York hosts major conference on issues including youth homelessness and teenage pregnancy
Posted on 28 March 2012
The one-day conference - Reforming Young People’s Priorities? - brought together 80 key stakeholders representing both practice and academia. It featured themed workshops on issues including youth homelessness, teenage pregnancy and young care leavers.
All delegates were clearly passionate about the issues young people face in the current political and economic climate
Aniela Wenham
Conference organiser Aniela Wenham, from the University’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work, said: “The event provided an opportunity for people to come together to voice their feelings, concerns, and ideas for moving forward in an environment that might seem uncertain and fragile. It also provided the impetus to re-evaluate our work with young people, the policy frameworks we work in, and how the future might look.
“I was struck by the engaging and thoughtful discussions that took place throughout the day. All delegates were clearly passionate about the issues young people face in the current political and economic climate.”
Keynote speakers included Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of York, Bob Coles, City of York Council’s Director of Adults, Children and Education, Peter Dwyer and Tom Wylie, a former head of the National Youth Agency.
The conference also provided a platform for young people to voice their own experiences of successful support or provision. The event coincided with launch of a media campaign by a group of young women that aims to tackle negative representations of young parents. The You Tell Me campaign has been led by Inspired Youth who specialise in the arts and media to engage young people.
Natalie, a young mum involved in the campaign, said: “Young mum and single parent are terms widely used throughout society and associate young mums with the stereotypical view that we aren’t good enough parents to our children because of our age, which is why I’m involved in the campaign.
“As a parent myself, I know what it feels like to have people looking and staring, being judgemental, all before they have even spoken to me. The negative media doesn’t help either. The campaign’s target is to give an insight into the experiences of mums that feel judged and looked down on in society so that people can see that what they might see in one situation doesn’t reflect a young person’s ability to be a good mum.”
Aniela Wenham says the You Tell Me campaign resonates with her own research into teenage pregnancy and parenthood. “Research has extensively highlighted how young parents experience stigma on a daily basis and across a range of social contexts,” she said.
“My own research demonstrated how formal support can be extremely stigmatising. Professionals such as doctors, midwifes, teachers, benefit/housing officials, can contribute to the social isolation and withdrawal of young mothers who are in need of their support. However, my research also highlighted the value of peer support for young mothers. Such support could help shield young mothers from stigmatisation as did provision which was non-judgmental and respectful.”
Notes to editors:
- More information on the You Tell Me campaign at http://youtellmecampaign.wordpress.com/
- For more information on the University of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work at www.york.ac.uk/spsw
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