Tag: school

Funky Frecks: A book to help children become more aware of emotional health and manipulation.

On By JamesIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Jess is excited to start her new school and she soon makes friends.

But it’s not long before one friendship makes her feel uncomfortable.

Feeling trapped and alone, Jess isn’t happy.

Can she figure out a way to ask for the help she needs?

Funky Frecks, Jennifer Gilmour

Fully crowdfunded, Funky Frecks is a children’s book for KS2 children and it follows the same ethos as Jennifers debut novel, educating through a form of entertainment. The aim is that they will carry what they learn forward in not only friendships but into their future romantic relationships, equipping them with the ability to spot the signs / pink flags. 

The story follows Jess who is unique in her own right with beautiful white hair, different-coloured eyes and freckles. Jess has been to many different schools and we join her as she starts another new school and feels rather vulnerable. The school has a buddy-up system and a fellow classmate volunteers to help Jess in her first week, her name is Sam and is very welcoming on the offset. We see them getting on well and enjoying each other’s company but things don’t feel right when Sam gives Jess a nickname that she doesn’t like, Jess musters up the courage to tell her she doesn’t like to be called Frecks but Sam ignores it. As the story unfolds we see Sam become demanding over school activities at lunchtime, getting jealous of Jess making other friends and everything comes to a crescendo. 

Personally, I’m grateful that this is a conversation that is much more talked about than when I was in school, and this resource by my friend Jennifer will be vital to help children and young people recognise not only the behaviour of others but also to recognise their own value and worth in relationships.

More on the book is here : Funky Freaks Book

Jennifer Gilmour is an author and advocate for women in abusive relationships, using her own experiences of domestic abuse as a catalyst to bring awareness and help others. Jennifer has published two publications, Isolation Junction and Clipped Wings which have both been Amazon Best Sellers and received awards. Jennifer speaks at events across the UK and continues to raise awareness through her blog posts, public speaking, radio interviews and social media.

Jennifer has listened to her readers and has grown a digital community to support discussions around domestic abuse online. Starting with her Twitter Chat which opened late 2017 #AbuseTalk, this developed into an online forum in 2018. In 2019, Jennifer launched a podcast that includes interviews with those in the sector and gives followers the opportunity to ask burning questions. 

Youth Work NatDipHE & JNC Level 2 (University of Chester) 

Jennifer can be found on the usual social media, twitter, instagram, Facebook etc – her blog site is here

Youthworker: Are these your 20 superpowers?

On By JamesIn Youth ministry, Youthwork2 Comments

Fast on the heels of last week’s piece on the 35 experiences of youthworkers comes this reflection on the superpowers that youthworkers are expected to possess, given the range of questions, reflections and comments about the last piece, it figures that youthworkers are expected to be superheroes? Doesnt it.. well at least they might have to at times possess all or some of the following:

1. To live off adrenaline after 3 60 hour weeks and a weekend residential at the end of them

2. To only take school holiday holidays but be able to find holidays they can afford without a teachers salary. Oh and plan 3 holiday club weeks and summer trips for the other weeks. And take that weeks holiday and switch off…

3. To become the manager of your own management group who may have 2 weeks youthwork experience between them. To manage upwards with no management experience (often)

4. To work with a smile even when there’s only 3 months funding left (a requirement for some funders who won’t fund projects with long term reserves)

Image result for youth worker superhero

5. To be able to take young people off the streets. Or get them jobs when there arent any.

6. To help young people like/persevere/cope with church* (*could also mean school) – or as one contributor suggested: ‘Be capable of fully explaining the reason why young people don’t attend church and fixing it without changing Sundays one bit’

7. To divert young people into being part of the capatalist system.

8. To be the only people left in the society who want to talk, sex drugs and alcohol with young people.

9. To provide young people with the tools for resilience, when they themselves might not be coping

10. To be able to retrieve information from every movie, song or sports event in the last 30-40 years and use it in conversation or for a session

11. To find the magic funder, that no one else has found , who will fund good youthwork and fund good salaries and core costs

12. To be amphibious and chameleonic – to be able to work in a number of settings whilst trying to be facilitative and almost invisible.

