Why Young Leaders are the best

I’ve been a Senior Section/Ranger leader since 2007 and what I’ve seen in my district is that Young Leaders are undervalued.

Plenty of units have them but mostly they’re an older girl who doesn’t want to leave or a daughter who’s not allowed to leave or something of that sort. They turn up every week and do as they’re told and do the washing-up afterwards and that’s great but the unit team aren’t using them to their full potential – and that’s bad for the Young Leader as well as for the unit.

Properly used, a Young Leader can be an amazing liaison between the girls and the adults, for a start. I’ve probably told this story before but when we took our Guides to camp a few years ago, we had one thirteen-and-a-half-year-old and seven ten/eleven-year-olds. That was fine, mostly. Except Older Guide didn’t want to get changed in the tent in front of the younger girls. It’s not the sort of question she wanted to bring to the adults so she quietly spoke to the Young Leader who told her she could always go in one of the toilets or showers in the hygiene block if she wanted somewhere private to change. Older Guide was satisfied and there was no embarrassment needed.

They can do the same sort of thing for non-camp related things, obviously. There will be times when girls have questions or problems that they’re embarrassed to ask an adult but might be ok asking a Young leader. On that theme, do you know about Peer Educators? They’re a Girlguiding initiative whereby girls of Young Leader/Ranger age are trained to deliver sessions on various issues to girls – the theory being that Guides and Brownies and Rainbows might take to them more easily from someone younger than they might from their leader – “You don’t understand, you’re old!” vs “Huh, they go to school with my big sister, they probably do understand”, that sort of thing. You’ve probably got some in your county who might come to your unit and run a session – get in touch with your commissioners or your county office and ask. Encourage your Young Leader into it, maybe.

Second, you can get as much use out of a Young Leader as an Adult Leader. They’re an extra pair of hands, just like Tawny Owl. Sure, you might not ask them to arrange a day out or a whole meeting and you definitely can’t miss a night and leave them in charge because they’re underage and don’t have the right suitcase of qualifications yet but even the newest and shyest of Young Leaders can organise a game for the unit and with some practice and support, they can run an an activity and then plan an activity. That’s the key – practice and support. Treat them like the other adults but give them just a bit more TLC. Have the adults on hand while it’s happening to make sure the girls are giving her the same respect they’re supposed to give the adults, by the way – don’t just vanish to a dark corner with a coffee for a nice breather and chat. When you plan your programme, you include the adults – “Brown Owl is going to organise this entire evening, Snowy is going to do this activity the week after and Tawny is going to do that one, and Little Owl, are you busy with exams or can you do this too?” I know adults feel like the busiest people on the planet but bear in mind teenagers have some horrendous revision and exam schedules, particularly at Young Leader age, so check they’ve got the space in their life if they need to organise anything between meetings.

Third, these girls are turning up every week. They’re coming and volunteering their time and they deserve to get something for that. The Young Leader Qualification, specifically. At their age, everything on their CV and college/uni applications is just their exams qualifications/expectations. Give your Young Leader the gift of standing out from the crowd. A YLQ demonstrates commitment, teamwork, leadership skills, planning and organisation and a ton of good stuff, all wrapped up in a nationally-recognised youth work qualification. It’ll probably feel like a lot of extra work just when they don’t want to be doing extra work but I’ve sort of managed it on their behalfs a few times and made sure that everything they need to do for the qualification is popped into the timetable, plus a few sessions snatched alone to discuss whatever discussion points come up.

If you’re a new leader yourself, it might feel quite intimidating to help someone else through their qualification. There’s nothing to it. It’s a slightly stripped-back version of what you’ve just done yourself, or what you’re just doing.

Here’s the link to the page on the Girlguiding website about it.

At the bottom is the link to the workbook. There’s step-by-step instructions on how to do it – 6 modules with each step clearly marked and a place to sign, there’s hints and tips and explanations all the way through and there’s also a document on that page called Guidance for Leaders to help them help their YLs through the qualification. Keep as much evidence as you can, just like when you did your own ALQ, get the workbook signed by anyone who witnessed it, including the girls.

Plus, a whole lot of the YLQ can be directly transferred to the ALQ which makes converting Young Leaders into Adult Leaders less daunting! There’s a list on the last page of the workbook, so make sure the girls hang onto their evidence file after they’ve finished!

Fourth, Young Leaders are such a well of fresh ideas. I know you’ve got leaders in your district who’ve been doing the same thing since they began in the 70s. The same games, the same songs, the same camps, the same everything. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but neither is it a bad thing for your fourteen-year-old YL to say “I’ve got an idea…” We all know that we’re losing girls and we’re losing leaders and units are closing and new ones aren’t opening to replace them. New ideas could help change that and new ideas come from new members. Treasure your Young Leaders’ ideas.

Value your Young Leaders: they’re more than just helpers and washers-up.