ACTIVITIES AND GROWTH...CHILD AND YOUTH CARE I SOUTH AFRICA

Visits to some facilities found isolated incidents of young people and children hanging around. The problem was the lack of structured activities. In some of those instances, the child and youth care workers seemed also to be hanging around rather like monitors, watching...yes, but engaging and involving young people in activities...NO!

In some of these places there were no school facilities, enclosed high walled enclosures. Routines were the only activities. Problem is that unplanned, frequently... mostly, negative activities occupy boredom and the empty spaces. It's an ideal time for young people to plan vandalism, break-outs, sexual behaviours and planned moments to frustrate the child and youth care worker. Then they watch the reaction  It's grand entertainment. I called it "pulling the puppet strings". It's grand entertainment.

TV and video is often quoted as the solution, but passive time filling is not developmental. then,soccer for the boys, sometimes within the confines of the enclosure is a favourite. 

I saw at times, lack of stimulation with little to no meaningful interaction between child and youth care workers just informal interaction among the young people themselves.

Thing is, developmental activities are essential for developmental goal reaching and an essential part of professional child and youth care practice.

There any number of best practice models which I saw in visits. These programmes have a kind of calendar of activities. There's the annual calendar. For example, celebrating the meaning behind the public holidays like Heritage Day, Youth Day, Human Rights Day the facility or programme's birthday. Each is planned with the young people's participation. Then comes things like farewells, end of term and end of year functions functions.   
These programmes have a monthly activity schedule - individual birthdays , Spring day, weekend programmes outings (if allowed) visits, visitors, social outreach, adventure activities. 

Each young person has an individual daily programme of activities which may include time with the social worker in group or case-work, remedial class, art and craft class. debates...the list is limited by only by the lack of planning and careful thought about the needs and goals of the young people in the programme. .
The lack of developmental activity planning has a negative developmental effect, but then, so does the over scheduling of children and young people. There is a need for balance. I am very aware of programmes that are deliberately planned to be what I called "too tight". The thinking here is, "keep them constantly busy and they don't have time to get into trouble". 

Activities do cost. They cost in time, effort and funds. Often, I found lack of activity blamed on management for these reasons. This is not good enough. In training, in those organisations, I always ask each child and youth care worker what each can do fairly well in their own domestic, personal life. Typical responses are: "I can bake, sing, knit, crochet, fix appliances fix in maintenance, grow vegetables. Again the list is endless. 

So what's the problem? As child and youth care workers we have a range of skills we bring with us as 'self' which can and should be useful n programming activities. 

Many activities, don't have a cost attached...group discussions, debates, and structured skills programmes, It is often forgotten that auxiliary level child and youth care workers are permitted in terms of the regulated scope of practice to provide programme of an "educational nature". The more psycho-social programmes can be undertaken by child and youth care workers at the professional level, Most programmes of a therapeutic nature are provided by a social worker. There are any number of 'off the shelf' programme manuals for life skills, building relationships, building friendships and keeping them and diversion.

Now we have to look at at activity planning itself. Developmental activities are professionally planned to forward the developmental needs, areas and goals of the young people participating in them. The activity is really just the means through which goals are reached  The group involved in the activity is carefully selected as having Individual Development Plan (IDP) goals which can be forwarded through the activity or the group structure. The who and the what and the goals of an activity need, then careful thought. It's not easy. There can be group or individual activities.

Young people hanging around, restless - - "OK, lets go bake some cookies". "lets go play cards"...or whatever.  Unstructured diversion is needed sometimes. But, well scheduled, well planned goal orientated activities are part of what we do as child and youth care workers.

Back to the programmes that don't have schools, skills training workshops Art rooms or anything.It can and must be overcome and compensated for.

There's a saying, "If you don't plan, you plan for failure". Failure in our child and youth care programmes results, over time, in children and young people 'going backwards' degeneration. This, we cannot allow.

As professional child and youth care workers we are required to 'think, plan, do' and to take a critical look at ourselves and our organisational programmes.

Think, plan, do.