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Robot enters House of Commons to Show MPs what Young People Care About
As MPs go back to work at Parliament today, v‘s new research has shown that just 10% of young people believe politicians are best able to change the country. The data collected through Voicebox shows that young people are caring, considerate, articulate and passionate. We hope our interactive robot in the Houses of Commons is an innovative way to make MPs sit up and take notice.
At a time when only 3% of young people have ever contacted their MP, the robot – nicknamed Voicebot - is a very modern twist on writing a letter to your MP. Until Thursday, young people can visit a website, put in what they care about and the robot will write it out, stroke by stroke, word by word, directly to the politicians.
Voicebot has been collecting comments from 1000s of young people.
The study and robot come at a time when respect among the public for the political classes is at an all time low. A study published earlier this year by Hansard Society indicates that currently only 24% of 18 to 24 year olds are certain to vote in the next general election – the lowest of all groups by a long way. And, contrary to some images, young people are the least likely of all age groups to be politically active – just 4%.
The full results of the Voicebox are also being fed into even more detailed work with the think tank Demos, looking at young people and their relationship with power and politics. This project, titled An Anatomy of Youth will review: young people’s portrayal in media, their presence in recent policy debates and existing information on young people’s behaviours and their attitudes.
Voicebot is part of v’s proactive research campaign called Voicebox, with over 5,000 people having taken part so far. The project is live and constantly evolving. The more young people that participate the more accurate picture we’ll create of young Britons today. Over the coming months, Voicebox will continue to collect and share data about lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours of young Britons. In an age when young people are using social media more and more, Voicebox uses new and interactive social media to engage young people.
Want to find out more about the data we’re collecting? Have a look at the results here.
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The Goodie Hoodie – young people fight back about negative stereotypes of youth
The negative stereotypes of today’s youth as ‘violent’, ‘disrespectful’ or ‘apathetic’ were challenged head on today by the results of our innovative youth insight project Voicebox. At an early hour this morning, Terry Ryall, v’s Chief Executive, appeared on BBC Radio 4 Today Programme challenging the general public and politicians to re-consider their views of today 16 – 25 year olds.
The results show that while 82% of young people who participated in the research might own a ‘hoodie’ this does not equate to anti-social behaviour. Voicebox shows 85% of young people or their friends don’t carry a knife, 86% have never shoplifted, and 69% did not agree drugs were ok for recreational use.
The messages young people are submitting to the Voicebox robot demonstrate their frustration about the widely held negative perceptions of young people today. The emerging results from Voicebox blow apart the idea that the young generation are disengaged.
Results from the online polls support this showing that 78% of young people do, in fact, respect their elders, 75% are happy with the relationship they have with their family, and 68% are content living at home.
Voicebox will continue to collect, use, and share data about life styles, attitudes, and behaviours of young Britain’s. In a modern day twist on writing a letter to your MP, the Voicebox Robot will be appearing in the Houses of Parliament from 12 – 16 October. The robot will directly articulate the care of a generation directly to politicians. We want as many young people to have their voices heard. All they need to do is visit Voicebox to write what they care about and it will be written out by the robot.
For further information on the Voicebox results, download the press release or visit the Voicebox website.
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Recognise us and respect us
New research by the British Youth Council, Recognise and respect us, examines the barriers some young people face in volunteering. The research highlights that young people often don’t know if their volunteering is recognised or appreciated. The research recommends greater recognition and respect for young volunteers.
NCCPE’s Student Volunteering: Background, Policy and Context (June 2009) highlights other reports championing recognition for young volunteers. Both the Morgan Enquiry and the Volunteering Works report (from Volunteering England and the IVR) conclude that young people, like adults want feedback and to know what they have done has been valued. They are often more inclined to want some accreditation for their achievements which will have currency in the workplace.
The National Youth Agency’s 2007 report, Young People’s Volunteering and Skills Development, showed that while a minority – usually those who were already achieving well in formal education – did not see formal recognition as important, most young people involved in the research wanted their skills to be at least recorded through certificates and evidence for CVs. This was seen as particularly important for those who had little or no other evidence of achievement.
Whilst youth unemployment figures continue to rise there’s much discussion that volunteering can viable way for young people to enter their chosen industry whilst building up the necessary skills set needed for the world of work. But we must work to ensure high profile recognition and respect for the contribution young people can make through volunteering. Young volunteers need, and deserve, to feel valued. Employers need to respect their contribution and ensure that they don’t perceive volunteering as a source of cheap labour.
This finding strikes a chord with us here at v. Our vinspired awards are recognised by the CBI, and have won support from Dragon’s Den star James Caan, EMI’s Felix Howard, and Birmingham City’s Karren Brady. We’ll be celebrating the achievements of some our our vfifty award holders in the national press in the coming months.
And we’re busy working towards the vinspired National Awards ceremony for young volunteers, which takes place in October. Nominations are now open, so nominate volunteers you know – give them the recognition and respect they deserve!
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Strong foundations for homeless young volunteers
This week Crisis released a report on engaging young homeless people in volunteering. The report captures good practice from Crisis experience of running a one year v funded programme providing volunteering opportunities for homeless young people. The report is an excellent example of the type of information we need to be widely available to enable us to get better at involving disadvantaged young people in volunteering.
As Angela Ellis Paine, Director for the Institute of Volunteering Research, spells out in her introduction to the report ‘rather than providing (more) ‘good’ practice advice and guidance in the traditional sense … the report tells it as it was or at least how it was for one organisation … in an honest and engaging way’.
As part of v’s 2009/10 research programme we will be looking at engaging disadvantage young people in volunteering with the aim of providing practical information to support organisations. A literature review will be a key part of this work, if you have relevant reports or documents please get in touch.
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Citizenship Survey
We’ve been waiting in anticipation for the annual release of the Citizenship Survey. Released today, the data provides a robust picture of volunteering rates in England.
Whilst the data indicates overall volunteering rates largely remain static for formal volunteering, and show a slight decrease in informal volunteering, we’ve been particularly interested in looking at the figures for 16 – 25 years age group. Regular formal volunteering levels (once a month) have risen from 23 per cent in 2007/08 to 24 per cent in 2008/09. Regular informal volunteering rates remains highest for both 16 – 25 and 65 – 74 years groups (38 per cent) compared to all other age groups.
There will be other factors affecting youth volunteering rates. I’m particularly interested to see whether rising youth unemployment figures we might lead to a renewed interest from young people in volunteering. Research published by the Institute of Volunteering Research (IVR) in April 2009 reported an 87 per cent increase in enquires to Volunteer Centres in the last six months. v’s research report, Young people speak out: attitudes to and perceptions of full-time volunteering, was released last month and shows that young people are more likely to consider volunteering as it offers them a clear route through the recession.
On the back of the latest unemployment figures showing almost a million young people in the UK are currently unemployed; Newsnight brought together the Employment Minister, Jim Knight MP with two young people who are finding it difficult to get a job. Professor David Blanchflower and Shaun Bailey (MyGeneration) provided comment and gloomy predications on what lies ahead for young people. It’s prompted a lot of discussion on the Newsnight blog.
Many young people recognise that volunteering can help them to accessing relevant work experience and training, and develop essential life skills. I’d be really interested to hear from any organisations conducting research looking youth volunteering rates as a response to the recession.
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