46 “WE MUST ADVOCATE FOR THE COMMUNITIES WE WORK IN” Dylan Sloan, a School Social Worker in Belfast, talks about the importance of Social Workers in an educational setting.
I
t’s no secret that Northern Ireland has a complex past.
I was lucky enough to be born into peace. My parents, however, recall chilling stories of what it was like growing up during the ‘troubles.’ Unfortunately, tensions are on the rise again, only this time it’s children as young as 13 being encouraged at times to partake in criminal behaviour. In my role as a School Social Worker, I have been working alongside young people who have been involved in these antisocial criminal acts. Are they criminals? That’s a label I wouldn’t want to place on any young person. When I speak to young people who have
been involved, it’s a combination of factors that have led to them making the decision to stand in the street and throw a brick.
THESE ARE ALL ISSUES THAT WE, AS SOCIAL WORKERS, FACE ON A DAILY BASIS WITHIN OUR PROFESSION.
IT’S NOT AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS BADLY BEHAVED YOUTHS. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT THIS YEAR HAS BEEN THE MOST TURBULENT IN MANY INDIVIDUALS’ LIVES, and young people are no exception. COVID lockdowns caused schools to shut their doors, ultimately widening the academic attainment gap, particularly for students living in socioeconomic deprived areas. Young people also lost access to their youth clubs, parents struggled financially on furlough, and mental ill health was a concern for all.
As a profession, we can only begin to build rapport with the community that we serve if we engage creatively, honestly, and with a willingness to become the guest not the facilitator. Then, we can begin to build a foundation, to understand at a deeper level the issues at the heart of the community that impact the children and young people we serve. Social work needs to have a political voice to advocate for the communities that we work in. In Northern Ireland, between 2011 and 2019, schools had their spending cut by 11%. Years of
