Recent research reveals that young people see organised activities as a good thing but are held back from taking part because they don’t know what is on offer to them. The Government will invest a total of £900 million between 2008 to 2011 in positive activities and places for young people to go to – and in order for young people to benefit from them local areas need to let them know what’s available.

The research also reveals other reasons preventing young people getting involved in activities. These include:

• Young people see organised activities as something reserved only for the very sporty or talented kids.
• Peer group pressure – teenagers prioritise friends and leisure time over taking part in activities and are often put off if their friends don’t take part.
• Low self confidence and lack of self belief in their ability to take part.

Parents interviewed as part of the research say they support positive activities but struggle to encourage their children to take part due to lack of information. They want activities that provide their children with a safe place to hang out with their friends, where they can enjoy themselves as well as learning new skills. However, they are also concerned about the cost of the activities which is why most areas offer free or subsidised activities.

The feedback from young people and parents shows that investment in the new £270 million ground breaking myplace youth centres is money well spent. Young people have played a central role in deciding which projects to fund, the type of activities that are on offer and the times they are available, as well as helping to design the free world class facilities.

Nearly 70 per cent of young people already participate in positive activities but the Government wants to increase this to 100 per cent to help all young people build friendships and social skills and achieve more at school and college. Participating in positive activities will also help to prevent them from getting involved in risky or anti-social behaviour.

To read more about this visit the Department for Children, Schools and Families website – http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0150.

Chris, Web Designer at Input Youth

Hi all,

There are a lot of new job guides that have been added to Input Youth over the past month or so, and there are far too many to list in this short post.

However another great addition to the site is a brand new job vacancy search box. This can be found at the top of the job guides index page.

By using this job vacancy search box you can now quickly check for job availability based on a specific job title and location.

Chris, Web Designer at Input Youth

Identifying citizenship education as ‘the single biggest government investment in youth citizenship’, the Youth Citizenship Commission’s (YCC) final report’s first recommendation to Government calls on the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to ensure that ‘the delivery of citizenship education is consistent and effective’.

The Citizenship Foundation agrees with the YCC’s assessment that young people’s experience of citizenship education is mixed and welcomes the emphasis the Commission has put on reinvigorating citizenship’s delivery.

As the Commission’s report suggests, the Department of Children, Schools and Families needs to develop delivery plans to promote teacher training and good teaching practice for citizenship.

Beyond citizenship education in schools, the report places much emphasis on increased opportunities for young people to be involved with school governing boards and national, regional and local public bodies and increased opportunities for volunteering. The Commission also acknowledges that young people are communicating in new and different ways and calls on the Government to establish a New Media Taskforce to set out good practice for engaging with young people online.

The final report of the Commission and its other publications can be downloaded from the YCC’s website.

Chris, Web Designer at Input Youth