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An Interview With Laura Statesir – LGBT Youth Worker

April 24, 2013 By Stephen Pepper 5 Comments

Laura Statesir LGBT Youth WorkerAs part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Laura Statesir who works primarily with parents of LGBT youth at The Marin Foundation.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

I am the Director of Family and Youth for The Marin Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to build bridges between the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the Church community.

We are based out of Chicago, Illinois but we engage with religious entities, LGBT groups, churches, NGO’s, higher educational institutions and government agencies throughout the United States, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

2. What do you do in an average week?

My time is split between conducting research, advising parents and youth, and attending/hosting events.

I am the Primary Investigator for a research study called the Parent Resource Initiative. The goal of the study is to examine Christian parents’ reactions to their child’s coming out and develop new resources to help them through that process. We are still in the research phase, so I am interviewing Christian parents and LGBT individuals and transcribing interviews.

I also speak with and give advice to Christian parents and LGBT youth. I help them navigate their questions about faith and sexuality and walk alongside them in their journey.

Finally, I participate in and help host some of The Marin Foundation events such as Living in the Tension Gatherings, the I’m Sorry Campaign, speaking engagements, and consulting with groups. For example, last week we met with a group of LGBT students from a conservative Christian college and offered guidance in negotiating the politics of their school with their desire to help educate students on their campus.

I also volunteer at an overnight homeless shelter for LGBT youth called the CRIB, through The Night Ministry.

3. How long have you been doing this type of role?

I started in this particular role about a year ago, but I have been working with youth since I was a teenager.

4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

My background is in wilderness therapy and youth ministry. Prior to my current job I spent three and a half years in wilderness therapy and adventure education and five years in international youth ministry.

5. How old are the youth of the parents you work with?

The youth are anywhere from 11 years old to 25 years old (or whatever you decide is the cutoff age for “youth”).

6. What’s unique about your particular type of youth work?

There are few organizations that stand in the middle of the culture war between the LGBT community and Christians. Instead of trying to convince people to change their minds or win a “convert for our side”, we focus on reconciliation between these two opposed communities.

When we work with youth, we do not try to fix them and we do not tell them to forget about their faith. We walk alongside of them in solidarity and help them discover a path that fits their relationship with God.

7. What are some of the good things about working with parents of LGBT youth?

Watching reconciliation in action. Seeing hearts changed and relationships restored. Walking alongside parents as they learn to love and support their children even if they don’t understand or agree with their sexuality/gender identity. Being a light in a dark place for parents who are confused, lost, angry and hurting.

8. What are some of the challenges of it?

Whenever you seek true reconciliation and inclusion, you are always going to ruffle some feathers. Because we work with both LGBT groups and Christian groups, we receive a lot of criticism.

It breaks my heart to listen to the stories of parents and/or youth who are in pain. Sometimes I feel helpless and inept. I empathize with the people I talk to and it is difficult to not carry those emotions home with me at the end of the day.

It can also be difficult to explain what I do for a living and to find enough funding for our work.

9. Why are you passionate about working with parents of LGBT youth?

I am gay and very blessed to have wonderful loving parents, but this is not the experience of all LGBT youth. Many LGBT youth, especially those with Christian parents, are not accepted by their families. They may be rejected, kicked out of their house, and/or financially cut off. The number of homeless LGBT youth and suicides of LGBT youth in the United States is disturbing. This needs to change and one of the best ways to do so is to work directly with parents.

Also, my heart aches for Christian parents who are trying to reconcile their faith and their child’s sexuality/gender identity. These parents often face shame, stigma, and judgment from their faith communities. They feel very alone and have few resources. They often feel like they will be forced to choose between their kids and their faith. This is wrong and needs to change as well.

10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to get into this type of work?

I would recommend immersing yourself in both communities: the LGBT community, specifically with LGBT youth and gay Christians as well as the conservative Christian community, specifically with parents. Volunteer at a homeless shelter for LGBT youth. Attend existing support groups (GSA, PFLAG, support groups for Christian parents, etc.).

Read about and get to know other support groups and their philosophies. Read as many resources as you can about the intersection of faith and sexuality, youth ministry, and counseling parents. Meet with professionals who are already engaged in this work.

11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

No specific training or qualifications are required. However, I would recommend interning or training with an organization that is currently doing this type of work.

