Questioning Youth Work Practice

What is the purpose of Youth Work? Is it possible to say there is 'A' purpose? How do you define yourself when you use the title of Youth Worker?

I did a search on twitter recently using the #YouthWork and found that most of those tweeting were coming from Youth Ministries, mainly in the UK. We have many of them here in Ireland also but they seem to be quieter in terms of online presence.

Reading through some of the tweets it brought several questions to my mind, her's some of them

Can a #YouthWorker who hasn't dealt with their own inherited prejudice really promote principles of equality & social justice? #YouthWork
— Alan Hayes (@jeditraining) January 27, 2013

If #YouthWork promotes inclusion, diversity,equality,social justice;should a #YouthWorker actively promote or seperate their faith?
— Alan Hayes (@jeditraining) January 27, 2013

The question about prejudice can from the following newspaper clipping I found on FB. I's love to hear your thoughts

What do you think? Do young people owe the world something? Does it owe them? Whats the role of #youthwork ? twitter.com/jeditraining/s…
— Alan Hayes (@jeditraining) January 27, 2013

New Start

Two life changing events within 2 weeks & both in the one year.

My daughter Ruby Mae was born and I was made redundant from my full-time job at the National Youth Council of Ireland. Nothing personal, just a sign of the times and budgetary constraints.

This new year presents a new world of opportunity for me. I am continuing to teach adults in the area of Youth Work and I also plan to expand my social curiosity and engage with new groups, new work, new methods. A friend of mine, Tim Merry (http://www.myrgan.com) often uses a quote he picked up "No more prizes for predicting the rain, the pain, new starts, it's time to build the arks".
I'm excited about this journey, to see where the arks lead me to. Just like Bilbo Baggins in the movie The Hobbit, I'm going on an adventure.

If you want to be a part of something unknown, have the opportunity to dream of what could be, willing to experiment and be in the place you land, work with integrity and vision, Then I'd love to chat with you.

Bon Voyage!