Two young people from Wallace High School are playing a key role in building a future for young people in Northern Ireland. An initial application form asked for individuals who were prepared to serve for a two year period, who weren’t afraid to speak their minds, who could listen to the views of others and most importantly, who wanted to help to shape a new future for the young people of Northern Ireland…..
Two young people from Wallace High Steven and Neil, certainly fitted the above desciption and are now members of ” The Children and Young People’s Unit Advisory Forum”.
This forum was set up to guage the opinions of a cross section of the community on matters such as the health service, conservation and the law.
The Forum has two central aims; firstly, to appoint a commissioner for young People and secondly to develop a children’s Strategy for Northern Ireland. Steven Crowe commented, “It’s a daunting but very exciting challenge to help develop a strategy for young people.
We are currently discussing all sorts of issues such as Equality , Education and Health. I recently attended a three day strategy-planning conference along with six other young people and over seventy adults. At first I was concerned that our views would be ignored , but it’s very fulfillinf to see thst we are being listened to and that our strategy will be in place within a year.
Being part of the Forum has certainly made me more aware of the responsibilty of citizenship. It’s great to think I might make such a positive contribution to society.” Neil Campbell from Ballindery added, “I’ve met loads of people from all over the province through my work on the Forum -it’s been really interesting. We’ve taken part in many team building exercises such as an animation workshop, so it’s not all hard work!”
Steven concluded, “Before meetings we discuss key issues with our classmates so that the views of many of our peers can be passed on to those in government.”
Last modified: February 24, 2016
