Lifetracks
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Focus on the positive
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Another day, another depressing news story about young people’s prospects. As if constant stories about how young people are worst affected by the recession haven’t been bad enough, last week we were told severe cuts to university funding would mean thousands of young people will be missing out on places and this week the Prince’s Trust publish shocking stats about how young people see there future. (Clue: it doesn’t involve good jobs and buying their own home).
It’s enough to make you throw your Ucas form out of the pram, stick two fingers up to the Jobcentre and glue your bum to the nearest sofa.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that young people aren’t having a great time right now, but do we always need to keep hearing about it? There are loads of young people who have done amazing things with their lives – it’s not impossible, it just takes hard work and drive.
Wouldn’t it be more positive to focus on the opportunities that are out there, the help you can get and the things you can do to stand out in the job/university/course interview?
I’m going to try and redress the balance by giving you a few little gems on where to start:
• The Jobcentre may fund you to get smart clothes for an interview – ask your advisor for details.
• Organisations like The Challenge and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award run exciting programmes that don’t cost much and look great on your CV.
• There’s loads of help available for young people who want to set up their own business.
• Apprenticeships are a good way to learn, earn and work – and there are lots of new opportunities at the moment.
You could also get involved in something a bit closer to home… YouthNet (the charity that pays for this lovely site to run) is looking for some rather wonderful young people to join our Respect? Campaign. The campaign is all about making sure young people are fairly represented in the media. So if you’ve ever read a story about ‘Binge drinking Britain’ or ‘Young yobs to blame for everything’ and winced, now’s the time to do something about it.
Past members of the campaign have been interviewed for TV and newspaper stories and have even met with politicians to air their views, so there’s some pretty cool opportunities to get your opinions heard.
So if you’re looking for a new challenge that will really make a difference, find out more and download an application form here. The deadline is 21 February 2010
Anyone else has got any good tips or things that you can get involved in? If so post them below…
Hannah Jolliffe, Editorial Manager, Lifetracks
Another day, another depressing news story about young people’s prospects. As if constant stories about how young people are worst affected by the recession haven’t been bad enough, last week we were told severe cuts to university funding would mean thousands of young people will be missing out on places and this week the Prince’s Trust publish shocking stats about how young people see there future. (Clue: it doesn’t involve good jobs and buying their own home).
It’s enough to make you throw your Ucas form out of the pram, stick two fingers up to the Jobcentre and glue your bum to the nearest sofa.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that young people aren’t having a great time right now, but do we always need to keep hearing about it? There are loads of young people who have done amazing things with their lives – it’s not impossible, it just takes hard work and drive.
Wouldn’t it be more positive to focus on the opportunities that are out there, the help you can get and the things you can do to stand out in the job/university/course interview?
I’m going to try and redress the balance by giving you a few little gems on where to start:
• The Jobcentre may fund you to get smart clothes for an interview – ask your advisor for details.
• Organisations like The Challenge and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award run exciting programmes that don’t cost much and look great on your CV.
• There’s loads of help available for young people who want to set up their own business.
• Apprenticeships are a good way to learn, earn and work – and there are lots of new opportunities at the moment.
You could also get involved in something a bit closer to home… YouthNet (the charity that pays for this lovely site to run) is looking for some rather wonderful young people to join our Respect? Campaign. The campaign is all about making sure young people are fairly represented in the media. So if you’ve ever read a story about ‘Binge drinking Britain’ or ‘Young yobs to blame for everything’ and winced, now’s the time to do something about it.
Past members of the campaign have been interviewed for TV and newspaper stories and have even met with politicians to air their views, so there’s some pretty cool opportunities to get your opinions heard.
So if you’re looking for a new challenge that will really make a difference, find out more and download an application form here. The deadline is 21 February 2010
Anyone else has got any good tips or things that you can get involved in? If so post them below…
Hannah Jolliffe, Editorial Manager, Lifetracks
Added: Thu 11 February, 2010, 12:11
