Time For Change At GOL

Time for change is clearly upon us. Government office for London has taken full advantage of this and have appointed Jacky Tiotto as Director of Children and Learners. Jacky previously worked as Senior National Advisor – Children Adults and Health Services, so is well equipped with the skills and ideas needed to meet the demands of working with young people.
This was also the judgement of two fellow Young Mayor network members, Liam Webber and Alex Kuye who were part of the interview panel for this demanding job role. Alex and Liam both felt that Jacky had the X factor needed to be able to relate and work for and with young people for their benefit. When appointed Jacky was full of praise for our two fellow YMN members, “Liam and Alex were charming and very sure about what they wanted to know! I felt they were really searching for someone who wanted to work alongside them, involving them in decisions and plans at the beginning rather than asking them half way through and never then letting them know what decisions had been made.
The Young Mayor Network wishes Jacky all the best and look forward to working with her in the near future.

Spiraling Secular Society

Typical start to the morning! Missed the alarm, rushed getting ready only to end up looking worse than before and the inevitable delays of the London underground. Even in all the hustle and bustle an article in the next guys paper caught my attention, 'Baby Faced Dad'. Last week 13-year-old Alfie and his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle became parents of a healthy baby girl - Maisie. The young age bracket of the two parents has sparked debates all over the country and it hasn't helped that Alfie himself looks young for his age hence being labelled the 'Baby faced Dad'. Having only caught the beginning of the story I was already sent into a state of disbelief and sadness over the wasted lives of today's society. Not only are we consistently losing potential filled young lives to gun n knife culture but it plain to see that these two young parents have picked up the major responsibility of parenthood before they have even begun their 'best years'. And who will the responsibility of Maisie be thrown upon, who will she look to for advice and guidance when her parents are still learning themselves?
After purposely distracting myself, I managed to carry on worrying about being late and how to politely edge past the trotting old lady in front of me. I ran into the office and head first into my overloaded inbox. The thought of the baby faced dad kept coming to mind and I wondered what other young people from different upbringings would have to say or whether they could even begin to imagine how it would feel like, had it been them. I found the article on the web only to realise that the second half was about how they weren't even sure the child was Alfie's. Two other young lads from the area also have reasons to believe Maisie is their daughter. Tyler Barker, 14 and Richard Goodsell, 16 both claim that they were involved with Chantelle around the same period that she fell pregnant. This latest piece of information was too much for me to process.
The failure of young people in the present time is unacceptable and the secular way of living that today's elder generation has adapted needs to stop. The country is failing the new generation and it will come back around to them if things carry on the way they are going. Is it fair to blame the parents of these two young children or is the picture bigger than it first seems. With sexual education in schools becoming more and more if a issue, is the government taking the correct approach to tackling the issue are are they just feeding into the problem?
I for one believe we should be educating today's young people about the true meaning of a relationship by concentrating on the emotional and commitment factors rather than shoving flimsy condoms into their back pockets without and knowledge of the scale of repercussions a sexual relationship can cause. Parents are so caught up in financial crisis and mortgage payments that they are forced to neglect their children therefore believe the blame lies with teachers and the education system and so this circle of blame continues its cycle with the actual root of the problems being left untouched and the problem itself left to grow in negligence.

Young People Credit Crunched

One of the current issues that has been taken on by other youth participation organisations such as UKYP and Chair of BYC Emily Beardsmore, is 'Young people and the Credit Crunch'. Due to recent positive and negative events such as the Olympics and youth on youth crime, local leaders and providers began to involve young people more and more in decisions that influence their lives. Goverment pushed for every borough to have a youth participation officer in post and newspapers were hunting for young people stories and views. This was a much needed step forward at a time where the new generation was becoming out of touch with their community and drastically loosing faith in the countries political system and democracy. However as the credit crunch hits the UK harshly, will leaders and providers of the community still think it important to spend valuable time and finances on involving young people in decisions. Will young people be failed once again? Will it ever be possible to restore the new generations faith in their country after a rise and fall like this?

Training on Tyneside...

The candidates for the first ever Young Mayor of North Tyneside picked up some election tips at a dedicated training session on Saturday. Nearly 60 prospective Young Mayors came along to learn about running a political campaign, communicating with the electorate and how to get their message across. The day was closed by the Mayor of North Tyneside John Harrison, with whom the young mayor will work closely, and with only 7 weeks until election day, there is a lot of work to do...