How are young people going to be affected by the Budget cuts?

Since the new coalition came in to force in UK Government I have been wondering to myself what effect it would have on young people?

With this government looking to reduce the budget deficit with an aggressive strategy on spending it is only natural that services that affect young people will be hit in some way. With the government cutting budgets for vital services like the Police I am worried for youth services.

It’s not only services for young people that are backed by government spending that we have to worry about. It is also industries that young people with talent want to get in to like media and art that will more than likely be affected to.

Yes the government need to sort out deficits and save money where they can but they also need to think of the long term and the effect it will have on today’s young people who in ten, twenty years could be running this country themselves. Not only that but what will employment rates be like? And will young people be given the chance to exceed and fulfil their potential?

I strongly advise anyone to keep to their eyes open and their ears to the ground on where cuts are going to be made and to really engage with this process.

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 Elections

At the moment you can’t open a newspaper switch on the TV or listen to the Radio in the UK without somebody writing or talking about the elections. We are now a week away from polling day now so the media coverage is only going to intensify as the days tick away.

Everyone is talking about the elections you can’t escape it. People who rarely discuss politics suddenly have a strong opinion and are getting in to robust debates with friends, family and colleagues on who the right party is to lead this country.

The one thing which has really encouraged me for this election is not the parties, the leaders or the media coverage. That one thing is the amount of young people really getting involved and taking an interest in politics.

Politics normally isn’t the coolest thing to talk about in schools or amongst friends for young people but over the last few weeks so many of the young people I work with have started conversations about politics with me. They have been sharing their opinions but more than that they have been asking questions and trying to find out more. It always encourages me to see young people get so interested especially when they can’t even vote yet. Its not today’s political parties which give me hope for the future of the company but it is the young people who will be our future leaders and future voters which really inspire me.

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

Motivation, Politics and the classroom

The President of the United States of America Barack Obama has been making headlines this week for a speech he made which was broadcast to schools across the country. In this speech he encouraged children that if they want to achieve anything they will need an education to do it and that the future of the country depended on their educational achievement.

Many people in the US have been unhappy with his speech, as they believe he is trying to indoctrinate young people in to his political agenda. Instead of bringing politics in to the classroom he has brought himself in to the classroom with a motivational and inspirational message.

Now I am all for public and famous figures doing all they can to inspire and motivate young people to achieve all that they can and I think more people should use their fame or stature to do this. I think where Obama has come unstuck is when he says that the future of the country depends on you. No matter how true I think this statement is I think he should have gone down the route of encouraging young people to work hard to see what they can achieve in their own life and not tagged on the message about the country.

In the UK will we see Gordon Brown trying a similar thing and if he did what would the reaction be? I think Obama is in a unique place as I think he is one of the most liked and recognized world leaders amongst the young community that there has been so young people in America are probably more likely to listen to him than say if Gordon Brown tried the same thing over here.

Overall I think world leaders should always be doing more to help and inspire young people but it needs to be for the right reasons not for point scoring or some other hidden agenda and as Obama has found out the way the message is delivered is so important as young minds are very impressionable.

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

Politics

Politics is everywhere at the moment. Wherever you look politics is a hot topic. I’ve always been fascinated with Politics and trying to involve young people where possible in to politics, getting them interested and getting them talking about politics. There has never been an easier or better time to get young people in to politics than the world we live in today.

Barack Obama has made politics cool again in the process of making history as the first black American President. Barack has really captured the imagination of the world who followed his campaign right through to inauguration through papers, TV and the Internet. People who wouldn’t usually talk about politics are talking about Barack Obama, people of all ages, races and backgrounds know who Barack is.

Closer to home in the UK the big political debate of the week is what to do to stop walk outs by UK staff of various companies up and down the country which was started by a contracting company who wanted to use an all foreign staff force at a UK Oil Refinery. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has harped on in the past about British Jobs for British People but who is to blame in this situation? Are the staff right to walk out? What should Gordon Brown be doing about it, if anything? These are all questions which young people should be debating and engaging with.

Then we can move on to things like The Credit Crunch how could Gordon Brown have handled it better? Should the taxpayer be bailing out the Banking system? All of these are serious and huge issues with big implications but it doesn’t half make politics interesting. Then we have other issues on local levels like should London have been more prepared for the snow? Again it comes down to politics.

I think schools and councils should be doing more to encourage young people to think about and talk about politics. I personally encourage any of you reading to get in contact with your school or local council and see if there are any ways locally or nationally in which you can get involved like becoming a Youth MP or joining discussion and panel groups.


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