YouthNet blog
An insight into youth issues, volunteering trends, charity life and more from the UK charity YouthNet
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Wednesday Nov 29, 2006
So, what do you think of our blog?
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YouthNetters have been at this blog for a good ten months now - writing about issues interesting and relevant to us. We've blogged about stories, news and tidbits that we found compelling, curious or repulsive.
Less than a year in, it's still quite new to us. We now want to know: how is it for you? Please fill in our survey and let us know what you think. And, to thank you for your contributions, there's a £25 Amazon certificate to be won!
Here's the survey.
Posted by Kirsten Olson
( 2:19 PM )
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Tuesday Nov 28, 2006
Stop press: hubs latest
While people like Ed Miliband and David Cameron talk about their vision for the future of the voluntary sector (it will solve all our problems, basically) big decisions are being made about how the sector’s infrastructure is actually run.
There seems to have been no media coverage whatsoever given to the decision by the board of Capacitybuilders last week on the future of the national hubs. If you haven’t been following this story (what, you’ve got a life?), the basics are that:
- The hubs are voluntary sector partnerships set up to deliver the Government’s ChangeUp programme;
- They only agreed their business plans with the Government last year;
- They were reviewed by Jo Durning this year;
- Durning concluded that most of the hubs functions should be taken over by Capacitybuilders.
As I’ve said on this blog before, I have no experience of working with any of the hubs and no idea if they are doing a good job (although Durning has lots of praise for them, along with some criticism). But they were a major development in the sector and represented a very new way of working. A year simply does not seem long enough to see if they work or not.
Capacitybuilders (which, itself, is very new) has now come out in support of Durning’s report. It’s slightly difficult to unravel the language of their statement, (.pdf file), but they will be taking over responsibility for most of the important functions the hubs were originally given.
Capacitybuilders will take a greater strategic leadership role in pursuing all elements of the ChangeUp programme and an increased role as a direct commissioner of national services.
Inevitably there will be more consultation, not just on the immediate programme of work but also on a strategic plan until 2014.
It will be very difficult for any of the organisations involved to be critical of the decision – after all, Capacitybuilders has now made itself an extremely powerful player. But, as someone on the outside, I’d like an explanation as to what, supposedly, went wrong. If the creation of the hubs was such a bad idea, who came up with it? Have they been held accountable? And what can the experience teach us about the way government, beyond the rhetoric, actually works with the sector.
Posted by Tom Green ( 9:59 AM ) Link to this post Comments[2]
Friday Nov 24, 2006
New content and bad beards
Our latest batch of TheSite.org goodness - check out the 'tasches
From the boards
Find out why half the guys at YouthNet look so scruffy by checking out our Movember update –
http://vbulletin.thesite.org/showthread.php?t=107482
New on TheSite.org
Work Xmas party survival
askTheSite Q&As
Eating aid
Unfit for purpose
No-sex STIs
On the ball
Legal to move out?
Top five stupidest ways to deal with errant youth
In the name of blog research, we come across some particularly crazy media stories about how local governments, police forces and others in authority try to deal with wayward young people. Some have been mentioned here before but it's time to announce the Official 2006 Five Stupidest Ways to Deal with Errant Youth. And the winners are:5. Post pictures of local teenagers with ASBOS on the internet
A website in south west London seems to think that the best way to combat local crime and anti-social behaviour is to create an online hall of shame. It provides names, photos and ASBO conditions for dozens of local people, including a 15 year old. Not sure how this is going to reduce crime, but if ASBOS are really a badge of honour for some young people, featuring on this site must make you feel like you've struck gold.
4. Play a high-frequency noise to disperse young people from city centres
The 'mosquito' is a high-frequency noise that can reportedly only be heard by young people (dubious claim in itself). Cunning shopkeepers and local council braniacs all over the country forked out cash to install these devices in the hope that the youth would cover their ears and run for the hills. As it turned out, the mosquito sound quickly became a ringtone which enabled young people to use their mobiles in class. Result!
3. Display banners of 'trouble maker' young people on buses or in town centres
A bit like no.5 but more old-school. In this version, the pictures of young offenders are blown up and pasted over city centre walls or on city buses. What a great way to get famous. Who needs MySpace when the local council or cops will get you out there for free!
2. Nab young people for swearing
No, not swearing at strangers, but swearing in private conversations with their friends. And once we've rid them of foul language we can give them lessons in walking with a straight back and table manners.