I would also recommend attending a higher educational institution or seminary with a focus in counseling, psychology, and/or youth ministry.

12. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

The polarized culture war between the LGBT community and conservatives is not going away anytime soon. Understanding how to build bridges between these two groups is the key to peaceful reconciliation and understanding in the future.

About Laura:

Laura Statesir is the Director of Family and Youth at The Marin Foundation. She graduated from Texas A&M University in 2002. Prior to joining The Marin Foundation, Laura has worked in various types of youth organizations including Diakon Youth Services, Young Life, and Costa Rica Outward Bound. She lived in Latin America for over seven years. You can connect with her via email: Laura@themarinfoundation.org

Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about working with LGBT youth or their parents. If you also work with LGBT youth or their parents, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments too.

If you work in a different youth work field (or country), we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

An Interview With Shae Pepper – Girl Scout Troop Leader

March 27, 2013 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

Shae Pepper Girl Scout Troop Leader
How many Girl Scout cookies can you fit in a Smart car…

As part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Shae Pepper who, in addition to being a Prevention Training Specialist, is also a Girl Scout Troop Leader.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

I’m a volunteer Girl Scout Troop Leader.

2. What do you do in an average week?

My troops aren’t like your ‘typical’ or ‘traditional’ Girl Scout Troops. I lead three different troops in the public housing (low-income government subsidized) areas in my city.

While a traditional troop has 4-10 girls, I have 12-25 depending on the troop location and week. My girls range in age from 5-15, so I have all the levels of Girl Scouts in each troop – Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors (we don’t have any Ambassadors right now who are Juniors/Seniors in High School).

We meet 3-4 times per month all year round. While many troops take a break during the summer to go on vacation or camp, we continue our program as the majority of my Girl Scouts won’t be doing anything special during their summer holidays.

Some things that we do are your usual Girl Scout activities – we say The Promise and The Law at the start and we have a Friendship Circle at the end. We just finished selling Girl Scout Cookies and we work towards badges.

Badges that my girls have worked towards and earned include:

  • Painting and Drawing – for making cards, signs and a paper sisterhood quilt
  • Athletic – for learning the basics of soccer
  • Girl Scout Way – for learning all the basics of being a Girl Scout, particularly how to be a sister to every Girl Scout
  • Naturalist (not to be confused with naturist!) – the girls learned about bugs, trees and flowers
  • Friendship Bracelets – we made these in various patterns and swapped with one another
  • Money Manager – after learning about budgeting during cookie sales
  • Special Extra Badges – for learning about local emergency services, doing community service, having excellent attendance and other fun and educational activities

We plan trips, but due to the troop sizes and economic status of most of the families, we don’t do as many as a traditional troop might. Last year we went to a local amusement park and a local water park. This year we’re hoping to do some camping and maybe return to the water park as that was the highlight of last year.

3. How long have you been leading Girl Scout troops?

I’ve been a troop leader for just over a year.

4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

Prevention programs, school-inclusion programs, youth participation programs, social-inclusion/social-enterprise programs, faith-based youth ministry, youth re-entry program design and project-based education programs.

5. What age range do you work with?

I work with girls and young women who are between the ages of 5-17.

6. What’s unique about being a Girl Scout troop leader??

I’m able to provide the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for approximately 60 girls who otherwise wouldn’t have access to Girl Scouts based on the area that they live in and the cost associated with traditional troops.

7. What are some of the good things about Girl Scout troop leadership?

Girl Scouts is a recognized program, so everyone knows when we’re doing activities in the community centers or out in the neighborhood what kinds of activities and *hopefully* behavior they can expect. It’s providing learning experiences that these girls might not have had the opportunity to experience otherwise, like camping or small business management through cookie sales.

It’s also exposing them to new people and places. Some of the girls had never left our city before going to the water park in the next town. They’re constantly learning and practicing ‘how to be a sister to every Girl Scout’, no matter who she is or how different she may be from themselves.

My favorite thing is obviously spending time with the girls. I enjoy doing activities with them – we recently recorded Girl Scout Harlem Shake videos at each troop. I love seeing them and watching them learn and explore new things. I LOVE seeing how proud they are of their badges and sashes. And I enjoy all the artwork I get to hang up in my office.

