The report, Give us a chance, shows children and young people have 'mature, thoughtful and reasonable views on social issues' and that adults should listen and give 'equal weight to their opinions'. As a result, Barnardo's is calling on politicians to stop seeing young people as potential trouble-makers and to listen more to their opinions and views. It also wants the voting age to be lowered to 16 years old.
Barnardo's spokesperson Pat Thompson said, 'All too often young people are presented as disinterested in politics. The young people we work with are among the most disadvantaged, yet they have powerful views that are both considered and reasonable.'
A nine-year-old suggested the Government uses text messages to find out children's views. Another said, 'Why don't politicians swap lives for a day with a young person?' A 14-year-old said, 'We want to get a youth club set up and we'll do the clean-ups, and we'll show them that the youth aren't all bad if they'd give us a chance.'
Copies of the report can be downloaded from barnardos.org.uk/resources/researchpublications/ participation.html.
