At last Norfolk County Council’s Children’s Services Review Panel has agreed to look at how we can improve the public image of our youngsters. At the last meeting (March 19) it was agreed to look closely at how Children’s Services can help improve the image of young people by launching a scrutiny exercise to investigate the issues and report back to the Panel. It has taken me a year to persuade fellow councillors to include this item to look at how we support the image of our young people.
We spend an inordinately long time talking about them. Norfolk County Council spends most of its funds (more than £1billion each year) on young people under 18. The largest share is spent in schools who actually only have responsibility for our younger citizens for just over 14% of their lives between the ages of 5 to 16.
I am writing this post to offer you a chance to comment so that I can help represent all of my constituents not just the ones who are allowed to vote. So if you are young, and care about your views being heard, or like me closer to 95 than 15 and still wish to give your opinions, then please use the below questions as a stimulus for comments.
- Young people cannot vote until they are 18 and often don’t after that – should this be changed?
- How often do adults think of talking with the young and not just to them?
- How often do adults listen?
- Do the police and press focus on this very narrow set of its community in a fair-minded way or do they just focus on the negative issues?
- Is there any real opportunity for young people to engage in forming their own destiny?
- Does citizenship in school do it for you? (teachers and other adults are very welcomed to comment too)
- If you had control of the press what would you focus on about young people?
I am hoping to recruit a number of scrutiny “witnesses” for this project from the media and young people. I have already contacted a couple of young people, who I have previously worked with, to form part of the scrutiny group with fellow councillors. (I need not expand on what age group they will be!)
If you have views that you wish to share please leave a comment below.
If you wish to contact me directly. (email)
If you are young and wish to try another way to input to NCC then try norfolkblurb.
4 responses so far ↓
Pam // 27 March, 2008 at 11:43 am |
Hi Peter
Great idea but what about teaming up with a young person from a local high school who is interested in this issue and asking them to contribute to your blog and perhaps devise some appropriate questions for your survey?
Cheers
Pam
Georgie // 30 March, 2008 at 12:16 pm |
As a teenager myself, I have witnessed a variety of things which I have believed to be grossly unfair to teenagers as a whole. We are human beings too, and are sociable creatures, the same as adults, we just don’t have the pleasure of a private area to go and socialise. Everyone has been a teenager, we are no worse than any other generation, yet are treated as a second-class species, just set out to cause trouble.
This of course is not true. I’m sure the small percentage of ‘teenage yobs’ who do cause trouble is exactly the same percentage as the small minority of adults who show anti-social behaviour, it is just not publicised as much. We are completely ostracised by the press and society as a whole, with many people scared of all teenagers, due to the sensationalist nature of the media.
From my experience, both the police and other important authorities are biased against teenagers, and frighteningly many actually believe that the majority of teenagers are yobs. This perception has to be changed, and measures have to be introduced to make teenagers feel more included in society, and not simply pushed aside. Perhaps part of the cause of anti social behaviour is because teenagers feel they have no control over their own lives. They are told what to do 24/7, and are constantly supervised. Part of being a teenager is finding out who you are as an individual – this means making your own decisions, making your own mistakes, and being able to do it freely. The constant nannying is inevitably going to lead some to rebel against the authorities. They should be working together as equals instead.
As far as the voting age question is concerned, I do believe if you can fight and die for your country you should be able to vote for who puts you there. This means either lowering the voting age, or, ideally, increasing the recruiting age in the army. However, citizenship is severely flawed in schools, I learnt nothing about politics in ‘main school’ and many are not aware of who the PM is! Surely part of the education system should include how our democracy works and how individuals can play a part in it, as well as how laws are passed and time to research the different parties – without the ridiculously censored school networks kicking in every time you put anything which may be deemed slightly controversial. Surely school should be a time for exploring these controversial topics, whilst being guided in the right direction by a responsible adult, so we can all make an informed decision of whom we vote for.
Spaceport // 19 June, 2008 at 2:32 am |
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Spaceport.
Peter Chamberlin // 23 July, 2008 at 12:39 pm |
A very good idea – it’s about time young people were given a break.
It is no surprise to me that people act antisocially when they are snubbed, frowned at, avoided in the street and vilified in every organ of the media.
It’s not the kids causing the problem; it’s the paranoia of the (so called) grown ups that is running rampant.