8. What are some of the challenges of it?

There are a lot of girls. I mean. a. lot. of. girls. for the types of activities we do and want to do in the future. But given a choice between restricting troop numbers to a more traditional size or getting creative with my activities and funds, I’ll choose creativity every time. I want every girl that wants to be in our troops to join in.

Behavior can be a challenge. Besides working with so many girls, not all of them have a stable home life with parents who are providing the necessary boundaries, but I’ve seen tremendous change in those behaviors over the last year. Girls who have been consistently coming know the expectations at troop and help encourage others to follow the standards set out in the Girl Scout Law.

I have a really hard time getting volunteers. I have a committed and passionate few, two of whom are Girl Scout moms which is awesome (the third of which is my own mom – who completely rocks the Girl Scout Troop Leader role by the way!), but that’s it. I had more but they’ve gone by the wayside or come sporadically. One of the biggest barriers is the locations the troops take place in – they’re in communities where many volunteers are not comfortable travelling to.

There can be a lot of paperwork to keep track of, particularly at cookie time. I also want to make sure my girls can earn as many badges as possible, so they’re receiving rewards that motivate them to work hard and learn new things. I therefore keep an extensive spreadsheet of their attendance and which badges they’ve earned which amounts to a lot of data entry each week. I’ve recently hired my oldest Girl Scout to be my assistant in this area – it provides skills for her to learn and takes some of the pressure off of me each week.

9. Why are you passionate about this type of youth work?

Everyone says to me, ‘you must love Girl Scouts’ and I say ‘No. I love my Girl Scouts but I don’t love scouting.’

Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great program for the right moms and girls. But there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with being a troop leader and since my troops are larger and less traditional, we sometimes have a hard time fitting in the model provided by the Girl Scouts which can be frustrating.

I love seeing the girls learn new things and I love their funny stories and silly comments…. like this one:

(At our last cookie sale this Saturday it looked like we were going to have A LOT of cookies left)

Ms. Shae: Looks like I might have a lot of Tagalongs to eat Mr. Stephen
Brownie: No – if we have leftovers we can just take them into the woods and let the bears eat them
Ms. Shae: I’m not giving perfectly good cookies to bears
Junior: Besides, it says you you have to recycleable the boxes – it’s not good for nature

Definitely the girls and their development into young ladies is what I’m most passionate about.

10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to become a Girl Scout troop leader?

Volunteer with a troop first and definitely try to be around for cookie time which can be hectic before you strike out on your own as a troop leader. The Girl Scouts also have great employment opportunities throughout the year and at their summer camp activities, which might be a great way to work full time for a historic girl-focused organization.

Note:  Girl Scouts is an international organization so even if you’re not based in the US and reading this post, there is a chance that Girl Scouts is still in your country.

11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

You just need to do the required Girl Scout training and pass a background check.

12. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

It’s a lot of fun working with the girls. Seeing them earn badges is really rewarding and seriously – who would want to miss this?

About Shae:

Shae Pepper has been a Professional Youth Worker for seven years and a Volunteer Youth Worker for eight years. She has a Master’s in Youth Work and Community Development from DeMontfort University in Leicester, England. Shae has provided training for youth workers in England, the USA and Rwanda and has worked with young people aged 8-21 in England, Rwanda, the USA and Thailand.

Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about Girl Scouts. If you’re also a Girl Scout Troop Leader, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments too.

If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

An Interview With Terry Linhart – A Youth Ministry Professor

March 6, 2013 By Stephen Pepper 1 Comment

Terry LinhartAs part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Terry Linhart – a youth ministry professor.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

After 15 years in full-time youth ministry, I am now a professor of youth ministry and I teach students, ages 18 to 28, who want to be professional youth workers in a variety of contexts.

2. What do you do in an average week?

As a professor I usually teach four classes a week for a total of 12 hours of intense teaching. I also spend about six hours in preparation for those courses and then another handful of hours grading papers and tests. I try to spend six hours each week meeting with students in an advising, counseling, and mentoring relationship.

Since I’m also the chair of our department, I supervise 11 faculty members and oversee eight different degree programs, so there is quite a bit of administrative responsibility to my job as well. And I am always creating some sort of proposal for a new program, grant, or online class. Which creates more stress… but I can’t seem to help myself.

3. How long have you been a youth ministry professor?

I’ve been teaching full-time at the college level for 12 years now. I was an adjunct professor for two years before that while I also served as a youth pastor in a church.

