The National Youth Agency: Comment - Thinking about youth work

Respect between the young person and the worker, voluntary engagement in a trusted relationship, intentionality and, above all, a focus on all young people's personal and social development because they are young, not because they are a problem. Need I say more? These principles exist because they work, not because youth workers are nice people - though I'm sure they are.

Youth work did not, however, emerge fully formed in any community, tradition or culture. It evolved over time as a response to the needs and experiences of young people. The practice was shaped in partnership with young people. It was refined and improved over time by reflective practitioners. In the case of the Christian churches, for example, the early work grew out of Sunday Schools and, at a later stage, blended the dimensions of faith and spiritual need with more material concerns.