1. Install special lighting to 'shame' antisocial young people by showing up their acne
If you thought the mosquito was bonkers, then you aint seen nothing yet: the powers that be in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire have come up with another semi-scientific solution to shame young people into... going somewhere else. This time it's pink fluorescent lighting that does the damage. And what is the damage? It shows up your acne. Yup, pimples. The Scunthorpe authorities reckon the young riff-raff will be so ashamed of their spots that they'll run home to do their homework, never to harass an elderly person again. Well done Scunthorpe, this is the best idea of the year.
Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 11:42 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Thursday Nov 23, 2006
The new digital divide
It's not often that a web page makes me laugh out loud. But this one did. Do you think they really meant it to look like that?
It's much rarer to come across truly un-usable sites these days, but a new report from usability guru Jacob Nielsen argues that major problems remain, creating a significant digital divide.
Traditionally the digital divide has been seen as economic – those who can't afford online access are unable to share the benefits enjoyed by those that can. But Nielsen argues that, in the developed world at least, this will soon not be a problem.
Dell's cheapest computer costs $379 (with a monitor) and is about 500 times as powerful as the Macintosh Plus I used to write my Ph.D. thesis. While it's true that a few people can't even afford $379, in another five years, computers will be one-fourth their current price. Would that all social problems would go away if we simply waited five years.
Usability is a more intractable problem, Nielsen says - especially for those who are old or have poor literacy skills – but this, too, is improving.
The biggest challenge, Nielsen insists, is what he calls the empowerment divide: "...even if computers and the Internet were extraordinarily easy to use, not everybody would make full use of the opportunities that such technology affords." And, he continues, it's a difficult problem to address.
The Internet can be an empowering tool that lets people find good deals, manage vendors, and control their finances and investments. But it can just as easily be an alienating environment where people are cheated. Members of the Internet elite don't realize the extent to which less-skilled users are left out of many of the advancements they cheer and enjoy.
Ultimately, I'm extremely optimistic about the economic divide, which is vanishing rapidly in industrialized countries. The usability divide will take longer to close, but at least we know how to handle it - it's simply a matter of deciding to do so. I'm very pessimistic about the empowerment divide, however, which I expect will only grow more severe in the future.
Posted by Tom Green ( 12:08 PM ) Link to this post Comments[2]
Friday Nov 17, 2006
New this week on do-it.org.uk and TheSite.org
New on TheSite.orgContent with audio:
The 'ex' factor
Idolising idiots
Hurrah! The tuk-tuk girls have finally made it home:
Exit Russia
Only potatoes
Leopard print love
European girls
Home straight
From TheSite.org's discussion boards
"TheSite.org has taken over Google..." (on how people are finding TheSite.org)
nicx1811: "I always search here before google anyway now because whatever I want to know, someones bound to have had a debate over before!"
Ashlee: "and people are replying about real life here not some professor from america talking about bananas lol"
New on do-it.org.uk
Christmas volunteering
askTheSite Q&As
Mum's lump op
Rental agreement disaster
Booze or baby?
Blacklisted home
Pregnant loving
Thursday Nov 16, 2006
Oh my God! They killed Pudsey!
Intelligent Giving, the new independent guide to charities, has put the boot into the BBC's Children In Need. There are four things wrong with Pudsey (the appeal's mascot), researcher Adam Rothwell says:
1) Since Children in Need is a grant-giving charity donors' money will incur admin costs from both it and the organisations it funds;
2) Donors have no control over where the money goes;
3) The organisation's Summary Information Return this year "contained information that was in some parts incomplete, in others plain false";
4) They don't provide enough information about how they judge the success of projects or future plans.
I'm not qualified to know whether this argument is conclusive, but hats off to Intelligent Giving for a PR triumph. Attacking the BBC's treasured annual tin-rattling jamboree has garnered extensive coverage in The Times, The Observer and probably lots of other places too.
And they've been quick to rebut the subsequent accusations that have flown about their own work.
I like the new Intelligent Giving website. Their discussion boards are a bit dormant at the moment and some of the 'humour' is weak, to say the least ("Shop with Alain de B'Argain") but basically they're providing a service that the public needs. (See my interview with David Pitchford for some background).
