« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
PART ONE THE CONTEXT
WHAT WE MEAN BY HARD-TO-REACH
By hard-to-reach, we mean young people who are not engaged with, or are disengaged from the usual range of education or other services for children and young people, activities or constructive leisure pursuits. In the context of reducing offending by young people, we are particularly concerned with young people who are at risk of offending due to their distance or exclusion from those services that help them to reach their potential and reduce the likelihood of them committing offences and causing harm to themselves and others.
The term hard-to-reach has its roots in social marketing and starts from the premise that no one is impossible to reach, it's only a question of what is it we really have to do and how much will it cost?
Hard-to-reach can also mean the 'underserved', in other words there are either no services available for young people, the current services present a significant barrier to them or young people fail to access the services that are available. The questions then become, what services do we have to put in place? How do we eliminate the barriers? And what do we have to do ensure that young people will access what is available?
PARENTS, PEERS, SCHOOL AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY
Children and young people need to be protected from harm and equipped with the skills and knowledge to make healthy and safe choices about leisure activities, relationships, education, and their future as they grow up.
Parents and carers play the most important role in providing all these things for children as well as being the most influential role models. Friends also play an important role. It is during a young person's most difficult life transition periods that their friends and peers become increasingly important. Young people are individuals with different needs, abilities and learning preferences.
A young person's community and school also play a huge role in their development. Positive relationships and access to education have a major part to play in providing life-enhancing experiences for them. The learning and development opportunities offered by schools, youth workers, children's services, colleges and other places of both formal and informal learning must be seen and valued as an integral part of what society provides for young people across the board.
« Previous | Contents | Next »