Blog Post #1

There are several different characteristics of Youth Work. One characteristic of Youth Work is that it is an educational practice. This means that although youth workers may not exactly be considered teachers, that doesn't mean that Youth Work can't be educational. In many instances, youth workers can teach more to the youth than educators in schools can. For example, youth workers don't have some of the restrictions in educating that teachers in schools do. For example, youth workers are able to go off of the abilities and skill level of the students, whereas a formal educator has to follow certain steps and systems.

Another characteristic of Youth Work is that it is a social practice. this means that instead of working in individual circumstances, youth workers instead try to work in groups. Doing this helps the youth engage in other youth to develop their social skills and values. One characteristic of Youth Work is that the youth workers challenge inequality and work towards social justice. This means that the youth worker looks to address the social injustices of society with the youth and that they understand how they themselves can follow ant-discriminatory practices.

A characteristic of Youth Work is that where possible, young people choose to be involved. This means that exactly what it sounds like. Instead of being forced to participate or be involved with the youth work, they instead choose to be involved in the program. However, there are times where it is tough to determine whether or not those choices are voluntary or not. For example, those choices may simply be because their friends decided to attend. However, while having voluntary involvement is very important, the quality of the engagement is what's most important. Another characteristic of Youth Work is that the workers seek to strengthen the voice and influence of young people. This means that the worker create an environment in which the young people are not only involved in the group, but have a voice in the group in which they can make decisions.

One characteristic of Youth Work is that it is a welfare practice. This means that although this is not necessarily what their job is, youth workers tend to work with young people who are considered to be the area of high deprivation and can use both the goals of a youth worker and welfare interventions.

Finally, the last characteristic of Youth Work is that it works with young people "holistically". This means that sometimes, youth workers may work to address problems the youth may face in their live, but are not defining factors of youth work. While this may be an important part of youth work, this should not be the primary job of it. Our primary job is working with youth and working with youth has multiple parts to it.