Young Citizens - Rebels With A Cause

Today's generation of teenagers – tomorrow's voters – are turning their backs on apathy and becoming switched on to politics through a citizenship programme for 16-19 year-olds that is motivating youngsters to become actively involved in their communities.

That was the inspirational message from an action-packed national conference in London on 12 February on the theme of active citizenship. The event Your voice, your view was organised by young people for young people - all of them involved in the Post-16 Citizenship Development Programme, which is run by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA).

The event included:
·music, dance, rap and drama performances on themes including fair
trade and AIDS ·an electronic `say what you think' poll inviting the audience to vote on eight questions about active citizenship. (More than 90% of
the audience voted `Yes' or `sometimes' to the question Do you think
young people gain something from citizenship activities?) ·a `chat show' discussion on the minimum wage and lowering the voting age to 16. Two thirds of the audience voted to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 and 90% voted to increase the minimum wage for 16-17 year-olds ·vox pops videos from the `Big Brother room' where young people aired their views on citizenship ·a T-shirt design competition.

The winning slogan Active citizens – rebels with a cause was created by Martin Partridge from the Zenith Partnership –a work- based training scheme at Warwickshire College. Martin was presented with a Red Letter Day activity prize by `Fame Academy' judges David and Carrie Grant. The day's programme was put together by young people from schools, colleges, training centres and youth and community organisations across England – all of them taking part in
the Post-16 Citizenship Development Programme. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of the importance of active citizenship and the role of young people in both local and national politics, to highlight achievements of local citizenship projects, to consult young people about their views of citizenship education and to generate discussion on issues – some of them controversial.

The ethos of the Citizenship Development Programme, which started as a pilot in September 2001, is empowerment and activism. The focus is on stimulating involvement in the community, developing political awareness and encouraging young people to take a more active role in democracy. The programme, which builds on the traditional school and college curriculum, involves some taught courses and some practical learning-by-doing activities. These include youth councils and student forums, mock parliamentary elections, citizenship
conferences (themes have covered political literacy and refugees), projects to revitalise communities and local campaigns, as well as newsletters, websites and videos. There are now 79 citizenship projects in England involving 22 schools, 28 colleges, 16 training providers and 13 youth groups – all working as partnerships or consortia. (A list of areas running projects, plus selected case studies is attached).

Sir Bernard Crick (author of the Crick reports on citizenship in 1998 and 2000), says: "There is a worrying level of apathy, ignorance and cynicism about public life. Young adults will only be able to realise their full potential as active and effective members of society at large if those responsible for their education, training, employment and other forms of development provide the
necessary models and learning environments for active and participative citizenship.'

Julia Fiehn, Development Adviser, Citizenship, at the Learning and Skills Development Agency (and the Programme's manager) says: "The citizenship programme is all about empowering young people to get involved in their community. What the conference showed is that young people really want to get involved in democracy. We have a generation who are becoming political activists, who want to make a difference and take their full role in society. The citizenship programme has succeeded in encouraging young people to believe that they can make a difference to their lives and their communities. But much of its success rests on the enthusiasm and commitment of
teachers, coordinators, community leaders and the young people
themselves."

David and Carrie Grant, say: `We can all make a difference. The question is how you do this. Having programmes and forums, like this event, give you the tools to begin to help you know how to do this. It is important that you have not just the tools but the knowledge to use them. Citizenship means a sense of belonging to a country - an equal sense of being included but also being able to identify with and be able to have an influence in society'

The Post-16 Citizenship Development Programme is funded by the Department for Education and Skills and managed by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA).