Youth workers must go digital

As a detached youth worker walking the streets of south Birmingham nearly 20 years ago, I based all my engagement with young people on the premise that I needed to go to where young people chose to meet.

Now, as a youth work academic and researcher, I am increasingly convinced that detached youth work may need reconceptualising in light of social changes linked to the advent of online communication.

In its report Digital Youth Work, Finland's state-funded digital youth work agency Verke claims that digital youth work is an "absolute requirement to keep up with the times".

Meanwhile, there has been much debate on whether social media is fuelling the recent spate of violence in London. This shows the blurring of boundaries between the virtual and online world, and raises questions about how youth workers might respond meaningfully to youth violence in this context.