13. To be eternally youthful – even though they grow old – to never give up the fight for equality, against injustice and to maintain a view that transformation is possible – and not be resigned to fate. (though that doesnt mean trying to be like young people’) To keep pushing for something better…

14. To be ready to listen, to be ready with questions, to be ready with suggestions for conversations with young people – but maybe not ever ready with solutions and the ‘fix’

15. To empathise with those in structures like teachers and clergy who trust you in conversations – without thinking – ‘yeah I wish I had your problems that involved job insecurity and funding… ‘

Image result for youth worker superhero

16. To get stuff for free on discount, like trips and activities – be the great convincer or bargainer – then the great apologetic when the young people trash the venue.

17. To have the endless time to commit to your own ongoing CPD, further reading, studying, career development and fund your own retreats.

18. To be able to say no to a young person without offending them and maintaining the relationship

19 To do all what you do that young people and volunteers see, with next to no need for any planning (at least thats what your timesheet says)

20 To manage other peoples expectations of what you’re actually able to do

and an extra…

21. To have the ability not to get caught reading this blog during your work day

What ones do you have? Which ones do you need right now? Which ones might help see you through this weekend?

You are a superhero, regardless if you dont think you possess all of these things, as what tends to happen if that you’ll find a way to be able have these superpowers and grow into them. Its just sort of what happens. You rise to the next level, in the new situation you find yourself, whether that’s managing volunters, staff, funding, or strategising, or working in schools or developing a project. Thats the true mark of the superhero youthworker, you rise into the roles, and well, as Freire said, make the road by walking them.

what superhero powers would you add?

Because Im not a superhero, and do my writing and reflecting as a hobby, I would appreciate any gift or donations to this ongoing site and my consultancy work. if you are able to make a donation towards this work, please do so, either by donation directly to my UK account click here for the details. Or you can make a donation via Paypal, just click the button below.

Thank you in advance, and thank you for sharing and reading these pieces.

If you want to keep up to date click ‘follow’ or subscribe. Also, if you would like to write a guest post, or have a story to tell or issue to raise about youthwork or youth ministry that you would like to share here, do let me know. Thank you.

If young people are in church – why after the service we shouldnt ask them; ‘How was school this week?’

On By JamesIn Discipleship, Youth ministry2 Comments

Put yourself in the place of a young person for one moment. Its 12pm on a Sunday morning. They have just endured ‘being at church’ with their parents, and awoken out of unconsciousness by the rousing final hymn, or just returned back to the coffee area after being shephered to ‘their groups’ to keep them out of the way. Theyve survived another sunday, almost.

Now they’re hovering, maybe near the coffee, more likely near to the biscuits and cakes. Nearly always near the biscuits and cakes. Counting down the minutes until they can leave, and hoping desperately that their parents arent the social wizards they normally are, so that they are about to be the ‘last family to leave’ the church.

Because, that means that other adults might talk to them. Try and be well meaning.

And – what is the most likely conversation that the young person is going to hear?

Its rarely – ‘how was the service, or youth group (as most of the adults have forgotten about this already) – no its the ‘other’ difficult question, it happens every week…

How was school this week?

Imagine that, the young person, has endured church for 90 minutes, now has to react to this well meaning adult, who has put themselves in the same position their parent does at 5pm every day. On receipt of the stock answer ‘fine’ .

Put it bluntly, unless young people talk about school, in a different context to school, dont mention school. Its a key rule on detached youthwork, it should be the same rule in church.

Now a young person who isnt in school that day, has to try and be polite, (its a church) but also is two days since being in school, and probably isnt looking forward to Monday, is being seen in church through the lens of being a school pupil. It could be the last thing they want to be reminded of. A successful pupil might be under alot of pressure, a struggling one, might not want to talk about it.

Maybe ‘school’ is a safe and easy topic for the adult to ask about – but that doesnt make it what the young person wants to.

What’s even worse is asking about school only so that the adult can regaile their own school stories, experience and how thjngs were wirse ‘in my day’ because.. well that isn’t empathy. It’s borderline narcissism.

It’s especially relevant as there could be so many other things to talk about with a young person in that space. So – and these are taken from this article on the excellent nurture development website: http://www.nurturedevelopment.org/blog/abcd-practice/good-life-conversation/

They might need adapting – but what about some of these questions:

What contributions do you like to make to others?

