The Manager points out that the service has a sign on the door that says "Newmont Youth Services promote equal access to all young people regardless of gender, culture, religious belief, ability or sexuality", and proposes a new policy banning all celebrations which are specific to one religion.
What would you do?
Celebrations and events, and reasons for them, usually add positive elements to any service for young people. I think that celebrating Christmas is something that is fine and appropriate in a generalist youth service in Australia.
ReplyDeleteHowever, being responsive to and knowing your client group is paramount in a situation like this. If 80% of the young are non-Christian, then perhaps it's not something you want to celebrate in a big way.
I think banning all celebrations that are specific to one religion is ridiculous. On the contrary, perhaps the approach should be to map the religious holidays of all the religious groups represented by your client group so that they can all be celebrated throughout the year. Having different celebrations could be used as a way of creating dialogue and mutual understanding between the different groups. Sure, this can be easier said than done, and could lead to some conflicts or unforseen issues. But sweeping an issue under the carpet because it looks too hard is not something I would ever encourage when working with young people. Creating opportunities for dialogue around differences should be the main objective of any decision relating to religion, in my opninion. This is how we, as youth workers, can promote acceptance and understanding in the current generation of young people.
I also think that it's important to celebrate secular holidays and events like the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, if you truly want to be a diverse and accepting youth centre. it's all good and well to celebrate xmas and ramadam, but what about all the other young people who's identity is not religiously based? Their cultural celebrations are just as importnat.
ReplyDeleteYeah good call - non-religious celebrations can be just as important, particularly to young people who might identify as atheist or agnostic.
ReplyDeleteI will throw in a complexity for you...just to keep things juicy!
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to state that Christmas has turned into a mainstream festival of gift giving and general celebration around food, without the the religious overtones in work places and youth centres.
You need to ask yourself as a worker, when you want to celebrate Christmas at your youth centre, how religious (or not) do you want it to be?
Sometimes people of non-Christian backgrounds feel marginalised even further when asked to 'disclose' or 'identify' their religion or practice of 'culture' - especially publicly. For many cultures, their celebrations are not just for fun, but have deep spiritual significance that they will not want to tone down just for the sake of a 'celebration'.
It is assumed by the mainstream, 'Australian norm' that young people of non-Christian, or non-European cultures are comfortable or ready to publicly identify, publicly celebrate, and publicly 'educate' the Australian mainstream.
This process is still a form of fetishisation or exotification of what is 'different', and the gaze is usually held by the curious 'mainstream' - show us your food, show us your culture, let's ask you personal questions - wow, u r SOOOO interesting!
In the name of 'diversity', it is still white, straight, Anglo-European, power holders who ask the Others to publicly disclose what they may not feel comfortable in doing.
Maybe Muslims don't want to celebrate Eid with non-Muslims at the youth centre. Maybe it is considered inappropriate for certain cultures to 'celebrate' in a mainstream sense (gift-giving etc). Maybe Aboriginal young people are so far removed from any sense of 'culture' you are putting a bigger burden of guilt or shame upon them for not knowing where they come from, ignoring that this 'not knowing' is actually a remnant of the legacy of genocide in this country.
Other cultures don't always celebrate with soft-drink, pizza, music and gifts. Some cultures may also want to enter a deep religious, philosophical or political discussion - let's not forget the Others have experienced massive injustice and persecution.
Some cultures may actually want to mourn (Sorry Day). Some refugee kids never even grew up in 'their country' but in camps (eg Sudanese kids who grew up in Kenya and only know Swahili and 'camp' culture). Can your service handle that?
This reminds me of a Miss World beauty competition years ago, where Miss Nicaragua wore a military uniform in the section of 'cultural dress' to make a statement that 'culture' is secondary when ravaged by war. She was consequently banned from the comp for being 'too political' when this was her experience of culture.
I think a lot of assumptions are made by community workers in general when it comes to 'celebrating diversity'. All I see are generalisations and stereotypes.
Let's practice diversity in a real, every day sense, not just once a year for the sake of a party.
And guess what? We can all have an end-of-year bash that is not religiously aligned and we can all celebrate - Hindu, Sikh, Aboriginal, Bahai, Buddhist or Muslim!
I think its important for youth services to celebrate all holidays that represent the diversity of youth. This includes both religious and non-religious holidays. If I was in this situation there would be no banning of any type of celebration, it is essential to be creative, do a Google search on celebrations around the world, make up your own celebration based on the values that the youth group you are working with. It is sad when being politically correct takes precedence over humanness, the ideal is to be in tune with who your working with and ask them what they want!
ReplyDeleteRecomend involving the young people accessing the service if they want or dont want to celebrate different cultural/religious events.
