Lunch and Learn

'Safeguarding Young People: Risk, Rights, Resilience and Relationships'

21st November 2023 - 12.00pm - 1.30pm

Speaker: Dez Holmes

Summary: 

This session will offer an overview of key messages from the book of the same title, edited by Dez Holmes. It will propose that, in trying to address harms facing young people, there is a danger of focusing on risk without taking into account three other crucial factors relevant to a young person’s sense of safety: their rights, their relationships, and their resilience. Each chapter tries to explore a different facet of safeguarding young people, offering food for thought and inviting reflection and critical thinking. Complexity – even sometimes contradiction – is part of the context for working with young people.

Like the book, this session will draw on learning from research, practice wisdom and expertise from those with lived experience, recognising that different sources of knowledge offer complementary insights and there is no definitive ‘answer’ or ‘fix’.