In March, we resumed workshops for STAGE 2 of APiC’s COVID-19 Project with Children and Young People in Scotland. Supported by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS). ScotYouthandCOVID2 has recalled the Young Consultants who participated in our original project .
APiC’s original self-funded study in April/May 2020 was a participant-led project and report that was one of the only truly participatory projects held with children and young people at that time. It set out the important changes and challenges young Scots were experiencing, including proposed solutions. It involved teams from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and (Rural) Stirlingshire and Falkirk, each with 4-6 boys and girls, aged 10-16 years. Earth in Common, the Children’s Parliament Imagining Aberdeen programme, Denny High School, Northfield Academy and Manor Park Primary School helped us with the recruitment.
COVID-19 for Children and Young People: Workshop 6
We reported in the last blog on workshop 5 on our Young Consultants visions for the next five years, which relate to the new Scottish Government Administration confirmed 6th May 2021. We highlighted the highest priority new asks that emerged from that workshop. These were:
- Make mental health paramount, including access to services and creating environments where people feel more included and in control of their wellbeing.
- Address Inequalities, especially the Gender Pay Gap
- Tackle the causes and effects of climate change, especially around energy generation, electric cars, and protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
In workshop 6, the last of this project for now, we were also joined by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, Bruce Adamson and his Head of Strategy, Gina Wilson.
We reflected together on a successful project, and determined a final list of Asks for the Scottish Government. We also co-developed a possible strategy for progressing these, and will share both the asks and strategy in our blogs over the next two week, respectively.
During the activities, Bruce and Gina dropped into the Young Consultants’ workgroups for a lively conversation about their fantastic work to date. There was also a dialogue about how the Asks might align with Scottish Government policy priorities, and ways this might be built upon towards making Scotland a better place for Children and Young People.
This discussion surfaced some new insights about the return to school, and other things, including:
- The ‘missing voices’ from the 2020 transitions. The Young Consultants who been discussing the difficulties and uncertainties they are facing this year around the transition from primary to secondary school, raised the matter of those children who went through this last year. It was agreed that a lot could be learned from these ‘missing voices’ about the COVID experience and to inform an effective strategy in the event of future breakouts.
- The challenge of planning for an uncertain future. Young Consultants shared their concerns that the post-COVID future may be completely different from the past they had been used to. For example, some worried that the subjects they were choosing and the career paths they had imagined for themselves may no longer be relevant, and talked about the stress associated with this uncertainty.
- The Assessments nightmare Young Consultants who are facing assessments this termed talked about the ongoing pressure and exhaustion this was causing. They emphasised that although authorities may argue otherwise, for them assessments were exams in all but name. There was a discussion about how more energy seemed to be spent discussing responsibility and approach between SQA and schools, than on the mental health and wellbeing of the pupils in their care. They also talked about how the lack of a joined-up strategy between their teachers was resulting in schedules that feel relentless, with some weeks back-to-back assessments, which allowed no room for downtime or revision. The stress the Young Consultants were under was clear and presents in these conversations.
- It was good to be back at school. While minor aspects of lockdown were missed (e.g. more time in bed!), and notwithstanding the significant stress among the older young people around assessments, there was no question that being back at school was preferred, even with the aggravation and inconvenience of the rules. The immediacy of being able to talk to teachers meant some had made huge leaps in subjects they had lost hope in during lockdown, when some felt they had been “teaching themselves” without the qualifications to do so. They also noted that during remote schooling, the work might change, but it seemed like the same day on repeat, whereas at school, every day felt different.
- Ever-changing rules at school was increasing apathy and risk. They talked about the constantly changing, and sometimes inconsistent, rules (e.g. one-way systems between lessons but not at break and lunch), and lack of enforcement, leading to their public flouting by children and teachers, and spreading loss of discipline. Some felt a consistent stable set of rules applied for the long-term – as in supermarkets- was preferable to constant change, even if at times they seemed overkill compared with general regulations.
Others discussion points and insights related directly to the Asks, and have been duly incorporated and will be shared next week in the final set of Asks devised by our Young Consultants.
What’s Next?
Next week we will release a blog detailing the Young Consultant’s final Asks, and the following week, we’ll share their key considerations and process of a strategy for gaining further support for them and filling any gaps. The hope is to move towards transforming these Asks into a Manifesto for Positive Change that incorporates and represents as many of Scotland’s children and young people as possible. The vision, energy and spirit of the Young Consultants seems a perfect alignment with and expression of their nation’s pioneering adoption of the UNCRC and the First Minister’s plans and aspiration to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up.
We will continue to be posting updates from this project, and will also be publishing a report in June so follow us on Twitter for updates.
Read “#ScotYouthandCOVID: Children and young people’s participation in crisis” with the new foreword by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, Bruce Adamson.
Read our blogs covering Stage 1 of this project.