ReplyDeleteHere at Twenty10 we go for "End of Year" celebrations as it gives young people the chance to join in with all the festivities at that time of year, but doesn't limit it through an association with Christmas. It is not just about religious diversity - for young people estranged from family, Christmas can be a reminder of what their missing out on.
ReplyDeleteWe still manage to have a lot of fun.
In the past young clients have asked us to mark a particular festivity and we've worked with them to find a way to do so that is inclusive of everyone.
And, of course, we also celebrate Mardi Gras.
I think it is respectful of us to acknowledge many cultures, including the dominant ones. I think it would be disrespectful to ignore Anzac Day as well. I'm undecided on Easter though... in my experience, Christmas is a lot more secular, not so much a 'celebration specific to one religion'. Your experience might vary though- I'm happy to be corrected.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you can celebrate Xmas, Ramadam or National Sorry Day when you can't celebrate Mardi Gras or other contraversial celebrations. Too many youth workers won't fight for the rights of Gay and Lesbian youth as they are frightened by community and parents lashing back at them for celebrating such events. So by NOT celebrating Mardi Gras, but celebrating every other "parental approved" holiday you are effectively saying to glbt young people that they aren't good enough. We all know that some workers don't particularly care about young people, but just like to put up frilly decorations in the youth centre to make themselves feel good.
ReplyDeleteSigned, Disappointed by some of my youth worker peers......
I don't think there is any sort of dilema here. Christmas, Easter, Australia Day...all public holidays, & we should be able to continue to celebrate them with decorations of the season/day. It is strange to think we should have to stop the festivity of the times because other nationalities & cultures have chosen to come & share this great country with us, & modify or cancel what we celebrate. No...others do not need to join in the celebrations, it's their choice, but don't pull down the flag & the nativities...share the country...share their festivals & holidays......AD
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the comment made by AD, I have seen all to often in many industries management deciding not to celebrate Christmas or other celebrations in order not to offend the multitude of cultures and religions within our society, we are so focused on equality that we seem to be putting aside our own traditions and customs that many of us have enjoyed for more years than I can count, where is the equality in that.
ReplyDeleteLife is about choice, one can choose to join in the celebrations or choose not to what ever the celebration may be.
I am born in Australia (4 generations), white, of English/Welsh heritage and very interested in other cultures and beliefs. Personally I hate Christmas other than the holidays and family get togethers.To me the meaning of Christmas was lost long ago. As a voluntery leader of youth in one of the largest youth organisations in the world, we follow our policies and procedures and ask the youth in our care to tell us what they want. It is their organisation. We take all of their request and implement as much as we can into the program. Locally we have not had any other culture in our unit, but we celebrate Thinking Day each year when we do something from other lands or cultures(age apropriate).We find huge responses from the youth and think we are prepared for any culture to join us. We don't celebrate Christmas as much as we do end of the year and holidays.Christmas means different things to different people. I would be suggesting not to ban Christmas, but to tone it down some or rename it to End of Year Celebration.What would any organisation be with not celebrations at all?
ReplyDeleteI believe that no religious or non-religious celebration should be oppressed if there is the desire by a staff member or client wishing to share a little bit of them with others. With that in mind and the youth service promoting equality I think it would be inappropriate to ban any celebration but instead promote and encourage the diversity of all celebrations throughout the year. Information is a powerful tool for young people and gaining information on a diverse range of religious and non-religious celebrations I believe encourages acceptance and an inclusive environment. By displaying certain objects/decorations invites questions and also provides a safe environment for young people to be comfortable with their differences which, in turn, may encourage discussions on their customs, cultural background, beliefs and values. This new found information may be just the thing that a young person has been missing in their life but has not been exposed to or aware of. ;-)Take care and be open to the unknown
ReplyDeleteAustralia is multicultural and made up of many religious denominations. In Australia we have the freedom to choose how, who and if we will worship unlike some other countries which do not have this liberty.
ReplyDeleteI would ask the manager if he/she could leave the old policy in place until a vote had been taken by youth and staff to hear their responses on the subject.
If youth and staff were in favour of keeping the same policy then I would propose a suggestion box where youth could submit their ideas on celebrations for cultural/religious events.
Activities such as decorating inspire creativity and imagination. It is also a chance for youth to gain respect, learn a little about other ways of life and work as a team.
Lastly multicultural Australia (most) regardless of their background like to celebrate Christmas and decorate because it encourages fun, love and the Christmas spirit.
Young people should be supported to make decisions and choices for themselves. This is an unmissable opportunity to promote inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice amongst the young people by celebrating all religious festivals, therefore, it would be a shame to discourage the celebration of religion/culture. Tackling discriminatory practice/behaviour will also help towards breaking down cultural barriers between the young people.
ReplyDeleteCWC Youth Work Level 2