New Technology

This week’s blog is dedicated to new technology and how it is helping talented young people around the world achieve their dreams.

Now when I talk about new technology helping young people I bet you expect me to start talking about things like the internet, video cameras, phones, TV, MySpace etc. But the greatest impact I feel is still to come in regards to technology helping young people and that is the design of the $100 Laptop as part of the One Laptop per Child Project.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6679431.stm

This project and laptop could see millions of children from the developing world have access to equipment which the western world takes for granted and help give these children a chance to build a better future for themselves.

Now I am sure many of you this week in the UK have been signing up to Orange Broadband to claim your free laptop but most of you claiming this offer will already have a computer in the house so although the spec may be far superior on it to the $100 laptop it wont have the long lasting effect that the $100 dollar laptop will.

Not only will these laptops provide young people in the developing world with new skills and a better education they will give these young children hope and encourage them to go on and achieve greater things than they ever felt possible. Technology is changing our world every day and with the changes and improvements come more chances for young people to achieve their dreams.

At Talented Young People we are always on the look out for new technologies that we can use to help young people and to help spread the word. Recently as you may have noticed we have started using social bookmarking websites like Contentpop, Blinklist, Digg and del.icio.us to help promote our news feed which seems to be going well, I’m sure social bookmarking websites are going to play a big part in the future of the internet and web promotion. On top of this you will have hopefully noticed that our second podcast is now available to download by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/podcasts

But getting back to the point at hand MySpace may be able to help you get a million people to listen to your song or a video camera may help you put a video on Youtube and have it viewed by a million people but if you can give a child a piece of equipment that helps them find a dream or gives them the opportunity to achieve things they never thought possible then you can truly change the world.

You can talk about new technology and how it affects your life in this week’s forum topic by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=129#129


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Volunteering

Today’s youth have the stereotype of being a non caring, self obsessed breed. The truth is that although there may be many who are like this there are a growing number of young people out there who do great things for other people through volunteering. The number of young people giving up their time on a regular basis to volunteer is growing and I for one hope continues to grow in the future.

The amount young people can get out of volunteering is huge. With a world which is focused on academic skills and grades volunteering gives young people the chance to learn vital life lessons and skills which can’t be taught in the classroom. I believe that regardless of what you want to achieve in life you need to spend a period of time as a volunteer as working as a volunteer can show us how fortunate we are and what changes that we can make to individuals, groups and the world.

In the classroom you work in a world of theory but in volunteering you get to be involved in a practical world and see changes that are actually happening because of the work you have done. Now you may be saying the time that you give up to volunteer could be time used to pursue your dream but the amount of energy and experience you can gain through volunteering outweighs the time you no longer have. Being able to give up your time to help others is a great skill to have.

Volunteering can open up a world of possibilities and opportunities which wouldn’t have been open to you if you hadn’t got involved. If you are not old enough to get a paid job or if you don’t have the experience to get the job you want volunteering can gain you the experience which you can use towards your career. In the short term it may seem like you are working for no money but the extra money you can sometimes make by having that experience outweighs it by far.

The face of volunteering has changed, volunteering opportunities use to be very limited but now many organisations are working in the UK to promote volunteering and create a million and one new volunteering opportunities including anything from media to arts to sports. There never has been a better time to get involved in volunteering as there are now great opportunities and great support networks out there to guide you.

One organisation who are really making a difference in the volunteering world are the Youth Action Network. The Youth Action Network is the national organisation with unique experience and expertise in the Youth Action approach to volunteering. Look out for future publications from them which will feature a piece we wrote on volunteering and the arts. For more information on them go to their website:

http://www.youthactionnetwork.org.uk/

Like this blog why not get involved in our topic of the week on the forum:

What volunteer work do you do, are you looking at getting in to volunteering and what do you get out of volunteering?

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=118#118

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Summer Holidays

Although you wouldn’t believe it with the weather we are currently having in the UK many young people up and down the country are now either on summer holiday or starting to make plans of their upcoming summer holiday. You may still be doing your exams but I know summer holiday is in the back of your mind. For many it will be there last summer holiday they ever have before they leave education and for some they may not have a summer holiday as it’s now time for them to find work.

The summer holiday is the longest period that you are away from the structure of schools and education. For six weeks or more you are left to your own devices and it is up to you to make your own timetable and decide what you want to do and where you want to go. This leaves many young lost and confused as they are use to being told what to do and having there day mapped out for them and because they don’t know how to organise themselves they spend most of the summer holidays on the sofa watching TV. Many young people will only do things if they are told to or they have to like school and the moment they don’t have to do anything they will choose to do nothing.

A great summer comes from great preparation and a want to do something meaningful with your time off. The summer holidays should be a time to recharge your batteries ready for the next year of education and a time to let off steam but don’t be the one that goes back to school or college on the first day back and when asks what they got up to this summer says not much. There are so many opportunities open to you regardless of your situation or what you want to do you just need to find them and devote time to them. The summer holidays is a time where you can learn about what you want to learn about or practice what it is you want to get better at.

Now some of you may be spending the summer stressing about exam results but don’t as stress isn’t going to change the grade you get. Use your summer to learn about yourself, the world and to gain skills. Before the summer holiday starts set yourself some targets that you want to achieve by the end of the summer and make a plan on how you are going to achieve them. Be experimental, try new things, join new clubs, if you’re old enough try a small part time job. Just do something which is going to help you get closer to achieving your dreams. Do everything you can to make this the summer of your life.

Why not get involved in our forums and let the world know what you have planned for your summer by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105#105

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Wimbledon

In the UK we are currently in the middle of Wimbledon fortnight. This is normally a time for us Brits to get our strawberries and cream, cheer on another British tennis player in their attempt to win the big one and going out and playing tennis ourselves at local courts. Well this year all we have left is strawberries and cream as yet again we are left with no British stars left to cheer on and this year we are living through some very unusual weather for this period even by the UK's standard with floods breaking out all over the country so no ones playing on the courts.

The UK have over the years lost their power and dominance in many sports that it once had, many of which originated from the UK. The problem with our national sporting success has been discussed and debated at many levels with many people blaming the lack of sports and PE at school, the amount of green land which is being built on and the national media coverage of the dangers facing young people in this country when going out in public.

Some people say it is the lack of funding that is the reason we are not creating the line of stars we once were but to me it doesn't matter how much money you put in to a sport unless you have young people that want to do it and our skilled at it. In my opinion the problem comes from the British attitude of negativity and pessimism and the attitude of resenting people because they are better than you or at least trying to do their best. If we are going to create new sporting stars we have to encourage them all the way from when they start a sport to the moment they finish playing the sport.

When it comes to tennis specifically we have a big shortage of achieving players. Every year when Wimbledon comes around it encourages many young people around the UK to go and play or learn tennis and during Wimbledon fortnight tennis courts around the country are normally full of people young and old emulating what they have seen on TV. Just this year because of the weather this hasn't been true. The LTA and the tennis organisations are going to have to work harder this year to promote the game.

The other problem this country has is that football is way and above any other sport in the popularity stakes so it is very hard to get young people interested in other sports, in to schools and facilities to play the sport in parks etc. So my answer to this problem is to match funding with encouragement and to actually work with young people and find out ways from them on how to best coach them and nurture them. As with personal investment anything is possible.

If you would like to have your say and voice your opinions on why the UK aren't creating enough top sporting stars. Then you need to go to our forum and view our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=76

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/