What’s your thing?

What do you like doing that makes you forget time?

What matters to you that you’d join with others in doing?

What are the three activities you do best?

What are the three skills you would most like to learn?

Which clubs or groups do you belong to?

If you could start a business, what would it be?

What are your favourite games?

How do you have fun?

Do you have other hobbies or special interests we have not talked about?

Have you ever made anything?

Have you ever fixed anything?

What is your greatest accomplishment in life so far?

Essentially, what Cormac is getting at in this piece, is that there are gifts, strengths and abilities that each person has, and this is an attitude we should have about young people when they are in our churches. Having a broad and deep understanding of young people might mean we see them not as learners, who learn things in churches and also learn things in schools- but as gifted, and contributors. We might talk the talk about ‘learning from young people’ but often our interactions reveal that we push them into being learners. For church to be a place young people call as ‘home’ and ‘safe’ on a simple level, we need to develop ways of interacting in conversation with them that give respect, time and attention to them, their interests, intelligence and contributions.

Though, if we want to start a conversation with young people- and keep it ‘light and friendly’ how might it avoid ‘school’ which might not be light and friendly for the young person to talk about?

If we even have any young people in churches left, it might only be a small thing, but if all five people after the service just talk about school to them, then thats got to be tiring hasnt it?

When fuller youth institute identified that ‘a healthy place’ is the kind of place a church needs to be to keep 15 year olds in it. It is in conversations and connections where this is- as adults we have to be better at talking with young people and creating this.

Ps- and I have done it too, and felt bad afterwards too as the energy sapped from the young person during the conversation.

Cultivating young peoples creativity in youth ministry

On By JamesIn Context, Youth ministry, YouthworkLeave a comment

In a report in the TES newspaper, business leaders have raised significant concerns about the structure of schools, and the prioritising of exams in schools which have little baring on the skills required for the broad and varied world of work: the article is here.  Its as if the sausage machine of the school system is only capable of churning out a distinctly few different types of sausages. And on that analogy alone – have you seen the different types of sausages you can buy now?

This issue about a structure, system and approach reducing the posibiities for young people, and not actually preparing them for future work has caused me to reflect on what the similarities would be in the world of youth ministry and christian youthwork. I have a number of questions:

  1. What kind of skills, or attitudes, or faith, or concern for the world is being imparted with young people in readiness for not only their present , but also their future?
  2. Could aspects of the youth work, youth ministry that we do, be accused of reducing the possibilities, or narrowing those who might succeed/cope to the few?
  3. In the past, but i dont think its gone away, a focus has been on leadership, and young people to show this (in what ever form) – has this tendency reduced the possibilities for others to succeed, who might not show this characteristic ( in whatever form of leadership)
  4. If future christian ministries – ie those in the world of mission, or church ministry wrote a similar letter back to the leaders of youth ministry, young people currently in youth groups – what might it say? what kind of preparedness might be appropriate – or tales from the future -even if this isnt the ‘career path/vocation’ of the young person.

Which aspects of creativity in youth ministry are more accessible, viable, allowed, encouraged than others? (going back to the TES article)

My experience is that young people outside of the church have been the creative ones, the musicians who formed bands, the t-shirt designers, those who ask the creative questions about faith, those who pioneer. Even on the estates, they’re the ones that can play games on a park with just using a coin, or a scarf, or find ‘things to do’ – its hugely creative. But what would happen to that creativity in spaces of organisations, of the church, of youth ministry?

Whilst its easy to point the finger at the school systems. I wonder what kind of creativity is more encouraged, than others in the world of the church, and what kind of an effect any narrowing of this might have on young people?

What kind of gifts do the young people you know have – how might you encourage them especially if the school is unable to harness them?

Maybe the trick isnt to focus on the young persons potentiality, but the creativeness of their present, what they create now in the space and how this is their gift to the world.

 

The Government is right, young people just don’t need youthworkers anymore

On By JamesIn Context, Detached youthwork, YouthworkLeave a comment

Apart from ones that are in contact with youthworkers, know one or have been helped by one – most young people get on fine in life without one.

