Media Attention

In a sport which only receives widespread media attention during the three big competitions (Olympics, Commonwealth and World Championships) athletics has been thrusted on to the front pages this week. The story getting the attention centres around Caster Semenya but its not the news of her Gold Medal in the 800 meters but the allegations surrounding he gender which is getting the attention.

Now a month ago on the street if you had asked the average person on the street who was Caster Semenya? A good 99.9% of people would not know but now she is the name on everyone’s lips. The only thing she has done is win a race and now she is the subject of debate and at times ridicule.

I think Caster the runner from South Africa has been put in a terrible situation which could have and should have been avoided. Her local governing body should have known something like this may happen and should have done something about it. Then failing that the athletics body at the games should have stepped in when she arrived.

To have people talking about you around the world because of you talent is pressure enough but to have people debating your gender is much more personal and damaging especially if you have never been in the spotlight before. We should be talking about her talent the same as if anybody else had won and then wait for the results of the tests without jumping to any conclusions.

This situation may also form a new debate on whether or not other criteria as well as gender should come in to play when deciding on who is eligible to enter which race which is a whole new can of worms altogether.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

If it isn’t broke don’t fix it

This Saturday sees the return of the X-Factor to our screens in the UK. After many seasons of the same format this year the producers have made a range of changes including auditions now being held in front of live audiences instead of just in front of the judges to name just one.

Using the same format the X-Factor has been a hit in the UK for many years now but this is the first time the producers have played with the format. I’m not sure if this is because they are scared about viewing figures or people just want to make change for change sake.

If something is successful or you are successful you should keep doing things the same way as yes a change could make you even better but there is a risk if you change things up for no reason that it could make you less successful. If you are going to make changes there should be a purpose behind them and they should be well thought out.

It is hard in today’s world to find a winning formula and with things like TV programmes the viewers obviously like the programme for a reason and if you change it you may alienate those viewers that liked the programme before you changed it.

In a fast changing world there seems to be this atmosphere and culture of having to change to keep up with the times and for entities to keep evolving but I think it is important that we don’t go blindly in to this cycle and sometimes fight the urge to change some things.


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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Giving to get in return

Over the last year a new innovative project has come to my attention that being Orange RockCorps. The idea behind the project is to get young people to volunteer for four hours to help out with a project that benefits the community in return for getting a ticket to a special concert only for Orange RockCorps volunteers headlined by some of the most popular and biggest musical acts.

I am a huge fan of big companies like Orange giving back and getting involved with helping the community and young people. Mobile phones are so important to young people and its great to see them using that influence they have with young people to get them involved in volunteering. I think every commercial company that sells product and services to young people should be doing something to give back to them.

The one thing I hope is that the Orange RockCorps experience encourages the young people that volunteer with the project to continue volunteering after their four hours commitment is over. The principal behind volunteering is to do something selflessly for other people without expecting a reward so there are some issues with this project.

The problem comes when the young person who volunteers with Orange Rock Corps then goes to do more volunteering and expects to get something in return where that charity or organization may not be able to afford to reward their volunteers no matter how much they might want to. Some people may not even get involved in volunteering expecting a reward they may instead not even apply to be a volunteer without a guarantee of a reward.

The other problem is if the young person is just doing the volunteering for the ticket and don’t get anything out of the experience or have any intention of volunteering again after the project. However if they never planned to volunteer regardless of the project if we can get four hours out of them is that better than nothing some may argue.

I think projects which encourage young people to volunteer and get more people involved in volunteering are great and much needed. Projects like Orange RockCorps need to be careful though. I know Orange RockCorps do work to try and help people to continue with their volunteering but if you give people a big reward after just four hours what is there to encourage them to continue to keep involved.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The Weather

Now I know its seems like all British people do is complain about the weather but down in the South West we have yet another terrible and wet summer. I’m sure travel agents and airlines love this as it makes us all wish we were holiday somewhere nice and hot but due to the recession it just means that a lot more people in Britain will have no choice but to make the best of the British summer.

Not only does the weather affect the mood of young people in the country but it also limits their opportunities to do things. After a year slaving away in the classrooms their reward is six weeks holiday of what so far has been mainly rain and days are ticking away as before they know it they will be back in school.

When I was a kid summer was a time for getting out and adventuring, for walks, for going places for playing sports. With this weather it is hard for young people to either do these things or enjoy doing these things. Many young people will have just traded the classroom for the home. The lure of TV’s, computers and video games is already high enough for young people with time on their hands but now with not much else to do it is even worse.

Now I’m not saying young people shouldn’t enjoy relaxing, watching a bit of TV and playing a bit on the computer over the summer but it shouldn’t be the only thing they are doing. The summer can be a great learning experience for young people where they get to experience new things and actually have time to dedicate to things they want to do but to help them and increase their opportunities we need this weather to brighten up quick smart.

We want to know what you guys have been up to over your summer holidays, and what you do when it rains? Are you on your games console or have you found a way of keeping active and busy despite the rain? To let us know your thoughts log on to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=759

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com