Recent unrest spilling into horrifying riots shows just how fractious our communities are today. Youth work has a role to play in restoring cohesion, starting with our young people.
My 6-year-old daughter loves to perform, and we are grateful to be in a position that means she can attend weekly classes. She has attended summer classes, Beaver Scout camps and other activities where I am not there to look after her. I put my trust in the amazing staff and volunteers who run these activities, and she loves them.
Now, dread at what might happen fills me when I have to leave her, especially with school starting back soon.
What happened in Southport to the young girls and the adults with them is horrific and unforgivable. I cannot even imagine what their families are going through. My thoughts are with them all the time and the footage I have seen of the community coming together reassures me that there is a community there to support them.
At the same time, I despair at the riots and attacks that have been taking place across the country, using what happened to those girls to justify hate and violence. This has been driven by a lot of online misinformation which taps into the real fears and frustrations many communities are currently facing. We have seen a lot of vulnerable young people are being drawn in by the negative narratives and then getting caught up in the destruction we have seen.
Violence does not legitimise further violence. The deliberate spread of misinformation about the attacker in Southport – before any facts had been officially released – was immediately weaponised by keyboard warriors filled with hate, precipitating a string of heartbreaking attacks on communities that had absolutely nothing to do with the perpetrator of these awful events.
At a moment in time when we should be mourning the loss of children and coming together to support their families, our focus is pulled away by the spreading of hatred, racism and Islamophobia. This violence does not show support for the families who have lost loved ones, it is nothing but hatred and is disappointing to see.
This is where we can step in as youth workers, we need to encourage and facilitate discussions with young people around the things worrying them in their communities. Are they worried about riots at home? How do they feel about what is happening? What prejudices are they potentially battling with internally – are they being unduly influenced by the increasing spread of misinformation and division that is so commonplace in today’s political discourse? Do they feel it is validated or are there alternatives?
Having a safe space that allows young people to voice their opinions and a chance for youth workers to address those views is crucial right now. It is ok to have an opinion that could be divisive or offensive. However, making assumptions about a whole community or group based on the actions of an individual is irresponsible. Forcing our ill-informed opinions onto others is unacceptable. We can discuss, debate, agree to disagree but we cannot use violence to be heard.
There are different ways to have these often-difficult conversations, as I’ve discussed in a previous blog about youth work’s role in creating spaces for difficult conversations.
Making informed decisions can help young people become peacebuilders and start to understand how to undertake conflict resolution. Through facilitated discussion young people can be supported in making these decisions. There is still the potential for events in Scotland to become violent and those taking part need to understand the potential consequences of doing so.
It’s possibly a time right now to remember the communities who came together and supported each other during the pandemic. The faith communities feeding their neighbours, lots of different places of worship opening their kitchens to provide meals for anyone who needed it and putting on online quizzes and digital coffee mornings. A time when we somehow managed to make new connections with the people who lived next door through a mutual experience.
Youth workers from all communities delivered activity packs to young people, provided digital access to education, provided online groups for young people and families to engage with each other and create some sort of normalcy. Where is that community feeling now? Have all those people forgotten how to be part of a community in favour of looting local shops?
If we can support young people to channel the positive community action we saw during the pandemic, we can start to make a difference now. It’s not about taking sides and fighting each other but rather about coming together to support each other to build the kind of inclusivity we want to see.
There are a lot of resources available to support youth workers to have these conversations. UK Youth has a web page specifically sharing information, spaces to connect and resources to help with the ongoing situation. In particular, the ‘Addressing unrest, disinformation and violence’ resource developed in partnership with NYA and Network of Regional Youth Work Units.
At YouthLink Scotland we have the Digital Learning Zone which holds a lot of digital tools including how to create safe online spaces, cyber resilience and other tools for navigating their online lives.
The United Voices network is also available for any youth workers who are supporting young people facing racism in Scotland. The group meet to support each other and to have a united voice on the issues that impact them.
It is possible for young people, equality and inclusivity to be at the heart of building communities instead of tearing them down. They need to have the opportunity to talk, be heard and to have a chance to learn the skills they need to become the peacebuilders and community activists we need.
What youth workers can do now is step in to support young people feeling conflicted and who are angry about the situation in the world. A youth work approach puts young people at the centre of these discussions, making them feel valued and heard. Help young people feel connected to their community, to be part of building it and make informed decisions about the actions they take. Hopefully they will choose not to burn their community to the ground, but to lay the foundations for a bigger, better and more inclusive community.
Other areas for support: