Who represents the voice of the young? by Kezia Dugdale

2020-10-30 20:47:31 UTC

Democracy involves the representation of all groups in society which is why decisions made by the Government need to take into account the views of young people also. Organisations such as YoungScot and LGBT Youth Scotland work with young people across the country and carry out surveys, questionnaires and consultations to gather the thoughts of young people and the issues that matter to them. Through engagement with youth organisations and MSYPs that are elected to represent the views of young people in their constituency, where they gather thoughts through hosting youth forums and attending community groups, the Government will be able to get a brief idea of what young people think.

2020-11-02 11:00:08 UTC

The Scottish Youth Parliament is great, but might attract a certain type of person, and so other voices might be left out

2020-11-03 10:33:26 UTC

show up in the spaces for young people such as schools, colleges, universities, youth centres and training schemes. We cannot just rely on young people coming to politicians with their issues and concerns. This is because young people who would really benefit from having their voice heard may not reach out due to being demotivated, feeling let down, not having the confidence or not having the awareness that they could make a difference. It is up to politicians to reach out and establish a trust with young people so they feel able to share their views with them. This will then ensure that we hear from young people from a variety of backgrounds which the youth parliament may not be able to do on it's own.

2020-11-03 12:08:53 UTC

Of course their contributions are worthy but it by no means represents all young people as like you said in your lecture we are not a homogenous group of people. A way to perhaps tackle this issue of making sure everyone's voices are heard is by having representatives in all areas and perhaps handing out leaflets etc to people on the street to fill out, that way you are getting a different range of people.

The Youth Parliament does not represent the voices of young people at all, those who are most deprived and in need of support aren't those who are involved with youth parliament. Furthermore, the youth parliament doesn't address the systemic issues of politics in scotland but rather just creates a smaller version of it.

2020-11-04 11:30:52 UTC

While definitely worth having, these opportunities are definitely more encouraged and culturally commendable in better affluent areas, whereas children in less affluent areas will not be as encouraged to get involved by their school and peers.

2020-11-04 12:37:57 UTC

2020-11-04 14:10:45 UTC

Children's Parliament seems a little tokenistic, as does the Youth Parliament to a lesser extent. The best means of ensuring voices are heard is probably by going out into the community and seeking views and experiences felt by groups more representative of the population, rather than expecting them to come to you. MPs/MSPs don't accurately reflect the population in terms of gender, socioeconomic status or race so participation in YP is probably similar

2020-11-04 19:31:28 UTC

The Scottish Youth Parliament is an excellent youth voice charity and educates its participants well on campaigning skills and the policy making process. However they do not function effectively as a real representative body, as voter turnout and accountability are so poor. Like many youth voice organisations it struggles to maintain the balance of young people as participants, and young people as elected representatives of their peers. This recent update on the state of youth representation in Scotland is a useful resource- http://www.beingheardscotland.com/BeingHeard-June2020.pdf
And youth-led ALYVEUK are also currently researching this area-
https://www.alyveuk.org/our-voice-our-future

2020-11-05 13:51:20 UTC

I would agree with the above statement and the examples posted in this column - the youth parliament is likely to be filled with those from educated and affluent backgrounds - not because they are the only young people interested in politics but because young people from deprived backgrounds may lack confidence, may lack time due to the need to work or help with home caring commitments, and many other reasons that I'm sure are known to people on this course. There is definitely a need to seek out the opinions of young people from places like schools and colleges but also from job centres, the opinions of young parents, of young carers and so on. We think of young people as just those floating between education and work but there are people who's voices aren't being heard because they don't have the time or resources to step away from caring commitments in order to make the change they want to see. Their voices need to be sought out.

An Inside Perspective on SYP

2020-11-05 16:04:15 UTC

Thought it might be useful to offer an insider's perspective - I was in the Scottish Youth Parliament for three years and was Chair for 18 months. Fully aware that (a) I'm speaking from a biased position, and (b) the Youth Parliament isn't by any means fully representative of young people in Scotland, but it might be useful to share some inside knowledge so to speak.

In SYP's last elections around 71,000 votes were cast, which is roughly 10% of young people resident in Scotland. Obviously we would like this to be higher, but in terms of the infrastructure we have, I think it's an alright turnout! It's also worth noting that SYP is the only institution to have any sort of democratic mandate to represent the views of young people in Scotland, and it covers every constituency in Scotland. We also think it's really important to include harder-to-reach young people in our work, which is why we have Members specifically representing groups like LGBT Youth Scotland, Who Cares? Scotland and the Carers Trust.

