One day last week I started reminiscing my own life as a teenager, and started thinking what things affect us in a way that drops us out of the society, or why some of us get discouraged to stick with the society.
Picture by: Miikka Toroi.
It is told in an article by ksml.fi that “In Finland, according to Tilastokeskus there are about 25000 primary school leavers in Finland who are not studying, working or registered as unemployed (HS 4.6). They are thus out of society because no one seems to know how or where these young people live. The figure excludes, for example, 7000 young people looking after their own children.”
For many, the moment when you have to choose what kind of education you want comes too fast, it might feel like a question you don’t yet have an answer for. No 15 year old can know what he wants to do for the next 50 years. It should then be decided at a time of change when everything else is more interesting for you than what kind of a career you wish to seek. I didn’t think I would become a social worker, because I had to decide on a field of study that may not be of interest at all, I had to go and see it myself. Young people should have the chance to see the world, to grow more freely and with a education system that encourages them to find out their dream career, and support them in achieving it. Young people should get to see the world. To look at poverty, to look at wealth, to see the world with all its beauty and ugliness. To smell other smells than the car exhausts at twilight fall in Finland. And when a young person realizes something about the world and his life, maybe he then knows what he wishes to do. Listen to those young people. You must first understand them to be able to help them.
A young mans mind is like the forests of the world, you can not comprehend it unless you stand there and listen. The sound of a stream flowing, the sound of the leaves in the wind, the whisper of the wind. When one stops and is genuinely interested in a young person, a down and out and wounded young person may even suddenly express his or her problems, or his or her interest in sharing his/her own thoughts.
You have to face young people from a young person’s perspective. For example if a young person has problems at home, maybe his father or mother is an alcoholic, or there is domestic violence or anything that causes a young person to shut up, it may lead to exclusion over time. A teenager like this needs someone to help him who maybe has gone through the same things and struggles, someone who understands, really understands. Many times young people are put in the employment office and to all these different courses. On these courses there are these well educated and scribed people who try to give them advice on how they should be and live. “Hey you got to work! You got to study! You need to be this and that!”. This causes anxiety in a young adult… A great disappointment with the norms created by the society. This often causes exclusion when the young person does not want to face the shame that a great and well-educated social worker spits all these things to his face “be this and be that”. If there is a humane and warm, caring person in the other end, who takes things seriously and goes through things thoroughly, it might make a world of difference and someones life might be changed forever.
References
Suurin osa Showcasen blogeista on toteutettu osana Laurean opintojaksoja. Koko koulutustarjontaamme voi tutustua nettisivuillamme. Tarjoamme kymmenien tutkintoon johtavien koulutuksien lisäksi myös paljon täydennys- ja erikoistumiskoulutuksia sekä yksittäisiä opintojaksoja avoimen AMK:n kautta!
Wow Miikka! This text was deep and beautiful. You really put yourself in this text and I really appreciate it. I had to read this again because I really felt your compassion and point of view. We need more professionals in this field who are really willing to listen and understand and really see the people as individuals. The warmth should come back in our field. The world is too cold already.
Miikka, I really liked your blog! I feel you in many ways reading your text. I did not know what i wanted to be when adult, it was not easy and having the right people around you is a key point. Nowadays everyone is too busy to listen or to care for others. But we need to believe that we are in this field to make changes in those who need and the more we have the knowledge and own experiences, more we can understand and support others. We are in the right field to be able to do that. Thank you for your deep words and important subject to pay attention to.