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Luke

Luke is 17 years-old and from Hastings, East Sussex. As an active member of his local community and Member of UK Youth Parliament (UKYP), Luke's fighting for better rights and services for young people. We follow our young activist on his political path and find out how he manages to fit everything into his crazy schedule.
Entry: 3

As Luke receives his AS-Level results and prepares for his last year at college, he continues to push for more rights for young people with a radio interview, conference planning, and lots of college work.

After six weeks of holiday it's time to go back to college. I received my exam results for the AS exams and was very happy to achieve two As and two Bs. Now it's time to knuckle down with A2s after the long summer break.

It's good to get back and see my mates, but as always I'm left with the feeling that I'd rather be at home. The thought of picking up a pen again feels a bit strange and I can't help but notice the changes at college since the end of last term. There now seems to be new computers everywhere I turn and they've replaced the old sofas that students used to find comfort in. My timetable isn't particularly favourable either, with double lessons lasting two hours in the morning.

I've been keeping busy with UK Youth Parliament work and I recently did an interview for Radio 4 about Politics and Young People. The interview focused on a report about how young people are making more decisions about consumer choices than formal politics, and that this is the main reason why so few young people vote. While I think there's some truth in this, it's also fair to say that more young people are making positive choices about buying things like fair trade and eco-friendly goods. I also think young people are being put off politics by out-of-touch politicians.

"Is it any wonder that young people don't vote when in the years running up to their 18th birthday the Government appears to find us too inexperienced to have any say on what's best for us?"

It's now more important than ever that politicians make sure they actually involve young people in politics, rather than seeming to patronise us all the time. The school leavers' age debate (the Government is proposing to raise the age from 16 to 18), has got a lot of young peoples' backs up as there's been so little consultation with us about it. Is it any wonder that young people don't vote when in the years running up to their 18th birthday the Government appears to find us too inexperienced to have any say on what's best for us?

At the UK Youth Parliament annual sitting, where all the MYPs meet and decide how we are going to run our campaigns for the year, we decided we wanted to organise fringe meetings for the National votes at 16 campaign at party conferences. Conferences are always a strange occasion with thousands of delegates from various parties within a secure zone. It's a bit like being on an island that's purely inhabited by politicians and the media frenzy that surrounds the conferences can be pretty amazing. You see all sorts of politicians who you'd normally never see and it's a time where everyone meets up to discuss what matters to them.

Aside from the Votes at 16 campaign, the other day I did a presentation about drugs and alcohol services in colleges, which at the moment are more or less non-existent. We've been given some time to train personal tutors, which is great news.

As I sit writing my diary in the quiet, yet busy, college library, I can't help but get the feeling things are going to be getting a lot busier over the next few months. Within the next few weeks, I'm going to have to start filling in my UCAS form. I've got my hopes set on Nottingham University or the London School of Economics, so I've really got to make sure my exams go well this year.

As the coursework begins to creep in again, combined with my contesting of a council seat in the next elections in May 2008, it looks like my social life is going to be taking a back seat for a little while - although I'm sure things can be put on hold a bit for celebrating my 18th birthday later this month!


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