4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

Immediately after college I worked for Youth for Christ running two Campus Life programs in a small town setting. I later moved to an urban setting where I led a Campus Life program in a multicultural context. During the last three years with YFC, I was asked to be one of the national instructors for YFC/USA and it was there that I (and my supervisors) realized I was wired to be a teacher.

So, when I left YFC I took a position as a local youth pastor at a church where I could begin work on my graduate degrees. I served that church for seven years and ran three different youth groups there (pre-teens, middle school, and high school) with about 27 volunteers involved. We also developed a robust schedule of service and mission projects.

5. What age range do you work with?

Most of my students are undergraduates, so they are 17 to 24 years old. However, I do teach graduate courses so those students range in ages from 24 to 54. And I’m sure those 54 years olds feel youthful.

6. What’s unique about being a youth ministry professor?

That’s a good question. I think it’s added pressure to teach youth work as a subject to those who want to do youth work. The pressure is on the teacher to model what it is you desire in the life of your students. So, you can’t say, “Do what I say, but don’t watch what I do.” You have to model it because these future youth workers are watching, and even judging, whether you know what you’re talking about by whether you do what it is you’re talking about.

I think we also have added pressure, as professors, to champion a level of excellence in youth work, a field that is often looked at as not requiring excellence. The need for wise and well-trained youth workers in the world has never been higher… and it will only be more so as the economic pressures collapse on the 25 year olds and younger who comprise half of the world’s population.

7. What are some of the good things about your type of youth work?

Well, first of all it’s less stressful than real in the trenches youth work. It’s true and I’ll be honest here. I think youth work (or youth ministry) is one of the hardest jobs in the around. There is so much pressure on a youth worker, particularly one in a church setting, from the pastor, the board, the parents, the school, and his or her own family that it’s difficult to please everyone. Add to that the 24/7 lifestyle of a largely second shift job that’s supervised by a first shift culture and it can feel like a no-win situation.

Oh wait, I’m off-topic. I love seeing students graduate and excel in youth ministry leadership. That’s the best thing about my type of youth work.

8. What are some of the challenges of it?

After 12 years, the challenge is (like any job) to stay fresh and enthused. The academic life can stretch one a bit thin at times and I sometimes miss the ‘hand’s-on’ ministry of being back in local youth work. That’s when I have to remind myself that I’m where God called me.

When I get a bit restless, I just look to the lives and ministries of those who have graduated from Bethel College around the world in youth work. We are fortunate that our program is gaining a strong reputation here in the Midwest and so we’re attracting some really gifted students to it now. That makes it easier to work through any small challenges.

9. Why are you passionate about being a professor of youth ministry?

Youth work needs excellence. The potential impact for a youth worker in the world, wherever he or she is, is significant. That’s what we at Bethel College are trying to do – help students who want to excel in youth ministry and youth work.

10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to get into this type of youth work?

It’s important for people to understand that teaching youth work in colleges and seminaries is primarily about teaching and not youth work. It’s a crossover from youth work into academia. You’re a professor like all of the other profs, but your subject is the professional preparation and education of youth workers. I think this shocks many at first who come from ministry fields and want to teach in a college or seminary.

Having an earned doctorate matters in the academic world. It’s more than letters behind your name and more than just getting in the “club”; the doctoral studies process (especially a Ph.D.) is a refining process that truly shapes a future teacher and researcher. The disappointing aspect is that there aren’t many teaching positions in youth work-related areas, so they get very competitive. So, if this is your strong desire, gain as much practical experience (paid youth work in one position) as possible and get your doctorate.

Not all doctorates and schools are the same. The best advice I received was to get a Ph.D. (versus a D.Min. or Ed.D.) from a major school (Purdue!) that had a wide reputation and in which those who would hire you would have confidence in the quality of your degree.

11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

See the above.

12. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

My opinion is that a youth ministry degree is one of the best undergraduate degrees you can get for basic leadership, basic ministry, basic theology, and a wide range of people skills. If you can be successful in the local youth context as a leader, speaker, counselor, and teacher then the opportunities that you will have in life will be many.

I am always surprised that Christian parents who have a son or daughter who want to major in youth work or youth ministry at college have tried to discourage him or her from doing so. In spite of the naysayers, the opportunities are many in youth work and related fields, but admittedly for those who possess a level of professional excellence and who possess a level maturity.

