Youngsters give local decision makers a piece of their minds
YOUNGSTERS battled it out to be named champions this week as they took to the stage to give the county's top decision makers a piece of their minds.
A group of young people from Hailsham Community College were crowned victorious as 11 Million Champions in the competition held at the University of Sussex.
11 Million, named such because there are around 11 million young people in the UK, is a national initiative to get young people involved in democracy. It asks councils and other bodies across the country to ask young people what they would like to see happen in their area; giving them a real part in decision making.
As part of the event East Sussex County Council asked young people to come up with ideas and issues which were important to them. Back in November groups of youngsters from schools across the county took over the council chambers in Lewes to hear what the county council, PCT, police and other partners had planned for the future.
They were then allocated topics to look into and worked with their classmates on ideas for how they would improve services for young people.
They presented these ideas to an audience made up of top officials from the health service, the police, community partnerships and East Sussex County Council.
The winning group from Hailsham Community College tackled the subject of health; talking to young people about the problems teenagers face when trying to get help and advice about their well being including from general health advice, sexual health and substance misuse. They produced a series of videos demonstrating the frustrations young people can face. In a survey of their peers they found the school nurse was a really important source of information. This will feed into the ongoing work by the PCT to reach young people on health related subjects.
Groups from two Eastbourne schools, Bishop Bell and Eastbourne Technology College, looked at the image the wider general public have of teenagers.
Both schools approached their local newspaper and spoke to them about their concerns. They also spoke to teachers from other schools and produced videos and posters.
As a result the communications team at East Sussex County Council promised to work closely with those young people to do even more to promote positive images of the younger generation.
They plan to work with a group of young people on a poster campaign promoting the good work young people in the county are doing and talked to them about the work they do with the public and local media in promoting positive youth activities.
Bishop Bell also came up with the idea of an award for young people which showcased all the good work that young people are doing in their community.
St Richard's Catholic College came up with ideas to make schools in the county really embrace the green agenda. They spoke to their own school business manager about the costs schools have to consider when going green. They produced an action plan for all schools including simple but effective tasks to make sure everyone is doing their best to reduce carbon emissions.
Councillor Meg Stroude, East Sussex County Council's Lead Member for Children and Families, said, "At East Sussex we think it is really important that we don't just pay lip service to listening to young people but instead act on what they have told us and make decisions that affect their lives in the right way. I am always very impressed with the intelligent and thoughtful comments and ideas that our young people have and I am delighted that we can show them how their input can make a difference."
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Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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Wind direction: East
