Youth Work In A Digital Society

The integration of digital technologies into practice presents opportunities and challenges for the field of youth work. Digitalization procedures transform interactions with users, in addition to their needs. These also transform the organizations where youth workers are involved in professional practice. Adapting digital technological tools is a crucial challenge for the youth work profession. Youth Work in a Digital Society is an essential scholarly publication that explores how to overcome any challenges and issues facing youth development work in the digital age and to what extent modern digital technologies can contribute to empowering youth work practice. Featuring a wide range of topics such as digital inclusion, mobile technologies, and social media, this book is ideal for executives, managers, researchers, professionals, academicians, policymakers, practitioners, and students.

This book adopts a critical youth studies approach and theorizes the digital as a key feature of the everyday to analyse how ideas about youth and cyber-safety, digital inclusion and citizenship are mobilized. Despite a growing interest in the benefits and opportunities for young people online, both ‘young people’ and ‘the digital’ continue to be constructed primarily as sites of social and cultural anxiety requiring containment and control. Juxtaposing public policy, popular educational and parental framings of young people’s digital practices with the insights from fieldwork conducted with young Australians aged 12–25, the book highlights the generative possibilities of attending to intergenerational tensions. In doing so, the authors show how a shift beyond the paradigm of control opens up towards a deeper understanding of the capacities that are generated in and through digital life for young and old alike. Young People in Digital Society will be of interest to scholars and students in youth studies, cultural studies, sociology, education, and media and communications.

In an age when for the first time the next generation are facing worse prospects than those of their parents, Youth Prospects is an original contribution to understanding young people's needs based on comparison between England and Germany. Based on a comparison of contemporary labor markets in England and Germany, this book explores the impact of factors such as mass migration, rising nationalism, right-wing movements, and ever-accelerating technological change for young people and provides a pragmatic blueprint for the transition systems, skills, and resources that young people require for a prosperous future.

Some of the most energetic, effective, and passionate activists involved in grassroots politics are young people--but their voices are rarely heard in policy, research, or public debate. This book remedies that, giving young activists their due and showing the effects of passionate social service practitioners who build relationships with marginalized young people in the face of spending cuts and shifting governmental priorities. Written by an experienced youth worker, Grassroots Youth Work uses interviews, dialogue, and excerpts from research diaries to bring youth work to life in both theory and practice.

This edited text brings together academics who are at the cutting edge of youth work education. The book draws on global perspectives to explore current practice conditions and generate rich debate regarding the power and potential of future practice.

Working with Young People is designed to help you develop the knowledge and skills you need for supporting young people as they learn about themselves, others and society and prepare for the transition to adulthood. It introduces the fundamental concepts and issues that lie at the heart of contemporary work with young people and challenges you to think deeply about: - the social context of young people - values and principles that underpin practice - the variety of settings in which practice takes place, and - the importance of informal learning in the lives of young people. Whether you are a new student or returning to study, Working with Young Poeple provides a stimulating introduction and a foundation for further study. Sheila Curran is Senior Lecturer at The Open University. Roger Harrison is Senior Lecturer at The Open University. Donald Mackinnon is Lecturer at The Open University.

Young people spend a significant amount of time with technology, particularly digital and social media. How do they experience and cope with the many influences of digital media in their lives? What are the main challenges and opportunities they navigate in living online? Youth in the Digital Age provides answers from a decidedly interdisciplinary perspective, beginning in a framework steeped in context; biography; and societal influences on young people, who now make up 25% of the earth’s population. Placing these perspectives alongside those of current scholars and commentators to help analyse what young people are up against in navigating the digital age, the volume also draws on data from a five-year research project (Digital Media and Young Lives). Topics explored include well-being, privacy, control, surveillance, digital capital, and social relationships. Based on unique and emergent research from Canada, Scotland, and Australia, Youth in the Digital Age will appeal to post-secondary educators and scholars interested in fields such as youth studies, education, media studies, mental health, and technology.

Youth around the world are fittingly described as digital natives because of their comfort and skill with technological hardware and content. Recent studies indicate that an overwhelming majority of children and teenagers use the Internet, cell phones, and other mobile devices. Equipped with familiarity and unprecedented access, it is no wonder that adolescents consume, create, and share copious amounts of content. But is there a cost? Digital Youth: The Role of Media in Development recognizes the important role of digital tools in the lives of teenagers and presents both the risks and benefits of these new interactive technologies. From social networking to instant messaging to text messaging, the authors create an informative and relevant guidebook that goes beyond description to include developmental theory and implications. Also woven throughout the book is an international sensitivity and understanding that clarifies how, despite the widespread popularity of digital communication, technology use varies between groups globally. Other specific topics addressed include: Sexuality on the Internet. Online identity and self-presentation. Morality, ethics, and civic engagement. Technology and health. Violence, cyberbullying, and victimization. Excessive Internet use and addictive behavior. This comprehensive volume is a must-have reference for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students across such disciplines as developmental/clinical child/school psychology, social psychology, media psychology, medical and allied health professions, education, and social work.