Participate

Spired.com's Forum is a place where young people from Oxfordshire can discuss issues important to them. The current topic is Proof of Age cards.	School Councils give you a say in the running of your school. You can find advice on how to get things started and a print-out guide here.
Vote! As soon as you're 18, you can vote in county and general elections. Find out who you MP is, how to vote, and why you should, here.	Your Local Councils run youth forums, ask people about decisions, and gather opinions about all sorts of things.

The Oxfordshire Children's Rights Checklist says that:

Children and young people under 18 need special protection of their human rights because:

• they cannot vote
• adult policies and actions affect them
• they are still developing, and meeting or not meeting their rights will affect them for a long future.

More and more groups working with young people are offering opportunities to contribute to the decision-making process, through collecting opinions, doing questionnaires, and having meetings with young people. In fact, chances are, if you've been involved in any sort of youth group in the last few years, you'll have had to fill in a form to say what you thought about whatever you did. Though this can sometimes seem annoying, you should remember; every time you are passed one of these forms, it's showing that an adult values your opinions, and is prepared to change what's being done to make it closer to what you want.

Getting involved in local decision making, whether it's filling in a form in your Youth Centre or joining Youth Forums or Parliaments, is a great way to get involved with what's going on around you. You'll get an insight into how things work, your opinions will be heard, and you may even have an effect on how things are for people where you live.

So get involved. Despite what people may tell you, your opinion can make a real difference.

Get started using the links above.

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