‘Asian Youth Voice Their Opinions’
A group of young Asians between the ages of 15-19 met at Winterbourne Youth Centre on Friday 24th September to attend the first meeting of the Asian Youth Forum. Mobeen Butt, a facilitator of the forum, said “it can only be described as an informative insight into the minds of the Asian youth of today.”
After an exercise of ‘If I were Prime Minister for a day, I would…’ many cited improving public transport as an issue – by making it more affordable and more reliable. Other issues included, increasing investment in youth provision, getting out of Iraq and increasing minimum wage for young people, amongst others.
When asked about having role models, many felt they did not have any real role models in the media rather that they looked upon everyday people as role models; e.g. parents, family, friends, teachers, etc.
Another issue which was brought up in the forum was that they wanted to involve more young people from all different South Asian communities.
Young Asians left the meeting feeling very enthusiastic, stating that ‘this could go places.’ Some had aspirations of going all the way to Parliament, well to the Youth Parliament at least.
The Asian Youth Forum is actively seeking young people of South Asian descent between the ages of 15 and 21 to participate in the forum, questionnaires, focus groups and opinion polls. Any Asian community groups wishing to involve their young people or send a representative; the next meeting will be held on Friday 8th October, 6pm, Winterbourne Youth Centre.