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A few weeks back one of my colleagues in school (the day job) asked a group of girls to sing a song he had heard them perform at a recent talent night. They performed it really beautifully, but then that's to be expected I guess. After all, our school has a great musical tradition, having produced the Cure and the Feeling and a lot of other less famous performers who didn't feel the need to use the definite article!

Anyway, I went up to the girls afterwards to congratulate them on their amazing singing and I asked them if they had written the song. They laughed, and told me that it was by Mumford & Sons.

Now, I had heard of Mumford & Sons, which is to say that I was aware that they were a group who were probably in the charts, but beyond that I couldn't tell you a single thing about them. So, I just replied with 'oh' and repeated my congratulations while revisiting that all too common feeling that I am hopelessly out of touch with popular culture.

When it comes to movies and (some) TV shows, I'm pretty good. Just don't ask me about TOWIE, or about Made in Chelsea or about any of these performance/ judge/ getting voted off kind of shows! When it comes to music though, I'm pretty hopeless. I firmly believe that music peaked in the mid-1990s when I was a Sixth Former, and I haven't paid that much attention since then, apart from the odd bit of James Blunt and Polly Paulausma here and there.

I often wonder to what extend youth workers should try to stay in touch with teen culture. Are we being false and playing to a terrible stereotype if we try and get down with the kids? Should we just be honest about who we are and trust that our love for the young people will get us through? Or should we at least take an interest?

I guess there's a middle line. One which I will explain with reference to hoodies:

Back in the last decade when I started out in youth ministry I saw a load of youth workers wearing hoodies, and I swore I would never follow suit. Hoodies were, after all, a blatant attempt by youth workers to ingratiate themselves to young people, and I was never going to stoop that low. Sometime in the middle of the last decade though, I was given a hoody and I just loved it. The hood is really useful when you're cold, or when it's raining, the big pocket at the front is really handy and comfortable and the whole garment... well, it just basically works for me.

Nowadays, If I don't have a pressing need to look smart or keep cool, you can pretty much bet that I'll be wearing a hoody. I love it. And it's made me reassess the motives of those youth workers I saw wearing them back in the day too!

Maybe that's the right line to take. We should expose ourselves to culture and then be honest about what we like. I think young people will probably respect the combination of honesty and making an effort more than anything else, so maybe listening to Radio 1 or watching the latest TV craze isn't so bad once in a while. I suppose that the opposing dangers here are being false and, at the other end of the spectrum, being disengaged. Taking an interest and then being honest is probably the right line to take.

I downloaded a Mumford & Sons album last week to see what all the fuss was about. After all, the song I heard those girls perform was awesome. I still think that music peaked in the 1990s, but this group have got some game!

By the way, the good people at YouthMin.org, who are far more with it than me recently published a list of 20 songs to get for your youth group. Have a look...

JR

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