Shine in the House of Lords
On 10 July 2009 the House of Lords hosted a debate by and for young people about the issues that affect them.
The debate in the House of Lords Chamber was chaired by the Lord Speaker and was the flagship event for the leadership and community day of Shine Week, the Department for Children, Schools and Families' (DCSF's) national youth festival celebrating young people's talents.
This was the third youth event in the House of Lords Chamber and builds on the success of the English Speaking Union debating finals in 2007 and 2008's UK Youth Parliament debates.
Who took part?
One hundred and fifty young people aged 13-25 were selected from around the country to participate in this year's debate on celebrating and defining talent, which also aimed to challenge negative stereotypes about young people and help to bridge the perceived gap between youth issues and Parliament.
Among the attendees was Zara, an 18 year old refugee, Linda, a 14 year old from London who has two disabled brothers and Theo, 22, who found himself homeless during his teenage years.
It is hoped the debate will help to inform the development of policy for the Talent and Enterprise Taskforce at DCSF.
What were the topics of debate?
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Perceptions in the media: do the media talk about all the good things we do or does it only focus on the negatives? Is this particularly the case for marginalised groups, such as refugees and asylum seekers? What can be done to help promote our talents?
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Talent vs. celebrity: should society promote people with no talent like WAGS or reality TV stars? Does society only recognise certain talents like singers and footballers? Does this have any effect on our ambitions? What can be done to encourage us to go into other kinds of jobs?
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Education and school: what's my talent?: Do we know what we're good at? Do we get enough opportunities in school when we're young to try out different things? And if we do, are we given enough opportunities to develop our talents, at youth clubs for example? What can be done to make it better for us?
Filming
A half-hour documentary by the Media Trust, 'Lording It!', following three of the participants and their journey to the Lords, was broadcast on the Community Channel on 28 July.