The National Youth Agency: Comment - Scylla and Charybdis

The youth worker has to exercise the same care and skill as the sailor.

She needs to keep her eyes firmly on the outcomes she desires for and with young people. This focus lights the path along which she will steer the work through the dilemmas that can knock the unwary off course.

There is the continuing pressure to deliver the service; to be in contact with a quarter of the youth population; to ensure provision is accessible to, and accessed by, young people all year round. Communities, elected members and young people themselves reinforce this pressure. Too much attention to numbers, however, will cause the work to founder. Ofsted judges youth work by the quality and range of young people's experiences. So, equal focus must be given to curriculum and to innovation if young people are to gain full benefit.