Old farts can make good youth workers

In the past week, I have read or heard half a dozen claims by young youth workers that it is the fact that they are in their early twenties that enables them to be effective as youth work practitioners. They talk of their affinity with the young people (usually disadvantaged young people) with whom they work on the grounds of their shared understanding of, and commitment to, music, fashion and other aspects of "taste". By implication, the rest of us are old farts who are out of touch with today's young people and therefore less able to provide requisite support, activity and learning.

Maybe I am moaning because I am long past that youthful threshold. But when I was in my mid-twenties, I recall being phenomenally impressed by a part-time youth work colleague who was in her fifties. There was nothing trendy or modernist in her relationships with the young people in the youth club. If anything, she was a kind of "like Mum" figure, albeit with arguably greater curiosity about the young people's lives, complete availability and willingness to have a chat, and a tolerant and open mind. She convinced me - if I needed convincing at the time - that youth workers came in all shapes, sizes and ages: what mattered was how you approached the work that you were required to do.

It is, nevertheless, interesting how the age of a youth worker does exercise the mind. Some older youth workers readily admit to suffering from burnout, no longer as able or willing to hack it as they did when they were younger. After all, committed youth work does require a capacity for endurance that many do not recognise: working with young people can stretch energy and patience to the absolute limit. Nevertheless, there are many youth workers who stay the course and continue their face-to-face practice, as paid workers or volunteers, well into the retirement years. It actually keeps them young, some say.

And, strangely, those young youth workers who can appear to be somewhat dismissive of the capabilities of their older colleagues may look back on their youthful efforts in a different light, sometimes noting that they were too close in age to the young people they worked with - and, as a result, struggled to command authority and credibility, as well as having insufficient reserves of experience to deal with the really tough challenges.

One highly regarded youth worker I know celebrated his 30th birthday. On the front of his birthday card was a photo of him in his early twenties with a bubble comment: "I think all youth workers over 30 should be shot." Inside there was a very recent photo and another bubble: "I've changed my mind." Most of the time, the age of youth workers is a complete irrelevance to their capacity and competence to practice.

- Howard Williamson is professor of European youth policy at the University of Glamorgan.