The National Youth Agency: Comment - Why bother with health?

This briefing is not an isolated effort, as The NYA has gone much further in the health field, establishing its own in-house health team for the first time in a decade. The question is - why bother? We bother because we know from the field and from Joint Area Review assessments and research that youth workers are doing - and have always done - radical health work, often with the most difficult young people, and we want to celebrate this and pass it on to those charged with improving young people's health in the new children's trusts. We bother especially because - in the face of an inconsistent and sensationalist media - there are so many young people who deserve a chance to rethink the way they live their lives, the way they are seen, and the way they often see themselves. To learn that choices can be for everyone, given a little time, resource and application. But in order for these alternative approaches to thrive, we must be accepted into the professional fold - and that's still proving hard work. PSHE is a good case in point. It's proving hard to get due recognition from the new PSHE Association for the opportunities on offer, particularly to young people who are disengaged within schools. Evidence is mounting that non-formal education can offer effective means of developing healthier, happier futures, especially to those who suffer disadvantage. With the advent of integrated and targeted youth support, maybe it's time people woke up to the possibilities already present through youth work in many communities around the country.