Youth Democracy from Worcestershire to Paris via London.

Well, many people don't look forward to a Monday after their weekend but for me I couldn't wait to get the week started! 

A week in London for the start of the YMCA England Youth Democracy Project residential with 7 other young people from YMCAs in England and a group of French young people from 2 YMCAs in France was something I had been looking forward to for a few months.

Monday started with a meeting of all the English young people at YMCA England's head office in Farringdon. We discussed what we were looking forward to getting out of the week and we then came together to put together 2 presentations.

The first was to be on Britain which covered everything from our culture, to our music and even to our sports and history which we would present to the French Participants and their staff in the evening. The second to be a presentation on Democracy in the UK and everything associated with it to be used after the visit to the Houses of Parliament.

Tuesdays morning session we all got into small groups which normally was 2 people from England an 2 people from France. Myself and Maxine were sat with Mathilda from Toulouse and Fatou from Lyon. We discussed the issues that young people face in both of our countries. It was very interesting as many of the issues that we discussed were very similar to what the girls from France were telling me.

Unemployment among Young people in France is also high and they have a lot of young people who are classed as NEETS (Young people Not in Education, Employment or Training) although in their country they don't use the term. Another issue issue surprised me was the issue in France of people going to study at university or college in France but when they are qualified they have no job or opportunity to go into. This then means they have to work somewhere where they are over qualified and they are not using their qualification and skills to the maximum opportunity.

Obviously this is also a problem in the UK with many graduates coming out of uni and if they aren't opting for a masters they have to find themselves a part/full time job because they can't find anything in their field of work.

On a final note through our discussion we discovered many issues that are similar but one problem in particular that young people face in France that match the issues in England is the problem of young people leaving school at the age of 16 or below. Instead of continuing after secondary school into college, sixth form, training or employment they are using a lifestyle that attracts them to illegal activities such as drug dealing and trafficking. 

This can then lead to violence issues in their local area with other young people but especially in some areas of England where the reality is that the attraction of the gang lifestyle is just around the corner and with a change of mind they can easily take the wrong path which eventually will leave them in a place they are unable to change and end up falling off the map into what can only be described as a downward spiral that is tough to get out of.

Tuesday afternoon we took a tour to the Houses of Parliament which for myself was very interesting and as I hadn't been since I was 12 years old I found it fascinating and Mary our guide was absolutely brilliant! The French told me they enjoyed this trip as they had never been to a place of such importance in their lives before which really felt great!

I am going to let Alex Taylor and Alex DB go into more detail regarding the trip to Parliament and Wednesdays trips to West London YMCA and Ealing Council as for me the discussion with the French young people was a part of the week I throughly enjoyed and wanted to share.

In 4 weeks time I will be looking forward to a 4 day trip to Paris for the second residential of the project.

A residential I am even more excited about as it means we will learn more about democracy in France and another 4 days of exciting activities where just like this week I have come back with more knowledge, more motivation and a positive outlook on Youth Democracy in the UK which I can take back and work with my young people to learn about Democracy and the Government on both a Local and National level.

It will be tough, but l want to change young people's views and stereotypes of democracy and the government. I would like to encourage young people to want to have a say instead of shying away from a subject just because they don't know enough about it, but more importantly aren't given the chance to learn about it.