INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 3
Individual work with young people, accompanying them on their career path
CHAPTER 3
Individual work with young people, accompanying them on their career path Author Gintarė Joteikaitė
Working openly with young people while focusing primarily on those with fewer opportunities, is very important in our society as thus we can enable those who face greater challenges. When working with young people who visit an open youth centre, we inevitably discuss topics that are related in one way or another to career, self-realization, financial well-being. Usually a young person comes to the youth centre to relax, stay in a safe environment, communicate with likeminded people and a youth worker. The youth centre in this case is like a social shelter where the young person can feel accepted the way he/she is, as in the everyday environment he/she may feel rejected for a variety of reasons: lack of social skills, physical and/or psychological violence, financial situation, special needs and/or psychological problems. Thus, in some cases, a youth centre can become an alternative world for a young person, where he/she can rest from the socalled “cruel reality”. The aim of the youth worker is to create conditions for a young person to transfer the state of security and self-realization experienced in the youth centre into his/her daily life. What can prevent young people from successfully realizing themselves in society and pursuing their career path? There are two types of barriers (external and internal circumstances) that arise in everyday life:
EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES Financial situation There are financial difficulties in the family that prevent young people from fulfilling their desires, acquiring the things they want, and this puts them in a depressing psychological state. In this case, the youth worker should find ways to make the young person who experiences financial difficulties to feel that he/she may have same opportunities as the others, for example, to help to choose international exchange, volunteering, internship programs for young people, to implement projects that would provide an opportunity to travel, to get to know things and to experience. Social pressure and the rhythm of life As mentioned in previous chapters, the modern young person is under tremendous social pressure from all the environment that surrounds him/her: a young person is required to demonstrate high efficiency, a to have a good knowledge of technology as well as the ability to perform many different functions simultaneously. This is required by parents, teachers, friends, reality observed in virtual space. All of this causes exhaustion, symptoms of apathy, frustration and helplessness. A youth worker can alleviate the results of all mentioned consequences by creating the relaxing and non-binding atmosphere young people need in order to relax. It is also important to reflect on everything as well as recognition of the achievements and the ability to enjoy the results achieved. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen young people’s time and internal energy management skills.
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