AS part of a campaign to increase youth engagement with politics, a Darlington sixth form is hosting workshops where two students will win the chance to share their ideas at a national event in Parliament.
The interactive workshops at Queen Elizabeth (QE) Sixth Form College, ‘Hardcopy or #Hashtag?’ will be held in the run up to Parliament Week 2014 and are organised by the Politics Studies Association. They provide an opportunity for the college’s politics students to explore how best the UK Parliament can embrace digital technology.
During the workshops two students will be selected to represent QE and the North-East region to showcase their best ideas at a headline event taking place in Westminster in November.
This event will be attended by up to 120 young people, as well as some parliamentarians and will add to the work and research being undertaken as part of the Speaker’s Digital Democracy Commission.
The opportunity for QE to be involved was organised by Josh Newton, a former student of the College, recent University of Hull graduate in Politics and rapporteur to the Digital Democracy Commission Students’ Forum.
He said: "Participating in the Parliament Week a workshop is a brilliant opportunity for politics students to think intuitively and genuinely contribute to making parliament more in tune with their interests.
"As a former QE student, knowing how keen the college is about encouraging students to think for themselves and experience politics in a variety of settings, I was really keen to get QE involved."
Parliament Week 2014 begins on November 14 and will see organisations around the country join in a week long programme of activities and events – all designed to inform, inspire and connect people all over the UK with parliamentary democracy.
Parliament Week is working in partnership with over 280 organisations from across the UK to put together a programme that includes historical walks, art exhibitions, online debates, panel discussions and more.
Events can be booked through the Parliament Week website, parliamentweek.org/events
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here