The challenges of lyrical content in youth music work - The Music Works
Hear about the lyrical journey of three young musicians through this specially created video podcast.
Based in Gloucester, The Music Works implements youth voice throughout everything they offer, ensuring that young people get to choose not just how they interact with their services, but also how those services are run.
Underpinning all of their work is a strong safeguarding culture, and protocols that are established from the start of a young person’s engagement. This includes written agreements that clearly state there will be positive challenge around discriminatory language, glorified violence, use of names and anything that might incite conflict.
These boundaries are established from the outset. That means it doesn’t come as a surprise to young people when a conversation about language or lyrics is instigated by the staff team.
Staff are trained so they are confident to positively challenge young people. It’s not about saying “no, you can’t dop that”, but about having an open conversation about the negative impact that could arise from the names, incidents or glamorisations that may have been used.
Having a youth-led culture helps young people to respect both the charity and its staff. They value the space and the quality of the environment which helps build trust and an openness to dialogue. Equally important for this is having a team of music leaders with authenticity and similar backgrounds to the young people. And remembering that’s it not just the staff who can support dialogue. Part of the youth led approach is about championing and platforming positive role models, who are influential amongst their peers.
