Lord Speaker's competition 2009

The House of Lords, in conjunction with the Hansard Society, called for 11-16 year olds to submit their views on the portrayal of young people in the media to the Lords Communications Committee.

Students could choose how they responded to this issue. They may have written a 'think piece' on the subject or a newspaper-style article, while others might have created a presentation, short film or audio clip and interviewed local politicians and classmates.

Whatever the method or format, young people could draw on their own skills and experiences to make their submissions as informative and engaging as possible.

The Raw Deal or Truth Told? competition offers teachers a creative way to deliver the political literacy strand of the Citizenship Curriculum.

The winners of the best submissions will be invited to the House of Lords to discuss their work with the Communications Committee (see the Prizes section for more information). But every entrant will have played their part in giving their views on an important issue and the competition organisers will produce a report about how young people feel they are portrayed in the media, based on all the entries received.

Competition rules, dates and other information can be found in the navigation menu to the left. This includes lesson plans, designed to help teachers support their students in developing their submissions.