Title

Recently Claire Fox criticised youth advisory panels. Here, youth adviser Sean O'Halloran defends the concept. After Claire Fox criticised CLG's new youth advisory panel, I have decided to have my say. Of course, I would have written this response regardless of the Government's agenda because I, like all young people, have the right to make myself heard. Ms Fox's main argument against ‘Blears' youth advisory panel' appears to be that in an age of youth empowerment young people aren't being ‘represented' by youth advisers. As a young adviser – the pool from which the panel is drawn – I have never been described as, or intended as, a means of representation. Young advisers are, unsurprisingly, young people who advise. The advisory panel and the two youth advisers are not voted for because they are not representatives, but advisers. Ms Fox also argues that young people are not a different race, merely ‘an accident of birth-date'. They therefore don't hold views that are very different to those of adults so don't need to be represented differently. As a young person, I share views with adults on a range of topics, and vice versa – we are not such a world apart from adults. But a 14-year-old boy and a 35-year-old woman are going to have different views on certain things – for example, how a park should be used. The woman, perhaps a mother, may want a safe place for her children to play while the boy may want somewhere he can hang out with his friends without being hassled by police or being moved on. A key part of my role as a young adviser would be to consult with young people to see what they want out of the park and then produce a coherent plan – such as building a ‘hang-out hut'. The mother may not get what she wants from the park but she has the right to vote. She can vote for the party whose local manifesto states they will ‘build a play frame for small children'. What can the boy do? Not much really. That is why young people are being invited to participate within central and local government. The argument Ms Fox puts forward would be all very well on its own. However, she then contradicts herself when she mentions youth adviser Jacqueline Macaulay: ‘At her age, she should prove that responsibility by standing for election and holding her decisions accountable to the electorate'. Hold on – I thought that it had just been stated that age isn't really an issue? Jacqueline can make a bigger difference by advising central government rather than conforming to the ideal that she must necessarily stand for election. Finally, I sincerely question Ms Fox's knowledge of the so-called ‘fashion for consultation panels' when she ends her article by claiming young people's views are ‘clapped indiscriminately'. This is, quite simply, not the case. If a young person suggests an impractical idea they are generally told why it is impractical and that it can't be done. If my interpretation of that is wrong, and Ms Fox is actually suggesting that listening to young people at all is a bad idea ... perhaps listening to pensioners is a bad idea too? Adults should not need to flatter the young to connect with them. Real connections occur when everybody realises that everyone is an equal member of society and has something worth saying. Sean O'Halloran is a young adviser from Waltham Forest, Blears panellist, and Children's Right's advocate

Title

WHITEHALL

The kids are alright

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING