Emily Ingram says in an article on youthworker: I have worked at the Ministry of Youth for five years, since I was only twenty years old after winning first place in a government test to select the Minister of Youth. I was young and thought I had the complete idea about the Ministry of Youth and the work of youth organizations, but when I think back I realize how little I knew. If only I could go back in time, I would give advice to my younger self.

I discovered that I can't do that, but maybe I can work as a mentor for those starting out in working with youth, and perhaps it could be a successful experience in your life, but it is also accompanied by a lot of criticism and little encouragement and fear along the way. So take some time and read these three simple tips that can help cut through the fear early on.

1- You are an adult and an amazing young person, not too old:

This seems like a simple concept, but it’s what I see new youth workers struggle with all the time. They try so hard to appear as the cool young person that they end up losing the respect of the youth. You are an adult working as a guide and mentor for them, not a close friend. If the youth see you as one of them, you will find it difficult to talk to them about their lives and take things seriously, and you will also find it hard to manage them during youth meetings.

Generally, communication is an issue, so it’s crucial to communicate, but without disrespecting your position. It takes time to learn how to walk that line, but you can reach that goal with a little time and effort on your part.

For instance, reduce social messaging and calls as much as possible, because it's good for youth to find you when they need guidance, but when you message them as much as they message each other, you will become recognized as one of their social circle.

It's important to discover your youth, but it's better to discover them on your own. Take a group of them out for lunch on a Friday, and moments like this will give you excellent opportunities to get to know your youth in a comfortable and enjoyable environment. Personally, my role has been and still is to monitor phone calls and texts if someone contacts me, but if it’s past ten at night, the call should be for an emergency. So, set boundaries like these to help them see you as a leader, not just another friend.

2- Don't just focus on emotional and social cases:

I can't start without saying that I see this happen often in working with youth. I also admit that I made this mistake because many youth workers do this intentionally, and you might tell yourself: when I scare the youth, the rest will follow, which unfortunately is an idea that rarely works.

What happens in the end is that the youth worker will spend their time trying to focus on the small selected group of youth with family problems or special needs or socio-economic situations who do not want to become leaders among their peers, which will lead them to difficulties. I've met some youth from other organizations, and they secretly revealed to me that their young leaders pay attention to those who don’t deserve it, and they see this, which greatly affects them and makes them feel unimportant compared to those in difficult socio-economic situations.

Our work environments with youth are supposed to be safe spaces for all youth and provide them equal opportunities regardless of their social or economic situations, so we need to have a completely different environment from schools and universities. In this way, you will find the outstanding individuals worth taking over your leadership. So take as much time as possible to get to know the youth and invest in those who are distanced from you, and you will receive a generous return on that investment.

3- Don’t choose talent over obedience:

A common scenario among youth workers is as follows: the youth organization you're working at is small, but you should have a young leader who receives praise from the youth, which is generally a great idea, but you don’t have many options. There's one young person who has an impressive talent, and naturally, this young person will be the first you turn to, and they will seem happy about it, and you start the process of praising their youth projects.

Then, other youth start coming to you asking if you know about their reputation among the youth, and you will want to face them, but you fear that if you do, the talented young person will feel anxious and leave, and you will be left without that talented individual on your team. So you remain silent and hope they recognize their mistakes on their own. Soon enough, no youth will participate in your meetings, and they will be stunned by what happened in the personal life of the talented young person you chose to lead the team. Unfortunately, I see this happening a lot in youth organizations.

I understand that you want to try new things in your organization, and it's great that you want to involve youth in your work, but just because someone is talented doesn’t mean they should fill that gap in your team or within the youth organization. So take your time and think about decisions like this. When you position that young person within your team or youth organization, you are controlling their lifestyle. We also need to acknowledge that teenagers are teenagers after all and will make expected mistakes. However, it is important that the youth placed in leadership positions receive respect from other youth, which reflects positively on you and the team or organization you lead. You can either attract them to it or push them away from it.

A simple understanding of these straightforward concepts will save you from a lot of trouble in the first few years as a youth organization leader. I wish someone had given me these tips when I first started, and I hope they benefit you during your charitable mission that has emerged in your life.