“Listen to the voices of children and young people and involve them in decision-making processes.” – Girl, 17.
As Children’s Commissioner, one of my greatest privileges is listening to children from across the country, to hear about their lives and to champion their voices.
Over the last four years I have heard from a million children from across England about the issues that matter to young people, but I want to hear from even more which is why I am launching my Youth Voices Forum today.
The Youth Voices Forum is for any child across England aged over 13. Parents and people who work with children can also sign up.
Every month members of the forum will receive newsletters sharing the work of our office.
Young people and parents/carers will have the chance to take part in The Big Conversation Survey where they can tell me what they think needs to change to make England the best place to be a child.
They can also get their friends and peers to take part by having their say in The Big Conversation Survey and signing up to join the Youth Voices Forum.
These ideas feed into the policy and research work conducted by my office.
We will also share opportunities from government departments and other public bodies for young people to have their say around issues that may affect them. For example, the Children’s Safety Code which has been developed by Ofcom to try to make the internet safer for young people.
This will give more young people the chance to share their views about the issues they care about from mental health to education and the SEND system to knife crime and the future of science across England – with the aim of influencing our work and shaping the direction of government policy.
When I carried out my last big survey, The Big Ambition, I was really shocked to learn that only about 20 per cent of young people thought that decision makers listened to them.
Since then, I have been working with my Youth Ambassadors, SEND Panel and Care Experienced Advisory Board to seek their views on important topics, and now I am keen to hear from more young people via the Youth Voices Forum. At that moment I decided that we needed to turn the dial.
Children and young people over the age of 13 can sign up to my Youth Voices Forum via the QR code or by clicking here.
They can also have their say in The Big Conversation survey.
