Communication Technology

Web Tools

I’ve spent a great day at Connected and have been pointed in the direction of loads of online applications that will help you lots in your youth work and with your presentation.

Check out:

Ning.com for open or closed blogs (check ours from Connected)

Flickr.com - photo sharing

Twitter -  tell people what you are up to, or what they are missing – direct to their mobile

preview.getthebuzzword.com or docs.google.com for online word processing you can work together on.

PBWiki.com - start your own wiki page and allow others to edit it! (Connected wiki)

Jumpcut online video &  editing

Also, don’t forget to download the Coming Of Age book for some great podcasting tips.

Sophia Network

A new network for women in youth ministry has been launched.  The Sophia Network aims to celebrate women in youth work and ministry, what we have achieved and what we are contributing to the kingdom of God. We want to increase the visibility of women in youth work, making the wider church aware of the fantastic work that women are doing. The Sophia Network will enable women in youth work to connect with each other, share skills and experiences and offer encouragement and support.

Mental Health and Young People

1 in 4 of us will suffer mental ill health at some point in our lives.  For our information gathering task the Y141ers spent last week looking for information for young people on mental health.  Some of the links to the websites they found are listed below but we would like to say that information on its own isn’t enough. 

Our job as youth workers is to support young people.  That means providing information where appropriate but being there to talk, encourage, sit quietly and generally be around to help the young people we work with who suffer mental ill-health.  The information on the sites below is as much for our benefit as for the young people we work with.  We, as professional workers, need to be informed about mental health.  I would suggest that part of our job is to tackle the stigma and ignorance that still surrounds depression, schizophrenia, paranoia, eating disorders and self harm.

Here are a few of our links:

moodjuice- information from Forth Valley NHS for young people with worries or in crisis, carers and professionals.

Penumbra – one of Scotland’s leading Mental Health organisations.

Young Minds- information for children, young people and parents as well as professionals and supporters.

See Me – campaign to end the stigma attached to mental ill-health

edspace – Edinburgh mental health information