In Their Own Words...
What do the Hearing Unheard Voices (HUV) young people think about the recent riots?
Many of you would have seen the riots that took place at the beginning of August this year, it started in north London and radiated all over the country. This led to some negative media coverage of young people being involved in aggressive and anti-social behaviour. HUV steering group members were asked at a recent residential about their views on the events and what effect this had on people’s perceptions of the youth of today.
The general feeling within the group was frustration, confusion and annoyance. None of the members had participated in the riots, but many helped with the cleanup operation, although some were turned away by the police. Some members were confused about why the riots started. They believe that when asked, many of the rioters couldn't explain why they were rioting, and so led people to believe that many were just following their friends.
Members found it annoying that the negative events got so much coverage - yet positive then positive events hardly get any press. For example there was a lot of coverage about the riots and the damage that was done by the young people, but very little about the cleanup operation that was done largely by young people. One member said “so much work is done by young people to try and change people’s perception of youth. When things like the riots happen, all that hard work is undone“.
Although the young people believed the rioters should be punished, many thought that sentencing was unfair, lacked consistency and often had no logic to it. In one part of the country people had been arrested for setting up pages on social networking sites to start a riot, whereas the same had been done in another part of the country but no one had been arrested. In addition to this, some members thought that people who agreed or ‘liked’ the page should get into trouble, as they are actively encouraging the riots too.
When the members were asked what they would say to rioters if they were able to, many said they would ask “Why", to see how many actually knew the reason why the riots started in the first place and to establish how much peer pressure had played a part. They would also ask them, if they are looking forward to living in the city that they have wrecked, and that thanks to them, yet more people are out of a job, because businesses have been ruined.
Keeley Burgess who is 17 from Manchester is a member of HUV and is campaigning to stop youth club closures. Keeley commented “the riots were pointless. The amount of young people that didn’t know the reason it started was huge - they were probably only doing it because they were bored. More education is needed, but also fairer punishments.”
The members then gave some ideas on what should be done so that something like this doesn’t happen again, and discussed how to bring communities back together. HUV members felt that some young people don’t have any respect for the police and judge people wearing the uniform all in the same way. If there were more activities where young people could engage with the police and understand the way they work, they may realise that there is a person behind the uniform. In time they may start to accept the police, accept they are just doing a job, and try to keep everyone safe. Police forces are facing cuts to the number of officers that are on the streets, and many felt that this should not be happening.
In order to make better all-rounded people then HUV believe that voluntary work should be mandatory. This way young people are able to appreciate their local areas and environment. If they have put time into restoring a park they are less likely to go and litter or damage it. However some of the HUV members had gone to their local youth group only to find that there was a notice on the door saying that it has stopped due to budget cuts. Members think that the government and local authorities need to start being more open with young people. Linked to this is that more money needs to be put back into the community - not taken away. The more you take away from young people, the less valued they will feel. Gone are the days of “children should be seen and not heard”. Young people have a view that is as valid as any other person.
How volunteering on the HUV project has helped young people:
Cliona, 1
5
Being involved with Hearing Unheard Voices (HUV) has given me the opportunity to have my voice heard at a national level and have my groups campaigns taken seriously. HUV allows me to tackle prejudice that I face as a young black person and highlight it nationally.
I first heard about Hearing Unheard Voices through an organisation I attend in Bristol called Right Track. I attend this group to have my voice heard about issues that affect us as black young people. We’ve made DVD’s to campaign about our experiences of racism and culture, explaining how we feel. We recently made a DVD about Stop and Search rights which we think lots of young people could benefit from – knowing their rights. UK Youth has given us the chance to promote our campaigns nationally through Hearing Unheard Voices.
HUV has given me the skills and opportunities to express my opinions in a constructive way, so people actually listen, by going to residentials I have learnt what campaigning is really about, as before I didn't know what it was, or how it worked!
Abby, 16
When I first heard about Hearing Unheard Voices (HUV) I was nervous about meeting the people from the other HUV projects, as well as the members of UK Youth Voice. I was worried what their first impressions of me would be.
Now its been a year and a half and I have been involved from the start. I have worked on a campaign about getting more girls to join football teams and now my next target is to be involved in our campaign about getting people to start volunteering with young children to people with disabilities.
Since becoming involved with the local HUV group I have learnt how to become more positive about youth and I am more positive about youth. I have also made some great friends with both UK Youth Voice and HUV and im glad to be apart of the project.
Katie, 17
The Hearing Unheard Voices project has given me the opportunity to have my voice heard by people in power and campaign and show women in a positive way.
Being involved in HUV has given me so many opportunities to develop my campaigning skills, and my campaign was even chosen by O2 to be promoted as one of their Think Big National campaigns. The whole experience has been amazing and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be involved by something as big as this. I feel so excited that i'm imaking changes and influencing services and the public and I now have something that I can make my daughter proud of me by showing her how I can help others. I hope this will make people see differently about young people - we’re not all the same, especially young parents. We all only want the best for our children and families and hope this is the start to make a change for them. I believe I am becoming a better female role model.