For one thing now, most young people have the internet. And thats where they can message people like Childline if they need to contact someone, or the Samaritans. They can contact services for mental health, eating disorders and depression, housing, budgetting and careeers, all on the internet.

Also, young people are doing so well at school, all of them are. Look at this weeks results, or last years. Or university intake levels. That just down to the teachers (if you believe the news). There would never have been any youthworkers in that school, or community over the last few years, oh no.

Young people statistically are drinking less, because they have to do better at school, because there is more pressure to go to university, because of lack of jobs and austerity. So good old austerity it means less young people are drinking alcohol, or getting caught drinking alcohol. And good old austerity too this means young people are consequently doing better at school.

If young people are doing so well at school, and have access to all the help in the world, via the click of a button, then theres no need to pay for a luxury that is a youthworker in a local community.

Because less young people are drinking, thus no young people are drinking? or because grades and university entrants are increasing (despite the reduction in grants- especially for the less well off) – then is every young person going to university, and coping well in school?

Young people dont need a youthworker, because as long as they have the confidence to contact a stranger in a call centre acting on behalf of a national charity, theyll be ok, for everything else just speak to a teacher or a parent.

Its lucky actually that young people can rely on their teachers and parents, and no one else. They cant need mental health services either, otherwise the government would be keeping the funding for them too. They cant need houses or services beyond the care age of 16, or housing benefit, or education maintenance allowance, or a decent minimum wage, otherwise the government would make sure that they could get them if they needed to. Young people in Rotherham had youthworkers, youthworkers who listened, but because the system didnt validate the voice of the youthworkers nothing was done. But no, young people dont need youthworkers, they cant do. they have so many people who are already acting for them, just for the interests of them who are wholly trustworthy, wholly reliable, and wholly going to listen to them.  You can tell that because young people cant accept that thats what a youthworker would actually do, without needing something in return.

Its funny that when the local government pulled the youthworkers in areas, the government have pulled services for young people, and thus ergo, young people dont even have the people who might listen and fight for them anymore. Or give them advice to cope within the cuts they have to deal with, but no, neither these, nor any young people need youthworkers anymore.

Young people dont drink anymore- not just because of austerity, but because of law enforcement and bye laws restricting it,  because of better education. And because its expensive compared to legal highs, who might be aware of this? However, the young people who are still drinking, they’re drinking more. It’ll only be the people young people will trust, usually people who’ll listen and not judge (often youth workers) who young people will be in contact with who theyll tell why they drink. Young people from the wealthier areas of Durham are struggling with mental health issues, and who are part of the diagnosis and the solution?

Its ok, because the load will fall on teachers. Who arent under pressure. Who are regularly told by the education secretary that they are to focus on the vulnerable young people, on providing pastoral support, on meeting young peoples needs. On trying a variety of methods to keep challenging young people in the school.

Its not looking that good for the young person, but hey, they never had it so good, not as good as us? Maybe not in the little things, like technology, but the system they’re growing up in is not in their favour. Its still in ours, in our parents. Especially when it comes to political decisions, pensions, taxes, house prices, jobs, benefits.

Maybe its better that the government doesnt fund youthwork anyway – its been argued many times that its seems a contradistinction that a service that might enable critical action of the government by local young people might actually be paid by them. Probably best to leave such a whistleblowing, annoying little voice in the corner to shut up. Disperse the profession into voluntary groups and agencies, into churches, charities and companies. That’ll dissolve their power. And keep them so busy trying to maintain sustainablilty from funding that they cant really take on anything other that what funders suggest that Government tell them to – such as employability, sports & fitness or lifeskills.  No collaborative voice, barely a union, no funding.

But no, the government must be right, young people just dont need youthworkers anymore. 11 years ago when i started in youthwork i found it difficult, especially in some circles to see young people as oppressed, Now there is no doubt that they are being disproportionately penalised & unsupported. Maybe its just the government that have no need for youthworkers anymore, and paradoxically young people have even more need than they have ever done.

 

When might we tell young people that they can be a Christian and not believe the Bible to be 100% literal truth?

On By JamesIn Theology, Youth ministry, Youthwork, Youthwork and Theology2 Comments

and other such questions.

