MIGHTY Youth Panel

Shanice Laverty, 17

Currently studying A level Biology, Chemistry and Psychology
Aspirations: Child Psycholgist (looked after children)

Jevael Holgate, 21
Record Producer , Sound Engineer, Uni student, Mentor and Music Teacher
Bio coming soon
As a youth growing up I’ve seen and been through a lot and this has made me respect other people in their struggle and also respect youths who are motivated to do well. From what I’ve been through I’ve learnt a lot and believe you can turn negative to positive it’s just up to you. Most of the youth will follow but what they see would most likely be the wrong thing to follow, so as I stopped following the world and those around me I became a leader and me knowing what is right from wrong helped me manage to get on the right path through my own leadership.

Cameron Birch, 19

Bio coming soon

Isaac Odjovu, Youth Panel Leader

When I look at society nowadays I believe a gulf has been formed between the older and younger generations. In my opinion no one side is solely to be blamed but I feel the only way for the gulf to be bridged is to start up a dialogue between the two generations. As a young man myself I have come to realise the importance of learning from the experiences of people who have come before; this learning experience isn’t a 1-way street and often times I impart some knowledge into the older person I’m seeking counsel from. For me, I see it as a duty to pass on whatever experiences/knowledge I have onto people younger than me so that they can benefit from it. The young people are the future and they can only achieve their potential if we show them the way.

What Do Young People Want? Who Can Give It To Them?

When I reminisce about being a teen I remember living for each day, telling my friends all of my business and getting advice from them also...completely oblivious to the fact they weren't my predecessors but my peers. They had little or no more knowledge on any of the advisable situations or scenarios I was getting myself into, therefore leaving me either more confused or deeper in trouble than I was initially.

One thing I can say I've asked my mum a million times' Why didn’t you tell me that earlier' I think that young people need a lot of information of their parents/guardians experiences in life, for example past failures, relaionships, mishaps, regrets and most of all young people need lots of love and attention. There is a specific time in your adolescence where you don't know where to turn. “Will my parent/guardian be angry if I tell them this?” "Do they even understand the year 2009 and what pressure comes with it?' "Are they too wrapped up in their bills, own problems to notice what's going on with me?” “In fact what is going on with me?"

My opinion is that young people need a defined and strong relationship with an adult ideally a parent or guardian/parent figure. Even as an adult it's nice to have someone to talk to that will act as an advocate, just listening with no opinion until you've completely finished. This isn't saying that when young people are wrong the responsible adult should just dismiss it and say its ok however saying "you shouldn't have slept with that guy" is just a instruction and a judgment whereas "I care about you and you shouldn't have slept with that guy as you could get really hurt or get a bad reputatation. I really love you and want you to be loved and valued by someone too." "Do you understand love yet? Lets sit down and talk about some of the things I've been through that make me feel like this" or "You're so much better than that, have you ever considered if this man would marry you? You are so beautiful and deserve the best life possible” is edifying and displays love and an awareness of stigma and actually some knowledge of that type of scenario.

Now I remember how hard headed I was. I was far, far, far from the best teenager and I didn't listen and learnt the hard way most of the times. However I remember being told “don't do this” or “I hope you're not doing this” there was no explanation, no reasons what so ever and my emotions, body, mind were telling me I should. I wasn't mature enough to weigh up pro's and con's...lets face it at a young age you can often just goes with what will satisfy you for that instant without even thinking for a moment about consequences. Consequences what are they? Well just in case you didn't know...

Not concentrating in school, bunking off, being frustrated with family life and not being able to focus at school, expulsion, continual bad reports. Consequence-No qualifications, underachievement, lack of fulfillment become a NEET Not in Employment, Education, or Training (not everyone but the majority).


















Sleeping around...consequences...teen pregnancy, STDs. Teenage pregnancy can work itself out although it is hard as I was a tenage mother and the child becomes a blessing although this is not something that I am promoting! The STDs can be treated, well most of them, not HIV, AIDS or Herpes but the REPUTATION is a terrible thing to spoil. However, the way you see yourself is more important and if you find yourself sleeping around, it's because you have a low self esteem, don't know your self -worth and are being used or maybe you're doing the using.

These are the things parent/guardians,older family members and friends should be speaking to their young people about. If not they look to magazines which the majority of glorify dressing scantily, half naked, exploring your sexuality, having multiple sex partners etc whereas if young people can value themselves and feel loved they don't have to look outside for recognition and comfort. As much as we all want to look nice, trainers, caps, a certain name jeans, jumper, dress or jacket doesn't make a person..that is all so pretentious, unrealistic and demoralising. There are so many actions that are carried out by young people every day in the UK to achieve the unobtainable goal of buying all designer clothes, drive fast cars compete with the footballers, musicians who are actually working to make their money and these actions so very often carry a prison sentence and a criminal record. What a terrible consequence!

I believe every young person can achieve amazing things in many different fields not only academically as this creates such a limitation on the youth who are not academic. They can achieve creatively, athletically, poetically and in so many more arenas. Whatever it is, every young person needs someone to believe in them and someone to believe in, in order to truly know they are worth more than society says they are, more than the music tells them they are and often times more than they think they are!