About Terry:

Terry Linhart, Ph.D. is Professor of Youth Ministry & Adolescent Studies at Bethel College (Indiana) where he also serves as Chair of the Religion and Philosophy Department. Terry is director of the Academic Support Network for Youth Specialties. Terry has authored or co-authored six books and writes articles on topics related to youth work at terrylinhart.com. He’s been married to Kelly for over 25 years and they have three children who are young adults now.

Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about being a youth ministry professor. If you’re a professor of youth ministry or youth work, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments as well.

If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

An Interview With Brent Lacy – A Rural Youth Pastor

February 27, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Brent Lacy Rural Youth MinistryAs part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Brent Lacy – a rural youth pastor.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

I am a Rural Youth Pastor in West Central Indiana.

2. What do you do in an average week?

My week is split between lunches at our three county schools, networking with other area youth workers, ministry administration tasks (planning activity logistics, etc.), studying and lesson preparation.

3. How long have you been doing rural youth ministry?

I have been working with rural teenagers for over 13 years, the last 6 full-time.

4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

While working in a bi-vocational youth ministry position, I also worked full time as a child abuse investigator in Missouri.

5. What age range do you work with?

I work with 7th-12th grade students from 4 different school districts in 2 counties.

6. What’s unique about your particular type of youth work?

Rural youth ministry is pretty common, as much of the US is very rural and sparse. However, it is rare to have a full time rural youth worker in a small (under 200) church.

7. What are some of the good things about being a rural youth pastor?

In rural youth ministry, you typically see smaller groups allowing you to focus more attention on helping individual students on their path to spiritual maturity.

8. What are some of the challenges of it?

In smaller congregations with smaller numbers of students, you also have the challenge of a smaller pool of volunteers to help you in your ministry. In many rural areas, resources can be scarce or non-existent, plus the population density is low so students are very spread out, meaning that you do a lot of driving.

9. Why are you passionate about this type of youth work?

I grew up in a very rural part of Southern Illinois. I serve in an area very similar to where I grew up, with a lot of the same challenges I see everyday here.

10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to get into rural youth ministry?

Patience. I say that for two reasons:

  1. It can be a long time before you move from volunteer/bi-vocational to full time (maybe never) and
  2. Never expect to build deep relationships in a new rural community quickly. It takes time.

11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

Prayer, love for teenagers, and a desire to always be learning – whether through formal education or other conference/training opportunities.

12. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

One of the challenges of rural ministry is networking with other youth workers, because you may be many many miles apart, working vastly different schedules. It is difficult but very needed. Make use of all the resources that you have to network with other youth workers, because those students’ and parents’ eternities are too important for you to go at it alone.

About Brent:

Brent Lacy is a Rural Youth Pastor in Rockville, Indiana, where he lives with his wife and three kids. He is the author of Rural Youth Ministry: Thrive Where You’re Planted from Group/Simply Youth Ministry.

You can connect with him on his blog at MinistryPlace.Net or follow him on Twitter: @brentlacydotcom.

Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about rural youth ministry. If you’re a youth pastor in a rural area, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments as well.

If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

An Interview With Josh Shipp – A Youth Speaker

February 13, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Josh Shipp Youth SpeakerFor this week’s installment in our series on different types of youth work, we’re pleased to have an interview with Josh Shipp – a youth speaker, author and star of the recent TV show Teen Trouble.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

My work focuses on several things. Ultimately, my thing is that I help adults understand teens and teens understand themselves. I do a lot of different things – I create online media and videos, I currently have a TV series airing on Lifetime that documents my work with at-risk teenagers.

I also travel around the country and around the world speaking to middle and high school students, as well as college students. I write books and there is also a large component of my work that includes working with influencers, meaning anyone who influences young people in any capacity. This focus is on working with parents, educators and mentors.

A pretty good chunk of my work also focuses on training and mentoring speakers, meaning other people like me who are out there influencing young people in a positive direction. I’m actually a Dad now, my wife and I have kids, and I think as I became a father I really began to think about now only how can I use my time more efficiently, but also in that time that I use, how can it be the most effective.

I think it sort of came down to this – if I personally reach one teenager, well, I’ve reached one teenager. Of course, that really, really matters, but if I can reach one educator or one speaker or one mentor, well, that person has the opportunity over the course of their life to influence hundreds, thousands, millions – who knows – just a lot of kids. More and more of my work is focused on doing that as well but also influencing young people.

