Youth worker‘s position as a peace-educator

The young people today face a huge number of global uncertainties. As adults we are in a position to offer safety and support to help them navigate in times of crisis. The work can start from creating safety wherever you work: building capacity for inner safety, creating safe spaces for encounters and growth, and supporting agency in the turmoil of the several crises of the world. Youth work settings can work as an example of a community, where peace is taken seriously, that young people can learn to reproduce in their own communities. 

Many youth workers are carrying out peace education every day as a part of their usual working methods, without ever calling it peace education. Peace education is often entwined with other activities. For example, youth workers can plan together how to actively involve minority groups like young people who have recently moved to the region to the youth centre’s activities. Or youth workers might support young people discussing an issue concerning appropriate and respectful language before any serious conflict arises. This kind of work belongs to the field of peace education, but it is not always called peace education and that does not matter very much. Working towards inclusion, wellbeing, safer spaces and a culture of peace is valuable, however we label it.

This course wishes to acknowledge and reinforce good practices that already exist and support creating new ones that build a culture of peace in youth work. Youth workers are not always acting as peace-builders or educating young people to respect peace. Sometimes, adults working with young people are not fostering positive peace but are instead allowing discrimination, bullying or hate speech to take place. This can happen for many reasons. We hope that this course supports all adults working with young people to believe that they can and will educate themselves and others in peacebuilding skills and attitudes. 

At youth work settings, youth workers and youth can create safer spaces, where encounters can take place in a peaceful and constructive way. Those encounters can be a great source of learning. Participating in youth work can help young people understand the possibility of resolving conflicts through non-violent means, if they see that youth workers are doing that and if youth workers teach that skill to the young people. Tools such as negotiation and dialogical communication can be used in youth work to prevent and manage conflict.

Youth workers can support young people in seeing and believing that they have the capacity to contribute to peacebuilding, and that their engagement matters. Youth workers can offer skills, values and knowledge needed to promote peace. Building and maintaining peace is not easy for anyone, but together we can turn our focus to the importance of peace.