Let's change the world

After just two meetings, Hull's Young People's Parliament has already started to make a difference - by supporting a range of campaigns across the city

A new voice in Hull has started to speak.
It's called the Young People's Parliament – and, actually, it has 174 voices.
That's the number of children and young people who attended recently.
It was only the Parliament's second-ever meeting - but already some tough proposals have been put forward and debated.
One resolution which has already been passed is to support a campaign by Wold Primary School for a skate park to be built in its local area.
A second is to support the Polish School with its campaign for a cultural awareness event
Another is to support Gillshill Primary School in its campaign for more police officers in the Ings Road area.
And another is to support the Coalition of Hull's Young People in their campaign to help a young Afghani asylum seeker to gain refugee status, so he can continue living in Britain.
"Its great to see so many children and young people taking an interest and trying to improve the world around them," says youth worker Nickie Johnson.
"It's absolutely amazing to witness the energy and ideas generated."
Around 100 different ideas to challenge the negative images of young people in the city were discussed at the last Parliament. They included to:

• Encourage better links in neighbourhoods between police and young people
• Encourage the media to focus on contributions and achievements of young people, not just the bad issues
• Set up more information and award ceremonies to highlight the success stories of young people
• Set up more multicultural events to bring together children and young people from different ethnic backgrounds
• Introduce more education about racism and disability issues
• Campaign to stop shops selling alcohol to young people
• Promote better understanding among older people about why young people dress like they do
• Create more outdoor spaces where young people can go
• Encourage more respect for young people from local retailers and shopkeepers – and invite them into schools to give talks.

The third Parliament takes place on January 31 2007, and will look at issues of crime and personal safety. For more information, call Hull Youth Council on 585297.