2. What do you do in an average week?

There is no average week, but I would say perhaps a typical week for me includes being in front of a camera. Maybe that’s doing a TV interview – in the last month that’s been Anderson Cooper, Good Morning America, those sorts of things. It might be writing a script of something that we’re going to film, working on a book, meeting with my team – I have several different people that I work with to make sure that each of our projects are moving forward. Things such as Youth Speaker University, speaking schedules, the book schedule, those sorts of things.

So to be honest with you, there is no typical week which is actually part of what I really enjoy about this!

3. How long have you been doing this type of youth work?

I started when I was 17. I actually grew up as a foster kid from Oklahoma who was pretty rebellious, defiant – those sorts of things. Part of that, I became a class clown as a way to deal with my own internal issues. 90% of teachers were annoyed by it, but one teacher basically said to me “If you shut up during class, I’ll let you talk the last 5 minutes”. So I said “Sure, that’s awesome – I’ll shut up!” He let me talk, so I really got into using my personality, using my story, using the things that I had learned – both good and bad – to influence my peers and ultimately influence teenagers – who are no longer my peers, as I’m not a teenager myself!

I just want to encourage everyone that age is just a number. It doesn’t matter how old you are; you don’t have to be a certain age to make a difference. “Oh, I’m too young – I don’t know enough” – No! Shut up and get started! You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to have everything figured out. You just need to get started. The truth is that the only way you’re going to do something amazing eventually is by getting started and doing a crappy version of what you eventually want to do in an amazing fashion.

Some people think “Well, I’m too old to be working with students. I’m not a kid myself and I don’t understand half of the things these kids are doing on their phones anymore. LOL, OMG – I don’t even understand it.” The truth is, as adults we have to understand that young people are not influenced by us because we are them, right? We’re obviously not – that’s what their friends are for. But young people are influenced by people who are authentic. By this I mean someone who’s an adult, who cares enough to be authentic, to be genuine, to encourage them, to call them on their crap, to call them to being better and to bring out the best version of them.

A lot of speakers that I work with think that you’ve got to be young, you’ve got to have cool spiky hair like me to be influential, but the truth is you don’t. You have to be authentic, you have to be yourself, as ultimately that’s what translates, that’s what resonates.

4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

Like I said, I was 17 when I got started doing this, so this has really been a large part of my career. Obviously it’s evolved – at first I was mainly just travelling around speaking, then I started writing books, then I started working privately with a handful of teenagers each year, then I started coaching other speakers through Youth Speaker University.

So things have evolved, but it’s always been in the realm of helping adults understand teens and teens understand themselves.

5. What’s unique about your particular type of youth work?

What I would say is that it’s untraditional in the sense that it’s not like I’m a social worker or a therapist who has a local office where you can book an appointment and see them. I really am privileged to be in a position of being an ambassador for youth work and so I want to make it relevant, I want to be helpful, I truly want to be of service to individuals that are out there serving and impacting young people and those who influence the young people in that community. I consider it a great honor to do such.

6. What are some of the good things about your type of youth work?

The cool thing is that I get to travel all over the world, meet all sorts of young people, all sorts of parents, educators, mentors and speakers. It’s fascinating to me in a sense that speaking to an audience of students from New York City and speaking to students in Iowa City is really not as different as you would think.

Obviously the venue looks different, the kids look a bit different and they’re into different sorts of things and their neighborhoods look different, but truly when we get down to the heart and those sorts of things, these kids are pretty down, stressed out and burned out about the same things, they’re excited about similar things and so that’s really been fascinating to me about the work that I do.

I also get the opportunity to influence a wide range of students. I’ve had kids come to me and hand me suicide notes after I’ve spoken at their school and said “Thanks, I don’t need this anymore.” That’s part of it, on the one-on-one level and another part of it is like I said, influencing those who influence young people. To work with a speaker, to work with someone who’s a mentor and for them to get it and understand practically how to connect with a young person, how to influence the young person for good and then see them go out, do their own work, have results – that’s super, super encouraging.

7. What are some of the challenges of it?

Like anything, you have your great days, you have your bad days, you have days where your efforts go really well, you have days where your efforts don’t go so well. A big thing that I learned, probably in the last couple of years – I wish and pray I would have learned it a lot sooner – is that if you take credit for the successes, you’ll also take credit for the failures. And truthfully, neither are your fault.

