How helpful would the Youth Work WA Ethics be in a Youth Ministry setting?

The Issue

In 2017, the Royal Commission into child abuse in institutions highlighted the sad fact that many children have been abused within churches and other institutions. While some news articles on the Commission made it seem like it was only the Catholic Church to blame^[1], the issue was found to be present in many different denominations.^[2] Over 4,000 survivors reported that they had been sexually abused in a church, and it would be foolish to think that this is only an issue of the past.^[3] As a result of this report, some churches put into place programs that would protect young people from abuse, such as the Safe Churches Program which is intended to prevent all forms of sexual, physical, emotional and other abuse.^[4]

I volunteered in a church youth ministry from 2005 until 2015, and in the last three years of that time, they decided to make sure everyone was trained in the Safe Churches program. While the program had great intentions and was valuable, in retrospect, it didn’t generate enough change. What I can remember of the training told us not to have physical contact with young people and not to drive alone with a young person in the car. Unfortunately, many of us saw this as more of a suggestion. 

I think the problem was because we (me included) thought of our youth group as more of a ‘family’, so many of the boundaries were disregarded, or just didn’t last. We thought to ourselves that we aren’t “those kind of people” and wouldn’t do anything to harm these young people. We didn’t realise that by not taking boundaries seriously, we were putting those young people at risk of being abused by any who do have ulterior motives. “We would never do that,” we thought, along with, “As long as we aren’t alone with young people of the opposite gender it’s fine.” Unfortunately, much of the abuse that occurred within the church was same-sex, and our blasé attitude meant that young people could have been groomed by youth leaders who weren’t ‘innocent’ because we allowed them to be unprotected. 

Young people are vulnerable

It is no overstatement to say that young people are already in a vulnerable position because of their position in society. This is part of the problem of why young people are so frequently the object of abuse. Young people are vulnerable because they have less rights than adults:  

“Although young people have ‘rights’ as young citizens, these are relatively easily denied, and they have very little say in the institutions in which they have the most stake, such as education.”^[5]

For example, the arbitrary age of 18 was chosen as the time when a young person is considered an adult. Because of this, young people are often assumed to be incapable of making decisions until they reach that age – however, this is definitely not true for every young person and causes more harm than good.^[6] This ‘deficit’ way of seeing young people comes from the early 1900s, where young people were, and still are, deemed as ‘uncontrollable’ and in need of ‘taming’ through social conventions, as well as restricting their access to their full rights as a citizen.^[7]

The Australian Human Rights Commission^[8] listed some examples of the ways that young people’s rights are limited:

• Young people’s voice is not included in legal decisions which affect them.
• When federal politicians create new laws, they don’t have to consider the rights of young people even if those decisions affect them.
• Young people under 25 represent 46% of all homeless people in Australia, however, because of their limited rights, there is little they can do to change their situation.
• Police have the power to ‘move-on’ people in public places, which mostly affects homeless and Indigenous young people.

All of these factors, and more, make young people vulnerable and disempowered, making them an easy target of abuse and manipulation. The way to protect young people, therefore, is to bring more equality to these power relationships. The Youth Work WA code of ethics^[9] provides some guidelines on how to do this effectively. A full list of the Youth Work WA Code of Ethics can be found here. While I believe all 14 of these ethics are relevant to youth ministry, I have chosen six to discuss here.

Ethic Number 1: Primary Client 

The first of the code of ethics refers to making the young person the primary client. This means that the interests and needs of the young person comes first before all other priorities. For some, this may cause some feeling of tension with the priorities of the church, such as Christian principles, and/or creating converts to Christianity. This is not an easy tension to answer, however, I suggest that putting the interests and needs of the young person first is following Christian priorities since Jesus said that one of the greatest commandments is to love others.^[10] Sometimes priorities of converts to Christianity aren’t motivated by love, but by pride. For example, “Look at us and our successful youth ministry!” Not putting the needs of the young person as the top priority leaves young people open to being abused in more ways than one.

Ethic number 3: Promotes Equality

The third Youth Work WA Ethic is really integral to youth work – promoting equality: 

“Under Human Rights and Equal Opportunities legislation, all young people have the right to be treated in a fair and appropriate manner, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation.”^[11]

This means that no young person should receive special treatment, and no young person should be treated as ‘less than’. This is particularly relevant in youth ministries where there is the risk of young people who are not Christians could be treated very differently from young people who are. They might either be given extra attention in order to ‘win’ them, or they might be given less attention because they have ‘unpopular opinions’. Young people who identify as LGBTIQ+ may already feel some apprehension coming into a church building due to the felt hostility – so it is vitally important that youth ministries make them feel that they are equal to other young people in the youth ministry.

Making sure that no young person receives special treatment protects them from being abused either emotionally, spiritually, or sexually – preventing grooming. But promoting equality doesn’t just mean treating young people equally, it also means empowering young people.

Ethic number 4: Empowerment

Empowerment according to the Youth Work WA code of ethics means that the young person is able to take control of their experiences and make informed decisions – they are able to pursue what they choose. This ethic assumes that young people are capable of making decisions, in the same way adults would be treated. 

