POWER TO THE
HOODIES
In July 2008, 15 year-old Amy McKinley spent
a week working in Richard Burden’s Westminster office. Here she
gives some of her thoughts on young people and politics.
In recent times the media has generalised teenagers and young
people as hoody-wearing, knife-carrying, ringtone-playing , loud,
obnoxious, noisy, rude, thieving, careless, murdering crazed
psychopaths that either smoke, binge drink, take drugs or are
pregnant under-age. Or, quite commonly, all of them. Whilst this
may be true to some, it is not true to all.
Many young people and teenagers have a very strong moral and
social conscience; many of us believe that climate change needs to
be taken more seriously by the larger countries in the world and
that the attitude which richer countries take towards the ‘third
world’ countries is, quite frankly, appalling. Young people should
have as much right to decide how the country is run as anyone
else.
Whilst the good that teenagers spread is rarely noted, the bad
is talked about in volumes. It is important to know about the bad
things, but if we are constantly bombarded with them then a
stereotype builds up - and this is what has happened to young
people. I shall use myself as an example: I am fifteen and have
done a week’s work experience with Richard Burden MP, I am a St
John Ambulance Cadet and I support Amnesty International. Yet,
despite all of this, many people are scared of me when I walk down
a street wearing a black hoody with the hood down.
I and many other like-minded teenagers believe that we should
have a greater say in how the country is run. Apart from involving
the younger generation, this would change many stereotypical views
of teenagers and young people.
There is an organisation known as the Youth Parliament but
I have only ever heard of it once and I have little knowledge of
what it does or what it achieves. The same seems to apply to others
my age. I strongly believe that its structure needs to be addressed
and that its profile must be raised for young people to feel that
it is helping. We want to get involved and we want to be heard. As
a younger generation with many views we should be listened to; not
least because we might have valuable contributions and ideas. It is
often forgotten that children are very creative and are
scientifically proven to be more logical so why are we ignored or
labelled as dangerous and treated like villains? Sometimes I think
the Government forgets about the majority of the youth population,
a section that honestly cares about how the country – and the world
– is run.
As teenagers we aren’t allowed to vote until we reach eighteen
and so our opinions don’t seem to matter to the parties in
parliament. I have never known a party reach out to children my age
and ask what we want and what we need. When the
decision was made to go to war in Iraq, many many children
disagreed with the idea but we were frowned upon by adults when we
joined in the protests – this was due to not attending school, but
school should not be used as an excuse for our opinions to be
ignored. I want to join Amnesty and I can’t become a full member
until I am eighteen. All teenagers understand that we’re young and
we need protection but some of us have really strong views that
should be taken into account regardless of our age.
Even in small decisions like whether a park should be
refurbished or not, it would be nice to be consulted. After all,
the park is for children and if the government isn’t going to
accept our opinions as young adults then they should accept our
opinions as children. Adults can say that we’re not responsible or
that we don’t really care or that the park is meant for little
children – but we deserve to have a say in what happens in our
area. Children are the users of public parks and our views should
be listened to. The Government wants to give more power to local
communities and it would be nice if some of that power went to
children.
Perhaps if children were given some power, some responsibility
and some trust then it would help to prevent problems such as knife
crime and anti-social behaviour. What happens to us as children
affects the rest of our lives. Having responsibility can help a lot
of children and it would be nice for the Government to try and let
us help ourselves.
Amy McKinley 11/07/08
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