Youth In Revolt: The Power Of The Internet
With cuts skimming all over the place up and down the UK it is good to recognise the youth groups and work that is still taking place in many communities. A Birmingham youth group in the Hodge hill area of the city have been raising awareness of kidney failure amongst adolescents and have received enormous support from the Kidney Research UK Charity who have published a detailed report on what the group has been up to on their website.
We live in austere times, so it is gratifying to see youth groups like Compact taking part in projects that will have long term benefits to local and wider communities. The government could take lessons from this – though they may say it is a great example of ‘The Big Society’ in action. That’s another debate entirely. In any case the key challenge that all youth groups are facing are the cuts that are affecting every aspect of society. There are ways to overcome these challenges and one of the best resources youth groups have at their fingertips is the internet.
With the ability to reach their peers and groups beyond, youth clubs, societies and groups are quickly learning how to use the internet to their advantage. YouTube videos, file sharing, blogs and photos are all being used to establish, maintain and push the youth agenda in the UK. This is a generation that is refusing to accept that things are ‘just the way they are’ and go quietly into the night. They realise that having places where young people can gather together are an effective way of keeping young people off the streets and prevent them from turning to crime to alleviate boredom or desperation. Whilst councils are poring over their books for 2011-2012, the youth movement are quietly getting on with making them self heard amongst the budget slash. One intrepid youngster in Birmingham recently used YouTube to rally support for his protest against the council’s cuts of 70% to youth services in the city.
The internet is a great tool, but with the cuts that all youth services are facing it becomes imperative for them to have access to it at the most price effective cost possible. Mobile internet is important as well and is being cited as an essential amongst many groups when questioned over which service they are using. One provider above others is fast growing a reputation for providing exactly the service that young people need; abroadband. It offers roaming internet for very reasonable prices all around the world. Travelling youth groups won’t be hit hard by expensive charges. It doesn’t try to be clever or misleading in its advertising and does what it says on the tin.
In times where youth services are fighting to survive, the internet will most likely become the key weapon for them. Having access to it is an essential they cannot afford to lose.
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