The streets are no longer ours

Tema diplomske naloge so opažanja mladinskih uličnih delavcev in delavk o tem, ali je zaznan upad števila mladih na javnih površinah in kakšni so vzroki za tem. V teoretičnem delu se sprva osredotočim na opredeljevanje pojma »mladi«, ki je pri obravnavani temi pomemben. Nato razložim temeljna tveganja in izzive, s katerimi se mladi soočajo, in pojem »prosti čas«. Nadaljujem z informacijsko komunikacijsko tehnologijo in izzivi, ki jih ta prinaša mladim. Opišem tudi javne površine in dejavnike, ki vplivajo na njeno uporabo. V zadnjem poglavju se osredotočim na pojem »ulično delo», opišem začetke uličnega dela in nazadnje ulično delo kot metodo dela z mladimi. V kvalitativni raziskavi sem s pomočjo intervjujev raziskovala mnenja mladinskih uličnih delavcev in delavk o pojavu mladih na javnih površinah. Osredotočam se na osrednje raziskovalno vprašanje, ali je zaznan upad števila mladih na javnih površinah in kakšni so vzroki za to, temu pa pridružujem vprašanje o pristopih in metodah mladinskega uličnega dela. Tu sem izpostavila vzpostavljanje stika z mladimi in odzive mladih na pristope mladinskih uličnih delavcev in delavk. Raziskava je večinsko pokazala upad števila mladih na javnih površinah, v manjšem deležu pa porast ali pa nespremenjen delež mladih na javnih površinah. Opažanja so mladinski ulični delavci in delavke črpali iz vsaj dvoletnega kontinuiranega mladinskega uličnega dela. Poleg tega so navajali še opažanja sprememb na javnih površinah v primerjavi z desetimi leti nazaj, ne glede na to, ali so takrat že bili zaposleni na tem področju. Razlogi za upad so pretirano zaščitništvo staršev, spodbujanje staršev mladih k uporabi informacijsko komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT), permisivna vzgoja, pomanjkanje primerne javne infrastrukture, pomanjkanje vzdušja in zasebnosti na javnih površinah. Vzroki za porast mladih na javnih površinah so premajhna stanovanja, porast priseljevanja, nedostopnost IKT zaradi slabšega ekonomskega stanja, manj nadzora s strani staršev ali pa mir pred sorojenci. Raziskava je še pokazala, da večina mladinskih uličnih delavcev in delavk izpostavi pozitiven odziv mladih na mladinsko ulično delo, manjši del pa izpostavi nezaželene pristope. Pozitivni odzivi se kažejo kot potreba po pogovoru, iskanju pomoči in namenskemu prihodu na aktivnosti. Dobre odzive prinaša predvsem kontinuirano delo, najbolj pa se mladi odzivajo na osebni pristop, na vrstniški pristop in osebno karakteristiko mladinskega uličnega delavca ali delavke. Dobro se odzivajo še na šport, hrano in glasbo. Ni pa zaželeno popisovanje mladih, saj lahko sproži občutek nadzora, najbolj jih je strah nadzora s strani policije. Včasih so mladi ob približevanju mladinskih uličnih delavcev in delavk nezaupljivi ali nezainteresirani, jih tudi odslovijo, a zelo poredko. Uporaba uradnega jezika s strani mladinskih uličnih delavcev in delavk ni zaželena, prav tako aktivnosti, ki vključujejo veliko pogovarjanja.The topic of my graduation thesis is whether street based youth workers notice that youth is absent from public spaces and what are the reasons behind it. In my theoretical part, I firstly focus on the term »young people«. Afterwards, I explain the term »free time« and what are the biggest risks and challenges that youth is experiencing. Information communication technology (ICT) and its impact on youth is also included in my theoretical part, as are public spaces and factors that influence its usage. In the last part of my theoretical overview I focus on the term »street work«. I explain what the beginnings of street work was and how street work is used as a method of working with youth. In my qualitative research I interviewed street based youth workers and asked them whether youth spends time in public spaces. My main research question was whether street based youth workers notice the absence of youth in public spaces and if so, what are the reasons for it. I also asked what kind of methods and approaches they use when approaching youth. My interest was also to find out how young people react to those methods and approaches. Most results of my research showed that street based youth workers noticed the absence of youth in public spaces. However, some reported that youth is now spending more time in public spaces and some reported that they haven\u27t noticed any changes. The observations came from a continuous work of at least two years. In addition, observations were made in comparison with the past ten years, regardless of if youth workers were employed at that time. Reasons why youth is not spending more time in public spaces are that parents are encouraging them in ICT use or that they are too protective towards them. This is related to their permissive education. Street based youth workers also expressed themselves in ways suggesting that they noticed the lack of appropriate public infrastructure and positive atmosphere, as well as a lack of privacy in public spaces. Causes for the increased number of young people in public spaces were apartments which are too small, increased immigration, inaccessibility to ICT, less parental control, or disturbance of a sibling. My survey showed that the positive responses to street based youth work were higher than that of the negative ones. Positive responses were shown as a need for conversation, seeking help or intentionally coming for street based activities. Good results are shown with continuous work, a personal approach and a personal characteristic of a street based youth worker. Sports, food and music also bring good responses. Any kind of control, especially police control, is unwanted for youth. They may also act uninterested or demand removal from street based youth workers. Use of formal language is not wanted, as well as activities that involve a lot of conversation