Yobs, mosquitos and pink lights

In Britain we don’t really like children and teenagers. Just think about it – children and teenagers get a bad press. The media love to call them ‘yobs’, ‘thugs’ and ‘feral’. It wouldn’t be acceptable for mosquitos (a device that emits a high-pitched piercing sound that can’t be heard beyond the age of 25) to be used against any other section of the population to keep them away from a public place. The latest invention is a pink light that shows up acne to embarrass teenagers into vacating public areas. In short, children and teenagers are, more often than not, treated as a nuisance by society, or portrayed as something to be scared of. Yet when we think about equality we usually forget to talk about how young people are treated.

I recently told a friend that I was running a consultation event to gather young people’s opinions on things that affect them. He laughed and said “do they just grunt?”. I retorted a little defensively “If they did just grunt I would be doing a very bad job at facilitation”. The reality is so different to his perception. The young people I’m in contact with through my work have really good, practical ideas. They’re straight to the point, quick-thinking and solution-focused. They’re creative and they remind you about important, obvious things that adults have forgotten. They’re not interested in things being slick, instead they want to know whether you really care. And they’re willing to work with you even when things aren’t perfect. Most of all they bring enthusiasm, humour and energy.

The group of young people I’m talking about don’t come from easy backgrounds. They’ve got a dad in prison, or a mum they’ve been taken away from, or a dad who is heroin addict, or a family who have lived with domestic violence. And yet they show incredible resilience. We have to listen to children and teenagers and respect them, not only because they’re the future but because they are the here and now, because they’re equal citizens even though they can’t vote, and because they have so much to contribute, if only we would let them.

My first hustings…

The starting gun has been fired for the General Election campaign in Cheltenham. We may not know the date of the election yet. But as the students who attended the recent hustings at Gloucestershire University saw, the parties are very much in campaign mode. There were the party political sideswipes and top lines clear to hear. But what was most exciting about the discussion was that it didn’t descend into party political point scoring. The debate was most successful in that it offered an open and honest appraisal of the different parties’ policy positions.

On higher education we were all agreed on the need to prioritise investment (though I remain unconvinced to say the least about whether the Tories would put their money where their mouth is). Where we disagreed was on Labour’s aspiration to see 50% of young people choose university. Both of the other candidates viewed this as an unrealistic goal and the Liberal went as far as saying that it was undesirable. My response. They may not believe in Labour’s aspiration, but over 50% of young people from every socio economic group do. These people want to go to university. We should ensure that they can.

A woman in the audience put the argument best when she said, “because of this government my children were the first in our family to go to university. I am incredibly proud of them.” A point well made.

The discussion continued in a similar vein throughout the night. Thrust and counter thrust, each candidate jostled for position. But I felt throughout the debate that I had one weapon in my arsenal that they couldn’t match. Labour’s record in government.

When a resident raised the issue of crime I could tell him that crime was down by a third and that Labour had invested at record levels to ensure he had a dedicated police team in his area.

When a member of the audience talked about the challenges of his disability I could point to the Disability Discrimination Act and Labour’s work driving through the most comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in the world.

When a student asked about higher education I could tell him that investment was up 25%, research activity had doubled and that students were responding with their feet with 300,000 more in university since 1997.

It was my first hustings and at times I felt like I was on the high wire without a net. But it was a great experience and one that offered me the opportunity to make the case for Labour in Cheltenham loud and clear.

James Green is Anticipations Editor and Labour PPC for Cheltenham. He blogs at www.jamesgreen.org.uk.