How to skin a cat.

I always cringe when a young person says "come and have a look at this", pointing at their mobile phones.

Some of the stuff I've had to witness would make your hair curl! We were all young once, though, and I'm sure i'd have a few "fruity" videos to share if I was that age again.

I never, however, skinned a cat. I'm pretty sure that, like now, I wouldn't have found it amusing either.

So, yes, that is what greeted me when I took a look at the video. Footage of these lads kicking a cat, and finally skinning it once it had died. All laughing and gloating, it somehow reminded me of something out of Lord of the flies.

I turned away pretty quickly and shouted at them a bit (probably the only time I have raised my voice as a youth worker), but as predicted, they found the fact I was so offended even more amusing that what was going on on the video. They then pursued me all evening, asking why I thought it offensive.

Whatever answer I gave, they laughed at. There is no point in trying to reason with this kind of mentality. It was if I was in the wrong for saying they were wrong?

Every now and again I hear whispers. I know they are considering showing me other stuff they have on their phones, but others intervene, saying "No, no, don't show him that!". If they thought I would be ok watching a video of them skinning a cat, what is it that they deem not suitable for me to not watch on their phones...?

That is the worrying thing, and I really, really don't want to know...

Racism & the British youth.

We still are a racist nation.

Talking to K, a young man who loved football, and the village that he lives in solidified this for me. K told me that if a black man were to walk through the door of the club, he "would stab the cunt in the neck". Just because of the colour of his skin.

I tried to get to the bottom of why he thought like this. As always, this type of thinking came from his parents, and as always the thinking had a slogan. In this case, it was "because they steal all our jobs."

I tried to explain to K that generations of black people have been working and living in this country longer than he has been living on the planet. I also explained how, and why a large number of ethnic people were invited into the country to help rebuild our economy after the second world war.

He didn't believe this. We came to a stalemate.

So I approached the subject from a different angle.

I mentioned that K's favourite football team had lots of black people playing for it. He said, "yea but they are OK blacks."

I then mentioned that one of his friends, who was in the club at the time is black. His response to this was disturbing.

He told me that he wasn't black. Of course, I pointed out that he most defiantly was. K then went on to explain that he was "more white than black" and "not like most black people".

I could go on with this conversation, but I won't. I found it quite disturbing to be honest, that this type of attitude and behaviour had come from his parents, who truly do believe everything above....

...but the most disturbing thing of all is that I believe that K would attack a person because of their skin colour if they walked in the club...

And of course, K told me that his parents would definitely be voting for the BNP.

The majority of (especially the ones in this youth club) K's friends think the same as K. As do their parents and grandparents alike.

So the next time someone tells you that there is no racism, or little racism in Britain today, send them to me, and i'll happily put them straight...

About X and the past (How the bullied conform)

X, is the place where my youth club is situated. Of course, I can't name the location in full, because it might reveal my identity. X is a village. Not a city club where you may think this behavior is demographically more typical...

A has social problems. X's youth are a product of it's parenting. But X is a curious place, due to the fact that a large amount of the young people in the village will, sooner or later indulge in bad behavior.

You might ask why.

Well, X's youth are a close knit group. The typical amount of young people in X's youth club is 50-60 (It's a big village-more like a small town), and they stick together like glue. They never fight each other. They never "grass" on each other. It's a very powerful group, that other young people are sucked into. This group has a constantly changing hierarchy that is dictated by bad behavior.

X's youth do not like black sheep. They especially dislike individualism. To try and explain how this works, read the story below. This is something that happened two years ago now:

J was a new lad in the club. He was also a new lad in the village. J heard about the youth club in the village, and loving football, decided to come down to play a few games, and to see what we had to offer.

I spoke to J, and found him a very quiet lad, who was obviously intelligent, and had a passion for sports. J went to a grammar school, and got good grades throughout.

I filled in a membership form for J, and let him go explore, and meet people.

Fifty minutes later, I noticed a large group of young people gathering outside. I went outside to see what was going on, only to witness J on the floor, being kicked in the face. It took a while to realize it was him, because his face was so bloodied. I got in between J and the other lads, and tried to shield him as much as possible. Eventually, a few other youth workers came outside, to assist me. A few lads jumped on J's glasses, which broke them beyond fixing. They also stole his mobile phone. The group, fourty strong, then threatened to "do" our cars, as we were protecting J.

A group of approximately fourty, on one lad. The girls, more vicious than the boys.

Now, that may not seem that strange to you. But what happened after that incident in X, is what interests me most, and what I find the most worrying.

I never expected J to come back down the club again. I was very surprised when I saw him walk through the door. It was two weeks after the incident above, and J seemed to have befriended a few of the lads that were in the group.

J spoke differently. He now spoke with the same lingo and aggression as the rest of the group. His walk changed. J, was now a completely different person. J called me a cunt on that first day back. He also told me he'd "fucking do me" for asking him not to flick rizla papers everywhere.

This, a completely different person in a two week period.

Since then, J has gone from bad to worse. He is one of the biggest drug dealers in the club, and deals skunk openly. He's been kicked out of school, and has been arrested on numerous ocassions. J does not play football anymore.

This, is peer pressure. This is what groups do to souls that don't have the confidence to stand alone. To think alone. They become part of the group, because it is a source of protection. It is the easy option, and the most profitable option.

It's the only thing they can do to stand a chance.

This is the reality that young people face in Britain today.

So X is the place where my experiences as a youth worker will be documented. I hope you find this blog informative and eye opening.