We take a census at the start of every membership, and our 17-19 and 19-21 memberships have been diverse and representative. We have an even 10% split of members from every decile of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (https://simd.scot/#/simd2016/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/), so claims that only affluent and well-educated young people engage with SYP are unfounded. Furthermore, we have a higher proportion of female, LGBTQI+ and BAME members than most other parliaments around the world. In fact, most minority groups are over-represented when compared with Scottish society as a whole, which I think is great! So I would say that SYP is representative in this sense. More info is available here: https://syp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/MSYP-Diversity-2019-21.pdf

We've achieved a lot so it's not just a tokenistic thing - government ministers have credited the youth parliament as a key reason why legislation like the incorporation of the UNCRC and the banning of assault against children have passed, and we've campaigned for things like Votes at 16, equal marriage and a ban on smoking in public places throughout the 21 years we've been active.

In terms of youth parliaments attracting mini politicians, our census found that only 21.8% of the current membership wish to go on to elected office. SYP isn't necessarily about politics, it's about making a positive change and our members recognise there are several routes to do that.

There are several areas where I think SYP could definitely improve its representativeness, for example amongst older young people in the 18-25 age bracket, however a lot of this is limited by the low levels of funding we receive from the Scottish Government. I also think that SYP alone is not sufficient to say that young people are taken into account, as then it becomes tokenistic and too easy for politicians! But, in a global context it's a unique organisation with a strong track record of successful campaigning acumen, which is generally more representative than most actual parliaments are.

If you'd like to know more, you can reach me on Teams (Jack Dudgeon)! Always happy to chat. Alternatively, the SYP website is: https://syp.org.uk/

2020-11-08 12:13:38 UTC

I think it needs to be on a basis of the topic really - to ask who represents the young you have to ask who are the people who will be affected by these policies - if you don't know then go to schools, take surveys from children from a range of backgrounds and geographies and then once you've identified a group then you can go more in depth in terms of consulting them in the process. The youth parliament in Scotland is undoubtedly a big help and I think is in no way tokenistic as they have made significant differences and encouraged young people to be more involved with politics and policy, because they feel they have a voice.

2020-11-10 10:49:09 UTC

I think the SYP is important but for it to be better representative there needs to be more information about it in school. My school barely mentioned anything about the SYP during my time except for a small poster in the school office. For it to be more effective and representative school visits or more activities or work within schools, particularly in areas of high deprivation may be useful in ensuring better representation.

Youth parliament is an amazing idea as this allows youths to have more of a say regarding policies introduced and allows for modifications depending on the feedback.

2021-11-02 11:32:00 UTC

The Youth Parliament is definitely an asset for youth politics and legislation but it does not represent the majority of groups of young people. When it comes to economic background, some of the most deprived youth can be left out of the conversation. Reaching out to different groups is key for proper representation and successful coverage of all matters that affect youth.

vasilikikatsorida — 2021-11-03 09:47:01 UTC

place for youth parliament

anon111222 — 2021-11-03 13:35:13 UTC

while I wholeheartedly agree with this program I do not think it represents all children and young adults. Particularly those who are vulnerable. I find it sad that even today young people in Scotland are denied a voice if they have any kind of brain abnormality.

I think the initiative must be expanded into all schools and educational establishments where there is a place young people can go and seek advice on their rights and be fully supported and listened to.

2021-11-03 18:12:38 UTC

I think that harder to access and less politically aware young people cannot be an afterthought and must be sought out to hear their opinions for all that affects them. If you have people who work ongoingly with these groups and can come back to them showing how their voice has shaped policy they may be more likely to use their own initiative to enter that realm and to become more engaged.

Youth parliaments allow young people to be involved in poltical discussions and based on their recent census seem fairly representative across socioeconomic background, ethnicity sexual orientation etc. While the actual pariliament may be reprsentative, there needs to be more work to link MSYP's to young people from a range of social backgrounds, few people actually vote in these elections so its difficult to judge how representive their decisions are for the wider population

2023-10-27 16:19:01 UTC

2023-10-30 19:15:28 UTC

I believe that more should be done to include the voices of diverse groups of young people. I agree that the Scottish Youth Parliament is an effective mouthpiece for young people, but it cannot be the only one. Jamie Greene mentioned in his interview that there is not enough engagement by Y.P in government committees and that this needs to change. Eva Murray mentioned that she thinks there needs to be a bigger push to work with Y.P from less affluent areas, otherwise there will not be an effective representation of all issues faced by Y.P. Therefore, it is clear that the Government needs to carry out a more randomised selection process or reach out to different groups, in order to gain a better understanding of a wider demographic.