Processes and programmes: fun AND useful- Getting the balance right

Presentation by Peter Slattery from the Youth Action and Policy Association (YAPA),  NSW Youth Work Conference 2009

ABSTRACT

‘This is fun and I like you’ is a delightful thing for those of us who work with young people, to hear. But there needs to be a lot more happening for a programme or a process to be of genuine value to a young person.

Hip hop can be fun, and sometimes it’s good for you, though not automatically. Fibre in your diet is good for you, but let’s face it, it’s rarely fun. And especially for young people, unlikely to get them excited. Youthwork, most of the time, and especially youthwork with young people who are having a hard time, needs to combine, as often as possible, both ingredients: ‘fun’ AND ‘good for you.’