The complete set of 198 Hints are available in paperback from the CYC-Net Press store.
Listen to this
We are usually suspicious of the idea of "contracts" with kids, especially when these are no more than lists of adult-imposed expectations with built in sanctions – just as I am with the so-called "consequence" when this word is clearly synonymous with "punishment".
But there is a sense in which contracts are valuable in a Child and Youth Care program. It is always helpful to outline for young people what they might expect from our program, and what we might expect from them. From our side we will not, for example, promise a solution to all known problems, just as we will not expect from the youngsters a miraculous cessation of the anxieties and behaviours which brought them to us.
Nevertheless our program is more than a neutral ball of cotton wool. We do have program goals, and methods to pursue them. And, however much time we set apart for respite and reassurance and for getting to know each other, we must soon enough start work on these goals.
This is where the contract idea is useful. At the outset we will indicate the issues we are going to be working at, and both staff and youth will know that in due course these issues will arise. So we say "We will be talking about this and working at this."
Often it is embarrassing to raise a sore issue with a youth, an issue which has, for example, been a source of conflict or failure or pain. We may even be tempted ourselves to avoid raising the issue, being (as we often are) ‘scared of the sight of blood’.
But when we say up front "We will be talking about this, we will be working on this", the subject is already on the table. The youth will probably start working at it, putting ideas into words, preparing.