When I discussed this topic with a youth ministry this year, one of the objections was about young people who may make decisions which are not good for them, such as harmful drug use. However, empowerment means journeying with young people in the choices they make whether we agree with them or not. Empowerment means discussing those decisions with young people if they are interested in that conversation – but not imposing any decision upon them in the same way we wouldn’t impose a decision upon an adult. Of course, some young people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, or emotional distress may not be as capable of making healthy decisions, “but the presumption at the outset is that young people know what they are doing.”

Equalising power relations not only helps young people emerge from being marginalised, but it also protects young people from abuse by decreasing the amount of power that youth leaders have over young people. One practical way youth ministries can do this is by giving youth the power over what they participate in, and what happens at the youth ministry. Young people no longer become mere recipients of a service, but they get to decide what service they receive.

Ethic number 5: Duty of Care

Of course, this needs to be balanced with the ethic of duty of care. Youth ministry workers have a duty of care to protect young people from harm, so this might mean a conversation about potential harms of a young person’s decision. The young person, however, is given the freedom to make that choice even if it is deemed harmful – unless of course their lives are at imminent risk. 

Duty of care also means that youth ministry workers must protect young people from harm in the activities run at the youth group, as well as harm from volunteers. 

“Abuse of young people is not rare, and we must be careful about who is given access to the young people we work with. Proper investigation needs to be made into people’s work and criminal histories, even when they are volunteers.”

Perhaps if a youth leader is suspected of crossing some boundaries with young people, even if they are ‘minor’ boundaries, the youth ministry might be hesitant to do something about it. However, protecting that young person should be more important than that youth leader’s ego.  

Ethic number 6: Preventing corruption

What this means is youth workers mustn’t use young people for personal gain. There are some obvious ways this can happen, such as financial gain, however, it also means not using young people in order to boost the ego of the youth ministry or leaders. This might happen in youth ministries where young people are used to boost the ‘image’ of the youth group, or manipulated (for example, emotional manipulation through guilt trips, or purposefully chosen emotional music) into attending and committing in order to make the ministry seem vibrant. Using young people for personal gain is a form of abuse. 

Ethic number 12: Boundaries

Boundaries means placing a ‘limit’ on the relationship with the young person – for the safety of the young person. This might mean being careful about how much information the worker shares with the young person about themselves, for the reasons of making the relationship young person centred, and also to keep a measure of distance with the young person. A youth leader can still be warm towards a young person while keeping a measure of emotional distance. While this might seem counter to the heart of youth ministry, it is really important for young people who might be vulnerable and misunderstand the nature of the relationship. Keeping distance also protects the young people by not allowing any worker with malicious or grooming motives from being able to lure that young person in. 

In my experience of youth ministries, there are usually great boundaries for opposite genders (e.g. between male leaders and female young people). These boundaries should be carried across to same gender relationships (e.g. between male leaders and male young people), because as I mentioned earlier much of the abuse in churches has been same gender. It is also important to protect the young person from developing romantic feelings for the leader, which is possible even if they are the same gender.

Take home

• Young people are vulnerable due to the structure of society.
• Making the young person the primary client is necessary to protect the young person from being used for selfish motives (preventing corruption).
• Promoting equality prevents grooming and favouritism, but also grants young people equal power with leaders.
• Empowering young people protects them by allowing them to have control over their engagement with the ministry and what happens in the youth ministry.
• Duty of care means protecting young people from volunteers who are not following ethical boundaries.
• Boundaries are essential to protect the young person.

While I personally believe all the Youth Work WA ethics are applicable to a youth ministry setting, these are some important starting points. I have a keen interest in, and passion for, empowering and increasing the professionalism of youth ministries for the sake of young people. If you or your youth ministry is interesting in receiving training, I am available to you! 

Tim Mullen

tmullen@tabor.edu.au

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^[1] For example, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/06/4444-victims-extent-of-abuse-in-catholic-church-in-australia-revealed

^[2] E.g. Salvation Army, Presbyterian, Protestant, Brethren, Churches of Christ, Seventh-day Adventists, Lutheran, and so on, according to the Child Abuse Royal Commission (2017), https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_volume_16_religious_institutions_book_1.pdf

^[3] Child Abuse Royal Commision (2017). Final Report: Religious Institutions. Retrieved from: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_volume_16_religious_institutions_book_1.pdf

^[4] National Council of Churches in Australia (n.d.). NCCA Safe Church Program. Retrieved from: https://www.ncca.org.au/safe-church-program/about-2

^[5] Wyn, J., & White, R. (1997). Rethinking Youth. SAGE. Page 12

^[6] Wyn & White (1997), p 13

^[7] Wyn & White (1997), p 18 – 19

^[8]Australian Human Rights Commission (n.d.). Human Rights and Children and young people. Retrieved from: https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/letstalkaboutrights/downloads/HRA_young.pdf

^[9] Youth Work WA (2014). Youth Work Code of Ethics. Available from: http://www.youthworkwa.org.au/code-of-ethics/

^[10] See Matthew 22:39-40

^[11] Youth Work WA (2014). Youth Work Code of Ethics.