Democracy Coalition for Children & Young People - News

News

 Empower young people and strengthen democracy! - 08/02/08

Bridget Prentice, MP for Lewisham East and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, met young representatives from the British Youth Council (BYC) and the English Secondary Students’ Association (ESSA) in the House of Commons on 5th February to discuss the Governments strategy so far and what was needed for the future.

Democracy Minister Bridget Prentice said:

"The youth of today are the decision makers of tomorrow. It is vital to ignite their interest in democracy, for their voices to be heard and for them to have a stake in the political process. It is a myth that young people are not interested in politics. I know from my visits that they are passionately interested in issues as diverse as reducing the voting age to 16, climate change, crime and local transport. However we have to make formal politics more relevant to capitalise on this interest."

Within the debate calls were made to strengthen the opportunities for young people to get involved in politics at a local level; for example within school or youth councils or as young mayors.

BYC Chair, Emily Beardsmore stressed in her speech to the Minister how:

Young people feeling that someone is listening to them and their point of view, will go a long way to renew their belief in politics. If young people were able to vote at 16, participate in a local youth council in every local authority in the UK, and had the opportunity to engage their elected representatives then we might see more engagement of young people.

Commenting after the event Jack Lewars, National Student Support Officer at ESSA said:

"It was an interesting and stimulating discussion. It is important for organisations that represent young people to work closely on issues of crucial importance to young people, and also to see the Government actively listening to the views of our organisations".

Wake Up Call! - What does the Government need to do to engage with young people? - 21/01/08

Young people from the British Youth Council (BYC) and English Secondary Studemts Association (ESSA) will give their unique perspectives on the Government’s approach to date while feeding in ideas on what more is needed. Bridget Prentice MP will then respond to the young people’s presentations and set out the future plans for the democratic engagement of young people.

The event will mix presentations from the above speakers with questions from the floor to ensure all sides of the debate are represented.

Who should attend: Voluntary and statutory organisations with an interest in promoting youth democracy

Where: Committee Room 6, House of Commons via St. Stephens Entrance: click here for map

When: 5th February 2008 at 9:00 am - 10:00am.

Wake Up Call! - What can MPs do to engage with young people? - 08/10/07

Join Natascha Engel MP and young people at a Breakfast Briefing in Westminster on Wednesday October 25, 2007, 9am - 10am

The Respect? Advisory Group will discuss the campaign’s successful work in conjunction with the British Youth Council and YouthNet in challenging stereotypes of young people. They will also talk about their research into how MPs could better engage with young people. Natascha Engel MP will respond to the young people’s findings and discuss what MPs can do to engage with young people in their constituencies.

Who should attend: Voluntary and statutory organisations with an interest in promoting youth democracy.

Where: Committee Room 16, House of Commons via St Stephens Entrance.

When: Wednesday October 25, 2007, 9am - 10am.

 David Kidney MP wins FYI award

The DCCYP awarded the inaugural For Youth Involvement Award to David Kidney MP on 14 November 2006 at the People and Politics Day conference, acknowledging his work with young people in care.

David, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers was nominated for the award by Samantha Block, a young care leaver who now works for care organisation A National Voice. Samantha noted: “David has changed my views of politicians because he is so passionate about young people being given a say – at the Party Parliamentary Group he always makes sure that we can speak first before the professionals. He has worked hard to find ways in which care leavers and looked after children can speak out.”

Congratulations David!

Keep an eye out for details for next year’s FYI Awards.

Closer to People and Places: A Democracy wake-up call with guest Lord Bruce-Lockhart, Chairman of the Local Government Association, 19 October 2006

The DCCYP is hosting a series of ‘Democracy Wake-Up Calls' – events which allow our members to engage with the most powerful voices in the youth democracy debate

Our third ’Wake-up call' will focus on the Local Government Association's new vision for local government – Closer to People and Places. It includes proposals to give people back power and influence over their lives and address the crisis of trust and cynicism with politicians and democracy. The event takes place during this year’s Local Democracy Week; places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Venue: Rooms 7.1 and 7.2, Local Government House, Smith Square, London

Time: 19 October 2006. 9.00am for 9.15 start. Breakfast will be served.

RSVP: david.clark@byc.org.uk

The Power to make things better? The DCCYP in conversation with Baroness Kennedy 25th May 2006

The Coalition was delighted to welcome Helena Kennedy QC, Chair of the Power Inquiry as guest speaker at our second Wake-Up Call.

