Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People
In this blog, the second in our series, we outline the big 5 Covid-19 changes for Scottish children and young people. They are the outcomes of a Workshop led by young teams from across Scotland, in a project self-funded by APiC.
The Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People addresses the absence of young Scots meaningful and rightful participation in the Covid-19 crisis response. The participants are four teams from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Rural Stirlingshire. Each team has a membership of between 4-6 boys and girls, aged 10-14 years. Team Aberdeen builds on work and relationships formed with children through the Children’s Parliament Imagining Aberdeen programme. Leith Community Crops in Pots helped us recruit Team Edinburgh.
There have been two Workshops so far, and another is scheduled for tomorrow (May 30th). They use a collaborative online environment which integrates video conferencing and a digital workspace. Last week’s blog contains more information about the project.
Workshop 1: Covid-19 changes for Scottish children and young people – the Big 5
Our first Workshop (Saturday 16th May) dealt with introductions and getting to grips with the online environment. The main activity revolved around teams discussing and agreeing the changes that lockdown had made to young people’s lives. This helped gain a general idea of areas where there may be challenges that could be addressed.
At the end of the Workshop all project teams convened to share outcomes. Despite coming from different places and circumstances across Scotland, a strong consensus emerged.
The 5 Big Changes were:
- (Remote) schooling
- Seeing and doing things together face-to-face with our friends, and family members who don’t live at home
- Our freedom to go outdoors and travel
- What we do (and can’t do) in our free time
- Literal requirements of the Covid-19 response and associated difficulties/weirdness
The whiteboard above shows all team notes brought together under the 5 Big Changes.
Workshops 2 and 3
The Big 5 provided the structure for the second Workshop (Sunday May 17th). In this, teams prioritised the areas where they faced challenges they felt might be mitigated by small changes. All participants respected the control measures. However, they also felt small changes with a disproportionate impact on their education, health and wellbeing should be seriously considered by the powers-that-be. These challenges are the subject of our next blog, which we will publish same time (i.e. Friday), next week.
In the third Workshop tomorrow, project teams will further identify and develop recommendations around these small changes. This includes discussing ways their transition back into their (new) normal life and schooling might be made easier.
Having demonstrated the importance of enabling young people’s voices at this time, APiC is now seeking to secure funding to support, progress and hopefully expand this project. A full research report will also follow in the coming weeks.
- If you are interested in funding the continuation of this unique and important project, please email us, we’d love to hear from you.
- Like APiC, Children’s Parliament are also keen to share how the Coronavirus Lockdown is experienced by children. Created by the Members of Children’s Parliament, the Corona Times Journal is helping adults to understand the impact that the coronavirus is having on children’s lives. They are also inviting children from the ages of 8-14 to take part in a national wellbeing survey.