The Young Advocates meet with Craig Pinkney
Recently, our Young Advocates were joined by a special guest at their meeting - Criminologist, Urban Youth specialist, and community scholar, Craig Pinkney.
Craig, who is also the Founder of AYJ member SOLVE: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict, takes the position of 'bridging the gap between academia and the streets’ and has a wealth of experience behind him. In his current venture at SOLVE, Craig aims to critically address causes of violence and conflict through research, training, workshops, consultancy, advocacy, and street-based youth work.
Craig joined the meeting to share his experiences and his story on how he got to where he is today. It was also an opportunity to ask Craig any questions and the Young Advocates, who were clearly inspired and motivated by his work, were keen to find out more. Their further questions included:
The discussion was honest and informative, and allowed the Young Advocates to learn about Craig’s path and reflect on what their own may look like. Craig explained that his goal when working with young people has always been to stop them from ending up in 3 places: “the prison estate, mental health institutions, and the grave.”
In his responses, Craig also touched upon the need to reframe what it means to be ‘educated’ and the perception that certain groups of people are unable to achieve, alongside the prevalence of the school to prison pipeline stemming from negative aspects of the education system. He stressed the need for more adults to be aware of the issues facing children today, rather than instantly turning to exclusions.
Craig went on to explain that youth work, and working with young people is an ‘art which needs to be perfected’, just like a rapper or entertainer would. This is because, in reality, a youth worker is ‘dealing with a child’s life…and what a youth worker says or does is going to ultimately impact that child’s future.’
AYJ and Leaders Unlocked extend our gratitude to Craig for taking the time to chat with the Young Advocates and we hope to welcome you back soon!