What is a Youth Worker? - Princess Velvet

Did you know that there are professional Youth Workers in Malta?

Do you know what Youth Workers do?

Have you ever heard about Youth Work?

If the answer is no, don’t worry, unfortunately you are not the only one. Youth Work is still a baby profession which till now has not been given too much importance for the simple fact that people don’t know about it and because they consider it as an extra expense which is not needed. These people are there to guide the Youth, to encourage, giving options, to present opportunities and most of all to EMPOWER. These young people want to be involved, they want to feel needed, want to feel useful. Society just has to give them the tools and let them work. The youth worker helps provide these tools and the emotional support necessary to achieve the goals wanted. This is also a person who the youth can go to when they need to speak and see these options, when they need to know that somebody has their back. Let’s face it, it is not easy to be a teenager, it never was. 

A lot of youth work is being done around the island through parish centers, clubs etc.  Such centers are run by amazing people who volunteer to be with these youths but we have now the opportunity to have well trained professionals who know exactly what should be done and in which way, to give courses to volunteers and help them out in the wonderful work they do. Youth workers are also there to promote young people and their creations: art, literature, productions, ideas etc. The youth wants to be listened to, the youth wants to be heard, the youth wants to be involved in decision making. 

“Adults think that they know what we need, but they should ask us instead of wasting money”

Instead of asking a million people and spending so much money on surveys done with adults, isn’t it easier and so much cheaper to ask THEM what they need? We should all back this baby profession to become a main one as youth age continues to grow.  In other European Countries the Youth Worker is found in schools, in associations, in clubs, discos, pubs and any other cultural or entertainment environment where people of the average age of 13-30 hang out. We are still very far from this but we are on the right track.