If we have established a faith community for and with young people in our churches, then surely, if this is a safe space, and an open space, then within this there is scope for young people to be given the tools to explore critical questions, rather than wait until they leave the safe space of church – go to university for example- and have doubts and confusion about Biblical inerrancy (for example) in a setting that is away from the faith community of their founding story, and no wonder they might not cope.

After all, its not as if young people arent being exposed to philosophy & ethics in High school- so why not exegesis and (philosophical) hermeneutics in church? – has ‘telling’ young people to read the bible and then hearing a 10 minute homily by an adult sold thinking, creative young people short.

Can the church actively tell young people that the Bible isnt 100% historical truth? whats the risk?

something would be amiss if the faith community was so reliant on historicity and inerrancy that to challenge this would shake the entire walls of faith.

Is it better to allow young people to explore the grey areas of doubt in a safe environment, and help them to understand the complexities of life and faith, and challenge a black/white mindset, or at least the black/white mindset that seem to shape my own teenage years in an evangelical cultural church. Young people are thinking people, we notice this from the 12 year olds on the street, they want to explore and ask, not be told and quietened, so be it young people in churches, who are often more quietened and less able to critically reflect, but give them Shakespeare or Plato on Monday at school, they have the tools, just need to have the environment to use them.

There’s never been a better time to have the tools to explore these depths and complexities with young people- after all, there’s never been more theologically trained youthworkers employed by churches. So lets put hermeneutics and philosophy back into youth ministry. (theres an assumption it was ever in there) and see if it has more success in keeping young people curious, questioning and seeking, than a supposed youth ministry that seeks to generally entertain, infanticide and keep active, usually by those regenerating what was done to them, with them, and they turned out ok. (countless others didnt)

My impression from young people is that those that are high achievers in school, like to think, ask questions, and explore – and this on one hand means that the often closed box of theology in church (with its answers) is too simplified. for example – the discussions usually come after the ‘set talks’ in alpha/other equivalents – they dont tend to originate from the discussion. The answers are already set. High flying, thinking young people do not have their questions validated, because having questions isnt a valid response in church. School is giving young people faculties to critically reflect, in literature, philosophy, history, film studies – yet these go misunderstood and unused in church- and often in church based work dedicated to them.

As a contrast, the young people who struggle to engage academically with school, and who possibly struggle to maintain attendance at school, also struggle with collective church/ youth ministry not because of its lack of academia, but the cliquiness of the groups, their own behaviour ( which is usually intolerated) . The church in effect rejects them behaviourally. This isnt the point of this article though. Ive written about this before.

So, if schools are producing thinking young people – cant churches, with their theologically trained vicars/ministers/youthworkers give young people opportunities to perform exegesis, and to read the bible from a range of perspectives, and to think about the complexities of philosophy & hermeneutics. If youth ministry is so ill defined anyway, cant i suggest that we scrap the movie clips and silly games, and give young people tools for critical reflection of their faith, the text, a platform for discovering the positions of interpreting the bible- that could be from outside of one particular denomination.  Maybe this happens already in a few places, but i dont see a ‘teaching young people from a variety of hermeneutic positions ‘ready to use’ resource in Youthwork magazine’  very often, or a how to help young people critically & theologically reflect on the role of women in the church (as an example).

I know itd be a really boring youth group without the games and movies. But maybe some things have got to grow up a bit. And we need to learn from what school is giving the church in terms of young peoples critical tools, and also acknowledge that faith and discovery takes a responsibility of learning, exploring and asking. To find a God who is complex, who is less understood, and that makes God more relevant to a young person than the often created simple one found in the proof texted epilogue or metaphorical game.

So, when might we tell young people that its ok not to believe every word of every sentence in every book of the Bible, and for them to still believe in the God of the Bible, regardless of this. The risk is that some young people might become more learned, more knowledgeable, more open to debate that some adults in churches, and that cant be a bad thing.

Lets give young people heroes of the faith that arent the latest music artist who is selling them a culture, or a main speaker at a weekend away – lets make CS Lewis, AW Tozer, Bonhoffer, Volf, Moltman and Vanhoozer heroes of faith to young people and see what happens, after all we want young people to believe – how do they believe? and how is belief cultivated in youth ministry?