Charities should be held to account. Chief Executives and Chairs should worry about whether they are doing their jobs properly. There should be debate in the press – especially at a time when politicians are planning large scale transfers from the public to the voluntary sector.
And the BBC should reply directly to the criticisms Intelligent Giving has made.
Posted by Tom Green ( 4:06 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]TheSite.org goes mobile
We've got some big news: mobile users can now access one of the key services from TheSite.org on their phones. We've made our Local Advice Finder database of over 13000 organisations available on mobiles so young people can find help wherever they are.
This is the first phase of our mobile development plans. As Tom pointed out on this blog some months ago, the mobile platform is an exciting distribution channel for publishers (including charities) and one that we think is going to be key in the years to come.
But why mobile?
1. There are lots of them.
There are three times as many mobile phones as PCs worldwide and virtually all phones on the market today are web-enabled. As devices, mobiles are going to become increasing rich with features and offer the same download speeds we expect with broadband.
2. Young people use them. Loads.
In the UK, 96% of 16-24 year olds have mobiles. Young people rely heavily on mobile devices (generally phones but increasingly hand-held video gaming devices too) to retrieve and share information. This generation has grown up with mobiles and don't have the same voice-only associations that older people have with phones.
3. It's a good route to the hard-to-reach.
Only 34% of people over 15 in DE groups use the internet, while 76% use a mobile phone. It's clear that organisations like YouthNet have a much higher chance of reaching the hard to reach, i.e. those who are considered to be socially excluded or disadvantaged, if we use mobile technology to reach them.
4. Mobile devices offer something that other access points don't.
Mobiles are popular because they are personal, personalised and portable.
- Personal: Very few people share mobiles (unlike PCs) and often store data on them that they wouldn't want others to see.
- Personalised: Ringtones, screensavers and other personal settings help mobile users create individualised devices that say lots about their personalities.
- Portable: No one leaves home without making sure their mobile is in their pocket or bag. People use their mobile while on the move and they are increasingly used for functions beyond their original purpose.
And why not mobile?
It's hard. Mobile publishing isn't like normal web publishing - as well as the opportunities listed above, there are major limitations in terms of screen size, (current) data download speeds and navigation options. But this doesn't mean it's not worth doing. Quite the opposite. For organisations that can crack this, there is amazing opportunity available.We are committed to delivering many new features and lots of content both for TheSite.org and do-it.org.uk over mobile platforms. We'll keep you informed here, but in the meantime, try out our first service and let us know what you think.
To view Local Advice Finder on your web-enabled mobile, visit www.thesite.org on your phone web browser.Thanks to Claire Easterman, our mobile project manager for the info for this post. Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 1:18 PM ) Link to this post Comments[4]
Monday Nov 13, 2006
David Cameron is a girl
It has been said for some time that politics is a race to the centre, with both main parties desperate to cuddle up to middle-of-the-road, middle England; the political equivalent of Milton Keynes. But now it seems that the Tories and Labour have decided to go one further, replacing each other's original territory - at least in terms of rhetoric, if not policy.
Just recently we've had David Cameron, the leader of the Tories talking about a softer, more balanced approach to youth crime, focusing on rehabilitation and trying to understand why these kids are in trouble in the first place. You what? The Tories saying this?
Now enter John Reid, always the hard man of Labour's front bench and potential (gasp) candidate for leader of the party, who has basically said that Cameron is soft. And weak. And a girl.
"David Cameron's 'All You Need is Love' approach is not only wrong. It can be downright dangerous."
Then he really got stuck in and had a dig at Cameron's... postcode.
"With respect to David's Notting Hill set, I think I know who is in more tune with the vast majority of the British people."
If the vast majority of British people (or even Labour voters) are like John Reid, then the Labour Party may as well re-brand once and for all as the Tories. And for those of us who are keen to know who has the best interests of young people at heart, the goalposts aint where they used to be. Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 4:47 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Thursday Nov 09, 2006
Password to life
Facts of modern life: taxes, death and... passwords. How many are you expected to remember? Bank access, online accounts, email and much more; nowadays the universally accepted format for giving remote access to your personal information is via a pre-registered password.
It's like some new weird law of the internet that as the more areas of our lives go online, the more passwords we have to remember. It's almost like the price we pay for entering the matrix where information becomes personalised. As if to confirm this, the whole password phenomenon has become the subject of an increasing body of research.
