeful, 'dialogical' ways.  After all, I think that was one view of the essence of the skill of youth work, so Mark Smith suggests and many of us agree with.

I think the Cab driver had a bit of a point even though it was put in the most simplified laymans terms.At the moment our communities are not a safe place and it does seem each generation is becoming a more harder version of the last. Its very easy to be negative about youth and the help we as workers can offer. It is my opinion that early intervention is a must and working with young people whilst they are at primary school is vital part in promoting citizenship and affording young people the opportunity to take ownership for their own communities. We all appreciate structure in our lives and without it we look for our own source of entertainment(Anti social behaviours) .I firmly believe the capacity building process should be promoted from around the age of nine. We as workers have the job of making opportunities look exciting for our young people. The problem is Drugs ,alcohol,violence and sexual experimentation are a very appealing combination for our teenagers and society wont totally to stop young people experimenting with this combination. Harm reduction is the way forward coupled with exciting incentives which our young people will buy into. Pro social role modeling is the answer where a dynamic Youth setting is required for this to be achieved. There are an abundance of influencing variables which affect teenagers attitudes and belief systems. What young people strive for is a sense of belonging, somethingh which they can identify with. Again ownership is the key factor here! Lets start thinking outside the box and help our youth channel there energies into something positive? 

 I'd echo those thoughts Joe - theres two things I think that need to change in the approach to youth work:

 1. More emphasis on working with 'younger' young people/children - theres been talk about 9-13 being a 'missed age group' for years yet little seems to have been done about it. Alongside this I think there needs to be equal consideration and resources given to proactive 'preventative' work as there is to firefighting, issue based work and work with older young people.

2. A more inclusive approach to working with young people - working with them in community and family contexts - again on an equal basis to youth only work. There was a bit of an effort made with 'intergenerational' working but somehow that seem to have become translated as work between only young people and very old people! I think instead 'intergenerational' as meaning more work between people of all different ages would be useful.

Also as a note to point 1, I think a lot more effort should be put into thinking about what the value of 'poitve activities' could be. Just providing recreational activities and PGL type holidays seems a waste of time & money to me. Its fine to provide those opportunities for young poeple that really can't access them such as the very poorest & young carers, but I find it frustrating that more thought isn't given to making those 'positive activities' into 'purposeful activities' (that can still be just as much fun as recreational ones).

Joe and Mike,

 Thanks for these words and views.  Broadly I support all you say - about early intervention, opportunity structures, 'co-management'. sensible approaches to 'intergenerational' activity, and so on.  Appreciated that you have turned this debate on to both the grounded nature of the cabbie's remarks and the aspirations approaches to our work with young people.