This is a summary of Helena’s contribution, outlining the Power Inquiry’s findings as to why people up and down the country are so disillusioned with politicians and their politics and what should be done to change this.

“We had to explode some myths – it just isn’t the case that young people are apathetic.”
• Young people are impassioned about many political issues but not by party politics.
• The issue-based politics of the ‘public’ is out of synch with politics as played out by politicians in Westminster, Holyrood or Cardiff Bay.

“Our politics seems to happen behind a veil.”
• A lack of transparency in our politics has increased young people’s distrust of politicians.
• Centralised party control has made our political system considerably less rich and means that it is hard for the public to get the full picture of political debates.

“Politicians need to be persuaded of the seriousness of not listening to young people – who are after all tomorrow’s voters.”
• Party campaigning is now concentrated on the few swing voters in the centre ground meaning that everyone else, including most young people, are effectively ignored.

“Young people can sniff out hypocrisy straight away so adults in all parts of society must live by the values that we plan to teach.”
• The values that make young people good citizens cannot be taught in schools. They need to be embedded in the way we live and evident throughout our society.
• The media portrayal of young people and the current debate around anti-social behaviour, stereotypes young people and can only serve to increase their sense of alienation from politics.

“There is a clear need for more rigorous understanding of democratic systems to be built into our education system.”
• It is difficult for teachers to prioritise citizenship in the exam-orientated curriculum and we should investigate how schools can employ people over and above classroom based teachers to act as citizenship advocates.
• The art of debating should be revitalised as a channel for young people to engage with political issues.

“We need an end to phoney campaigns and the focus group culture where young people are ‘consulted’ but rarely listened to in any meaningful way.”
• Space needs to be created for participation of young people in the wider lives of communities.
• Citizenship education must be accompanied by changes to our democratic processes to ensure the voices of young people are listened to by politicians.
• Young people could be empowered by the devolution of funds to local decision-making bodies.

“Having been quite sceptical at the start of the Inquiry, I have been strongly persuaded of the case for lowering the voting age to 16.”
• There are strong parallels between the debate about the voting age and the historical debates on extending the franchise to women and those not owning property.
• If 16 year olds could vote, politicians would take their views more seriously and make more effort to communicate with young people.
• Voting at 16 would enable a seamless transition from learning about democracy in schools to practicing it at the ballot box.
• Voter registration could be linked to the receipt of your national insurance number at 16.

“In this day and age voting every 4 – 5 years is simply not enough for most people.”
• The public should have a much greater role in initiating political debate and legislation such as the petitioning system in the Scottish Parliament.
• We need the legislative architecture in place in order to provoke cultural change.

“Central to our recommendations was the move to a responsive electoral system.”
• Proportional representation will offer voters a greater choice and diversity of parties and candidates.
• A fairer voting system will help reconnect people to politics and particularly young people who have less allegiance to political parties and whose interests are not being served by the dominance of the two main parties.

“We need all of you to get behind the recommendations of the Power Inquiry to translate them into action.”
• Power will look into translating the report into youth-friendly language and format.
• To find out more about the findings of the Power Inquiry download the report at www.powerinquiry.org/

Drop us an email at info@democracycoalition.org.uk to let us know what you think about any of Helenas comments.

Wake-up and listen! The DCCYP lobbies policy maker in their inaugural event. (23rd March)

Last month saw the DCCYP's first 'Democracy Wake-up Call' a series of events designed to provide an opportunity for organisations and individuals with an interest in increasing young people's involvement in our democracy, to inform and influence key policy-makers.

The Wake-up call series was kicked off by Justine Greening, MP, Vice Chair of the Conservative Party with responsibility for youth. Justine talked passionately to the group about the Conservatives' plans to engage with and involve children and young people in the democratic process.

In a lively discussion that followed young people and workers from a wide-array of organisations talked about innovative ways in which we can make our democracy better for young people. There was a general consensus that politicians need to try harder; "Nothing changes quickly, young people don't go from being switched off to switched on that quickly. It's a big job."

Innovative approaches to getting more young people involved in politics were also thought to be needed and many talked about reaching young people through channels that they are familiar with - particularly the media.

At the end of the event Justine praised the coalition saying that they "will provide an invaluable role in getting today and tomorrow's representatives to make sure that young people are at the heart of today's democracy."

If you've got any thoughts about the Conservatives' efforts to engage with young voters it would be great to hear from you. Drop us in email at info@democracycoalition.org.uk.

The Democracy Coalition is supported in it's work by: