For many people Youth Work is seen as something dossy, some people see it as invaluable. Many Christian’s see youth work containing games as pointless, especially if all there is is pool table and some table tennis, however in this blog I will attempt to enlighten those poor mislead people…
The Open Youth Group
This is quite possibly the most commonly mis-understood Youth Group, yes it is typically a pool table, table tennis table and tuck shop and perhaps a ‘God Slot’ (*cringes*) at the end consisting of a ten minute message, yes many Christians, on the outside might see it as pointless, however it’s actually very valuable for several reasons…
Outreach - 99% of young people would not listen to someone preaching at them if they wern’t a Christian, they’ll see the person preaching as seeing themselves as more important, boring and irrelevant…here comes the open youth group, although no real preaching is done the youth leader can get to know the young people, and the young people will begin to see the youth leader as not a boring weirdo christian but someone who actually cares about them (most youth workers genuinely do care about the young people), this in time will provide opportunities for the youth leader to talk to them informally about God, Jesus and Faith and perhaps invite them to an evangelical youth service
Informal Education - Leading on from what I was saying one of the key values for Youth Work is widely noted as ‘Informal Education’, a game of pool is ideal for this as it presents an opportunity to chat with young people about various things which can vary from girls (or guys), to faith to school or issues at home, the pool table is an essential youth work tool.
The Silly Games…explained
The other criticism many people make is about silly games and that they are ‘pointless’. However although they often don’t have meaning…though sometimes offer powerful illustrations, they do work very well at bringing a group together, it doesn’t matter how long a group has been formed an ice breaker or game has value, it will make everyone feel part of the group, if the ice breaker involves questions such as ‘if you were a vegetable what would you be and why?’ it gives each person an equal chance to speak, will make people feel confortable, and if there is a new person will give them the same feeling of being part of the group. This is an ideal lead in to a group because it means that when serious discussion comes up, be it about God or sex everyone will feel like they have an equal say, otherwise those who were more dominating at the beginning may make the rest feel like they have no say, this game breaks down those barriers, if a person has already spoke they are far more likely to speak later on in the group.
Of course this also raises the point that it is important to have discussion with groups rather than spoon feed, a sermon has a time and a place and sometimes they are appropriate but discussion about the points in it are essential!
Disclaimer: For anyone who reads this and now thinks that Youth Work is only done because of the phsycological effects things have, yes they are a factor but as a youth worker you do genuinly care about your youth groups!
I hope this blog clears up minconceptions about youth work!