If you’re working with a young person and you’re trying to do everything you can in your power to point them in the right direction, if they do such and they listen to your advice and they apply it and they put in the hard work, their success is down to them, not you. They deserve the applause, not you.

Also, if you do everything in your power to point them in the right direction and they don’t listen and they don’t apply it, that’s their failure, not yours.

So I think you need to be careful about that, otherwise you’ll be up and down, crazy and all over the place – “Today’s awesome, today’s horrible, today’s awesome, today’s horrible”! I think to have a more leveled existence in what you’re doing, you have to understand that ultimately your job is to do everything within your power and then put the ball in their court.

Ultimately, that is empowerment – if we always have to be there, if we always have to be the one with the answers, the solutions, then we probably haven’t done our job. We need to really pass that to them.

8. Why are you passionate about speaking to youth?

For me, this is the sort of youth work that made a difference in my life. I grew up in the foster care system, in and out of several different homes, I was abused mentally, physically and sexually. 90% of the foster homes I lived in were fantastic, 90% of the foster parents were awesome, 10% weren’t – that 10% did really, really mess me up.

It was mentors, youth workers, Big Brothers Big Sisters, all of those sorts of things that dramatically made a difference in my life. Yes, I ended up with a great set of foster parents but the truth is that as a teenager, even if your Mom and Dad are great, you don’t really listen to them as much because they’re Mom and Dad. So having caring adults that weren’t Mom and Dad who were investing in my life made an unbelievable difference.

I’ve said it a bazillion times but I still believe it to be so true – every kid, regardless of what they’re going through, their current challenges, their current circumstances, they’re genuinely one caring adult away from being a success story. I think that’s the opportunity, that’s why I do what I do and that’s why you do what you do and that’s why we do what we do.

Sometimes it’s frustrating and sometimes you just want to slap the kids you work with because you’re just like “Good Lord, can’t you get this through your head! You’re capable of so much more than what you’re doing right now!” But ultimately, it’s about those “Aha!” moments where they take ownership, where something clicks in them, where they realize this needs to change, here’s what I’m going to do to change it, I’m going to invite adults in my life to hold me accountable to it and I’m going to start the process of building a better life for myself. That’s just killer.

9. What would you recommend for someone wanting to become a youth speaker?

For someone who wants to perhaps go around speaking at schools, to parents or educators, those sorts of things, I would encourage you to check out Youth Speaker University. We have a training course but we also have some pretty cool free training materials that you can try out to understand how that industry works, how you can go around sharing your expertise, your experience and your life story to impact young people or those who impact young people.

Ultimately, my recommendation would be to just get started. You don’t have to be perfect to make a difference, you just have to be willing. There’s probably something that you’ve been thinking about doing for a long time, some sort of movement, something that could help a young person, so just get started with it. The only way that you can find out if your good idea is actually a good idea is to put it into action, to give it a try.

10. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

It depends on exactly what you’re going to do. Anyone can speak, anyone can write a book, anyone can mentor a young person. Should you get training, should you educate yourself, should you always be looking for ways in which you can hone your craft, get better at what you do, be more effective in what you do – of course and absolutely!

But truthfully, is there a qualification to want to make a difference in someone’s life? Absolutely not! The only qualification is that you’re willing. So don’t let that hold you back.

11. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

A big thank you for the incredible, awesome, rad, super, legit investment that youth workers and organizations are making in young people’s lives.

For over a decade Josh Shipp has earned an international reputation as a teen behavior expert who can get through to any teen and and give practical strategies to parents. He’s lectured at universities such as Harvard and Stanford on the art and science of getting through to teens.

Mr. Shipp is the author of “The Teen’s Guide to World Domination” and star of Lifetime’s Teen Trouble from the executive producers of Oprah and Intervention, which documents his intervention work with teens in crisis.

He’s worked with groups of parents, educators, and mental health professionals, plus he’s influenced more than two million teenagers through his work.

He’s a frequent expert on adolescent behavior for MTV, CNN, FOX, The New York Times, MSNBC, and countless other media outlets.

You can find out more about him at Hey Josh and Youth Speaker University.

Here’s an additional interview with Josh from when he was on the Jeff Probst show:

If you’re a youth worker and would like to take part in this series, please contact us.

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