The things that scare us shouldn't stop us
Thursday, October 28, 2010
When I tell people that I'm a detached youth worker and explain what that means, people often ask "aren't you scared?"
I rarely am, though I see why they're asking. In our society just the presence of young people outdoors is seen as threatening. Added to which, I don't look tough or streetwise.
It usually isn't helpful to show fear to the young people you're working with, although they are often able to sense how workers feel about them. More honesty among ourselves would be a good idea though: much as youth workers love getting together to discuss their work, fear is something we rarely touch upon. Nerves and fear are associated with inexperience, ineptitude, and "not being up to the job".
I am more likely to be fearful at this time of year, which I associate with young people throwing or shooting fireworks at each other, mostly "for jokes". I have nearly been hit several times by small flaming explosives, thrown both by young people I don't know, and others who know and like me but think it's just a laugh. As November approaches, I start to jump at sudden noises and feel wary of the dark, of groups of young people hanging around, of someone running past. My usual libertarian politics are forgotten as I rant that fireworks should be banned.
Fireworks are genuinely dangerous so my views are not entirely irrational, but my fear makes such incidents seem more common than they really are and I'll admit my responses can be disproportionate.
A couple of years ago we were starting a new project on an estate, and I realised with horror that we had planned the opening night for 5 November.
Flyers had gone out and the young people were impatient to get going, but I said we should delay the session for safety reasons. My colleagues kindly suggested I should have the night off if I was scared, but they wouldn't cancel the session.
I realised I was prepared to disadvantage young people because of my fears, and it took my less experienced, and supposedly less confident, colleagues to tell me so. I was behaving like those who refuse to organise trips because they think something might go wrong, or those who suggest detached workers wear bullet-proof vests.
Many of us have things that scare us, but we have to take care not to let them get in the way of our work. Sometimes simple measures can be effective. For me, the beginning of November is a great time to have a week off.
From the Frontline is written by a London-based detached youth worker
