Teens of the UK speak out

On Christmas Day this year, teenage Britain delivered its own message to the nation. Broadcast just after the Queens Speech on myspace it gives a powerful message to adults and a great insight into youth of today.

Listening to it here are the messages I took out.

Most young people find it difficult to identify or communicate with their families this is cited by the youth as been a reason some join gangs.

If you are exposed to violence it becomes the norm and expected.

Most youth are very distrustful of the government and politics and believe the voting age should be lowered.

They have very dim views of the education system saying it does not prepare them for life and teachers are to focused on the trouble makers.

Youth want to learn and engage from adults but most will not approach them.

I think these are strong messages and show us that the youth of the UK do want to reach out if we are willing to accept them.

I love things like this but my only fear as with all good ideas is that no one does anything with the information and nothing changes.

What do you think?

Vanessa Van Patten gives advice

Here is an exert from a  recent blog post by one of mu favourite bloggers. I love the way she is so honest and open in all the she writes.

Thanks Vanessa for inspiring others.

I officially started my company 2 years ago on my graduation day from Emory University, May 9, 2007. Here is what I have learned

1) Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should do it.

I am very grateful for the advice I get in my informational interviews with experts and other entrepreneurs, but I often hear, “why don’t you…” And I have, a lot. But, what I realized is, just because you can do something, does not mean you should do something. You must love doing it, if you just ‘can’ and you don’t ‘love’ it will probably not be successful, you will dread it, you will worry about it and it will take you away from things you do love.

Example: Everyone keeps telling me I should do a podcast/radioshow. They have been telling me for two years. “It will be such a great accompaniment to your blog!” “You are so good at talking, you should do it” I prefer to listen than to read, I wish you had some kind of an audio recording.” Finally a few months ago, I tried. Well, I barely tried. I started, looked into getting a channel on iTunes, got a professional mic and made a little intro on Garage Band. I recorded one. In all honesty, it sucked. It sucked (I knew it and a very honest friend told me so) and I hated it. I realized then and there, just because I can, does not mean I should.

2) Just because it makes money, doesn’t mean you should do it.

I found a pretty successful model to make money this year that involved training tutors to work with private families. This is successful and my families benefit, my tutors benefit and I benefit. But, it is not what I love. I love to write. This unfortunately bends the rule on above that if you do not like something it probably won’t do well. I almost wish this part of my business was less successful because over the past year, I followed the money, not my dreams. On my first week-long vacation in a long time over my birthday, I realized that I had my first good night’s sleep in months. I also realized it was the first time I had time to write in 8 months because I was not seeing clients. I love my clients, but because of our very long waitlist, I had given up my time for what I was truly passionate about, and my sleep. I realized it was not worth it. So I…

Read Wisdom from a young entrepreneur

What are we doing, as a society, that has some young people go to such extremes?

That is the question I recently asked one of my teen writers. I shared this quote with her – “What we do to our children, they will do to society.” I asked her what we as the adults may be doing to make a young person feel that certain options are their only choice?

Here is Anne’s  answer

Though the answer to this question could have a million possibilities and outcomes, I have chosen a more basic, general route. I think the answer to the question is a simple formula.

A supportive, present parent= an independent child= a better society

If a parent is present in a child’s life, is there to love them, and be there when they need help, support or someone to talk to, then their child will feel supported. I think when a child feels supported, they will grow into a teen that is more independent and confident, knowing that they have support to fall back on. With that independence, they can make everyday decisions based on what they want and think is right, rather than what their peers think, and will probably be successful in life and a benefit to society.

A vacant parent= a dependent child= a weak society

When a parent is not present in their child’s life, but just there to give them the necessities (food, shelter, clothes) but no attention, support or love, their child will probably lack confidence, crave attention and feel lost. When a child feels like that, especially when they age into a teenager, rather then going to their parents for support and attention, they will turn to their friends. A teenage friend may be nice and listen to the teen, but they do not love and really care about the teen. It is not hard for the teen to be taken advantage of and to make poor decisions that could be harmful. And of course a society of people who don’t believe in themselves and who don’t know how to express their feelings in a positive, confident way, is not a strong society.

Though there are exceptions to my formula, I think it is the basic reason as to why some teens do the extreme things they do, and why society is not reaching its full potential. In my opinion, the exception is not worth the risk.

About Annie

My name is Annie Brebner. I am fourteen years old and am the eldest of three kids. I live In Ontario, Canada. I am in Grade 9 and am in my first year of high school. I like to read, play the gutair, cook, hang out with my friends, and watch movies. I play on a girls ice hockey team, I run and I also am pretty dedicated to my ballet.
I am really interested in travel and I want to one day visit Europe!