Keeping Them Off The Streets

I think that the students in our school library need to hear lots of diverse voices and read stories and lives of many different kinds of people and experiences. When I inherited the library it was an incredibly sanitised space with only 'school readers' and project books on 'the railways' etc. Buying in books that will appeal to the whole range of our readers with diverse voices, eclectic and fascinating subject matter, and topics that will intrigue and fascinate them was incredibly important to me. This is a book that I think our senior readers will enjoy very much indeed - not just because it's well written with an arresting voice that will really keep them reading and about a fascinating topic - but it's also a book that doesn't feel worthy or improving, it doesn't scream 'school library and treats them like young reading adults who have the right to explore a range of modern diverse reads that will grip and intrigue them and ensure that reading isn't something that they are just forced to do for their English project - this was a solid ten out of ten for me and I'm hoping that our students are as gripped and caught up in it as I was. It was one that I stayed up far too late reading and one that I'll be recommending to the staff as well as our senior students - thank you so much for the chance to read and review; I really loved it and can't wait to discuss it wth some of our seniors once they've read it too! Original review: https://www.netgalley.co.uk/book/158584/review/352769

My best Xmas present by far. Engaging, passionate and inspiring work from Tim Caley. A must read for anyone working in the field.

Just finished reading your Book. Loved it from start to finish! Your conclusions about the current demise and situation of youth services are spot on.

‘Keeping Them off the Streets' is the autobiography of youth worker Tim Caley. It's not merely the story of Tim's life. He has skilfully intertwined his personal memoir with a social history and an examination of the constantly moving and changing politics and policies in the field of youth work and of young people over the past 40 years. And how these policies impacted at the grassroots level. Tim has eschewed the formal and academic way of looking at the issues and events. Instead he has chosen to provide a warm, human commentary based on his own experiences. Although it contains amusing anecdotes and is written in a humorous fashion, it is intended to contain messages and information that are vitally important and relevant about the continuing needs of young people in the 21st century. Tim started as a fresh, young and keen youth worker of 24 years age in 1972 in a tough area in Sheffield. He was pleasantly surprised that he had the support of the local police inspector, which wasn't always the case. He points out that in the 1979s youth work was viewed through the lens of Marxist theories of race, class and gender. Although he had two degrees he became a teacher and later a youth worker with no formal qualifications in either teaching or youth work, which, he readily admits, did make him feel something of a fraud when he compared himself to colleagues who did have the relevant qualifications. He relates a very telling anecdote. A group of youth workers, it is reported, had a meeting with Edward Heath, the then Prime Minister. They were lobbying him on the benefits of youth work. They spent a considerable amount of time berating him on what they perceived as the lack of recognition, value and their credibility. Heath had listened to them, with patience, and eventually asked them to please explain what youth work achieved? There was a period of pregnant silence and the youth workers found it hard to agree or provide any coherent answers. Tim's book is a interesting study in how he and the youths he worked with grew and developed, how he worked out strategies to deal with truants (his policy was to keep them busy and not phone the Education Welfare Officer) how to deal with officialdom, and how to deal with the ever-shifting rules and regulations that government (local and national) kept imposing on both youth workers and youths. Including the OFSTED regimen. If you are interested in the history of youth work and youth culture, this book is for you.

A fantastic piece, excellent in most parts Excellent book outlining the history and benefits of youth work. The book does an excellent job of explaining the transformation of youth work from the 1970's to the present day. It's interesting to see that the positives as well as the challenges seem relatively similar over time. Only piece that lost a star for me was the explanation of policy and management, which gives back story, but can easily lose the reader for 5-10 minutes at a time. Well worth a read for anyone interested in youth work or anyone currently in the profession.