Up to now there aren't that many remedies offered to dealing with 'authentication anger': saving passwords on your computer, getting your long forgotten password emailed to you or my personal favourite, just using the same password for everything (although this of course should never be advised). One authenticationally challenged friend who employed this method, topped it off by making that master password their own name- the canny double bluff solution to the modern blight of "forgotten password syndrome".
Behind all this is the double-edged nature of the impersonal side to the internet. In many situations, we take advantage of the impersonal potential of the internet: joining in discussions anonymously, indulging our curiosity for the risqué or even, sadly, ending a relationship. In others, the impersonal side counts against us: proving we are who we are to a computer system, losing money fraudulently or even having our identity phished and 'stolen'.
But does the internet really have to be like this? For many websites, logging in is arguably much more valuable to the entity behind the website than it ever is to the user. Harvesting personal information for marketing and other commercial purposes is a rapidly growing business. For example, no registration is required to submit a question on YouthNet's askTheSite service- even though this could undoubtedly offer us tantalising information about our users. There is a lot to be said for respecting internet users' confidentiality in this way.
With our online identity growing increasingly, how providers of web services protect their users' confidentiality is only going to become more of an issue. Personally, I'd also add/plead for less automated authentication- burying ourselves in passwords is rapidly losing its viability as an option.
If I get asked what my imaginary pet's name is again I'll probably explode :-)
Posted by Patrick Daniels ( 12:10 PM ) Link to this post Comments[1]
Friday Nov 03, 2006
Revolting youth: Part 2
As Tom rightly points out below, the UK's youth are a revolting bunch of thugs, bullies and alcoholics. So all praise to the police of Bridlington who have come up with a novel way of dealing with these troublemakers. I'll let local newspaper Bridlington Today take up the story:
Posters of people with Anti-Social Behaviour Orders will be displayed in the town centre in what is the first scheme of its kind in the country. The posters will feature pictures of the troublemakers, information about their ASBOs and what to do if people see them causing a nuisance. They will be put on one of the town's public information pillars and are intended as a deterrent to yobbish behaviour and to help enforce ASBO bans.
What a great idea. Although deep down, i know we're all pining for the grand old days of public lynchings. But well done Bridlington, this is a great start.
Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 12:54 PM ) Link to this post Comments[1]
Thursday Nov 02, 2006
Revolting youth
Oh dear. The kids really are not all right.
Britain's youth are among the most badly behaved in Europe, a study by a think-tank has suggested.On every indicator of bad behaviour - drugs, drink, violence, promiscuity - the UK was at or near the top.... Measured against German, French and Italian youngsters, British 15-year-olds are drunk more often and involved in more fights, and a higher proportion have had sex.
As BBC News reports, the study, from the Institute for Public Policy Research, looks at research into teenage behaviour across Europe and concludes that at at the root of the UK youth's chart-topping riotousness is the breakdown of family life.
Nick Pearce, from IPPR, said these figures pointed to an "increasing disconnect" between children and adults. He said youngsters were learning how to behave from one another instead of from adults. "Because they don't have that structured interaction with adults, it damages their life chances...They are not learning how to behave - how to get on in life - as they need to." The researchers concluded that the lack of adult interaction has left British teenagers increasingly vulnerable to failure
Quite how you overcome such deep-rooted problems is something that neither commentators nor politicians seem very sure about. What does seem clear is that David Cameron's latest suggestions probably aren't the answer.
Speaking at the launch of the Conservative backed Young Adult Trust, Cameron suggested a new approach to citizenship.
"The idea is that you can achieve "early adult status" if you have shown, through completing a programme like the Young Adult Trust, that you're a responsible adult citizen."
While this might sound appealing in theory, can you imagine what it would mean in practice? As Marcel Berlins says:
His vision is that, armed with a YAT-pass, teenage members of the R [for Responsible] -Team could, for instance, swagger into a pub and demand to get smashed. If refused service, no doubt, they could brandish their responsibly acquired guns. Their irresponsible non-YAT friends would have to wait soberly outside, for a year or two more.
Happily, the last word went to one of the (officially) rudest youth in Europe.
Cameron was interrupted in his speech by a Brixton teenager, who argued: "You do not know your arse from your elbow, you bastard." I'm afraid that may have ruined his chances for a YAT-pass.
Posted by Tom Green ( 10:16 AM ) Link to this post Comments[2]
