International Youth Day

To mark International Youth Day on the 14th August, members of the Young NCB NI and the Commissioner for Children and Young People’s Youth Panel have been involved in a joint project to 'take over the airwaves' and have been on radio stations and the BBC news programme to challenge politicians and the media not to assume they’re all ‘bad’.

Lisa McReynolds from Young NCB NI said: “I think most young people are fed up hearing about how bad they are supposed to be. “We call on all politicians to think before they comment on so-called bad behaviour of young people. They need to ask ‘what exactly is the problem’ and ask ‘why’ there is an issue.

Barry McCrory from NICCY said: “If you are to believe everything you read and hear about young people from politicians and the media then you’d think all young people are involved in anti social behaviour and generally being a nuisance. “In a recent survey it was clearly shown that the vast majority of stories about young people are negative.

This fails to mention that most young people contribute to society through voluntary work and are too busy enjoying themselves, getting involved in sport and drama to be involved in anti social behaviour.