A year ago, we stopped talking about trainings, courses, seminars, camps and workshops for young people because they simply do not exist in the form we are used to. It is almost impossible to organize them the way it was the practice until a year ago. We stopped talking about the departure of young people, we talked less and less about making decisions for a better position of young people, and we did not talk about topics that were already outside the discourse of the youth sector in this year. At the same time, we suddenly became aware of the mental health of young people, adapting life to new technologies in everyday life, we reduced or even abolished budgets for youth projects and suddenly everyone started talking about how we deal with digital work with young people. Did we need a pandemic to recognize all this? Did digital youth work come with the COVID-19?
Author: Katarina Vučković
One of the basic principles on which youth work is based is an understanding of the context in which young people live. Understanding and feeling for young people and the ways in which they think, learn and act are also the principles on which youth work is based. Or at least it should be.
Young people today have a much smaller focus than young people five or ten years ago, they have different habits, hobbies, they learn in a different way. They just live differently. If they want to succeed and create better opportunities for young people, youth workers must put themselves in this context and truly recognize their competencies in relation to young people.
If as a youth worker you are not skilled in the online world, now is the right time to become one. Not because the pandemic will last for a long time, but because young people have long been in a virtual space where they create, think, have and create problems, but also act. A better understanding of the digital world and how young people experience it opens up a lot of space for work with young people.
So, what is digital youth work?
In a world with 4.66 billion internet users today and where the total number of internet users worldwide has increased by 319 million in the last 12 months, and 53% of people on Earth use social networks (Global Digital Overview, January 2021) a huge work space with young people is open, and they are often the fastest new users of virtual opportunities. If this scares you on any level, imagine what it will be like in ten years and where young people will be then.
We often say that working with young people is a tool for personal growth and development, social integration and inclusion in active citizenship. The range of opportunities that working with young people provides is as diverse as the needs of young people, but also the approaches that youth workers have in working with young people.
Digital youth work has the same goals and purpose as general, not to say analog, youth work. The only difference is that virtual space, digital media and technology should be tools that help achieve those goals. Some of the digital media that young people use every day have millions of users. They were created recently, and one part of them was created by young people. To better understand it, let’s just look at these three and their number of users today:
- Facebook, created in 2004, has 2.8 billion active users per month
- Instagram created in 2009 has 1 billion active users per month
- TikTok created in 2017 has 689 million active users per month (https://www.statista.com/)
This kind of work with young people is equally, if not more, exposed to the processes that happen to young people and in society as a whole. The reason for this is the availability of information and communication with peers, but also in general the ability to communicate with anyone anytime about anything. Every youth worker who creates activities for young people should be aware of this. As usual, digital work with young people requires youth workers to create and implement programs that:
- allow young people to do things individually or in groups,
- provide young people with an opportunity for emancipation and independence,
- ensure that young people spend meaningful leisure time in a safe and stimulating environment,
- empower young people to create changes that are necessary to their immediate environment and community,
- involve young people in decision-making processes,
- offer young people the development of the necessary skills and knowledge through non-formal education.
If in the last year or more, as a youth worker, you have created content for young people through digital work with young people without respecting the above, you have not in fact carried out youth work activities. You’ve probably created another in a series of digital meetings or, as Ilija’s grandmother would say, Just another zoom.
It is extremely important that youth workers develop their approach to groups through their work, understand group dynamics, but be ready to respond to the needs of an individual from that group in an online environment. It is important that every new activity in the online world teaches young people how to be involved, active in the applications they need personally, but also in the society in which they operate and the community in which they live. As usual, youth workers must initiate, invite and involve young people in processes that have a long-term impact. This does not mean that we need to react immediately to every microphone unmuting at a zoom meeting, but it does mean that we need to design activities that send a message to young people that they are seen, recognized and appreciated, and at the same time called to responsibility and action. Practically speaking, it is important that when we turn off this digital space, it stays in touch with young people and work with them in person, it is important that we share information, motivate and support them in ideas and issues that they create themselves.
So digital youth work is not a method in itself, it can simply be included in almost all forms of youth work. This kind of work with young people is guided by the same ethics, values and principles of youth work even when we do not use digital tools, social networks and new technologies.
Creating and implementing activities in digital work with young people requires all the skills that youth workers already have, such as clearly defining the outcome of activities, knowing the context in which we work, understanding the needs of the group of young people we work with, understanding group work, working with individuals, group dynamics, facilitation skills, good communication skills and understanding of diversity and equality, the importance of involving young people in social processes, and basic knowledge of youth policies.
What makes a difference in digital youth work is the agile approach of the youth worker. Working with young people in general, and digital work with young people in particular, requires readiness for new things, creative response to learning approaches, creating an experience through which young people learn, creating alternative values for young people and the community. Organizations implementing non-formal education and youth work activities need to develop their agile approach to youth, youth work and community building.
Of course, this is not easy and requires the youth worker professional training that requires time, dedicated work and constant involvement of young people.
Although digital work with young people originated much earlier than the COVID-19, as a youth worker I am very grateful for the call and experience we have gained in the youth sector with the sudden great and global need to show young people that we are there even when it seems very difficult, almost impossible. As a youth worker, it is extremely important to me that through digital work with young people we take care of the safety of youth workers. I do not mean the virus protection masks and procedures required by the GDPR, but the true creation of a secure (digital) environment in which young people want to participate and contribute, where their rights are respected and they are required to respect others and youth workers will keep their space, integrity and opportunities for personal and professional development.
Can we do that? Do we know how to do that? Do we want to have a world in the online world where we create values for young people?
