When Fred Goodwin steered clear of risk
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Opinion
- Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | CYP Now
As young people walk into my cottage in north Wales, they see a poster of the ocean with a solitary boat tossing on the waves. On it there are the following words: "A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships were built for." My view of youth work is that it is quintessentially about "pushing the boat out", stretching young people's imagination, competence and experience beyond their comfort zones but not so far as to engender panic (and thereby cause them to retreat back to the safety of where they came from). For me, that is the fundamental skill of the youth worker in dealing with both the mental and physical activities of young people. When executed effectively, young people come to understand and consider risk and make informed choices accordingly.