What are the characteristics of a Youth Worker?

According to the reading, there are 7 characteristics of youth work.

Youth work is an educational practice.
- Youth workers try to build relationships with the youth that they work with. Using informal education rather than formal education. Informal education starts with the level that the children are at instead of forcing them to be at a level they haven't reached yet.

Youth work is a social practice.
- Youth workers have to adapt to the practices of the youth they work with. Many youth workers see their job as case-working as we read in the text. Some of the case-working approaches include, providing personal information, giving advice, and giving guidance to the youth. One main thing that I picked up from this section is that youth workers tend to work in groups with youth and try let the peers associate with one another and the worker to reach a common ground.

Youth workers are advocates.
- Youth workers are constantly trying to challenge the idea of social inequality. They are always trying to give the youth who don't have a voice the courage and guidance to find themselves and find their voice. Youth workers need to understand the challenges and pressures that social inequality put on the youth, and be able to work with that. There are youth that seem to be cast aside and forgotten about, and it is the job of youth workers to challenge that.

Youth choose to be involved in youth work.
- Although it is not always the case for schooling, youth more than likely choose to be involved in youth organizations with youth workers. Young people who are given a choice to become involved in organized groups seem to enjoy them more because they are there of their own free will. The biggest piece that I took away from this section is that voluntary attendance is great, it is the quality of the work and involvement that is being worked on during the time spent as a group.

Youth work seeks to strengthen the voice and influence of young people.
-This part seems pretty much self-explanatory. The whole basis of youth work is strengthening the voice of young people. This seems to be the base of youth work as a whole, and youth workers try to work from this base. When young people feel stronger they feel like they can make a difference. Giving young people a voice and helping them find the confidence to use it is really the whole idea of why people become youth workers.

Youth work is a welfare practice.
- One of the main ideas of youth work is that it promotes the "welfare and safety of young people". Youth workers try not to promote a predetermined agenda for kids that they work with. Promoting the education AND the welfare and safety of the youth is one of the most important pieces of youth development.

Youth workers work with young people holistically. 
- Youth workers with with kids because they are just that. I feel like youth workers want to intervene at a time where there is a real chance to make a change and really help with the success of the people that they are working with. They work with the youth and the problems that they have because they feel as though they are equipped to deal with those problems. They understand that the youth are going through tough times more often than not, and so they want to help them and show them how to help themselves.