Letter: MAILBAG - Motivated youngsters

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), August 2, 2008

Byline: JAMES TAYLOR

IN response to MarjorieMedrek's letter of July 19 regarding the Schools Question Time event broadcast recently on BBC1 may I too say how excellent the young people involved were, both in the audience and working behind the scenes.

However, from the coverage given on the BBC I doubt that many people watching at homewould be aware that the young people involved with the running of the Question Time competition undertook a series of intensive communication workshops run by CragRats Training and Theatre Company in Holmfirth.

CragRats works with many young people as part of a major initiative undertaken by BT in promoting better Speaking and Listening Skills in children and young adults, using drama and interactive workshops to help achieve this.

The Question Time competition is one part of this initiative, with BT co-sponsoring the event with the BBC and Institute for Citizenship.

Myself and three colleagues from CragRats spent several weeks this year travelling to schools the length and breadth of Great Britain working with young people on skills such as expressing a point of view, debating, questioning skills and preparing the pupils for creating their own political Question Time debate.

We found the pupils involved to be highly motivated, enthusiastic and with a vast knowledge of politics.

Although obviously biased I consider the work done by CragRats on the Question Time Programme and other such education initiatives to be highly beneficial for all those young people concerned.

Having worked with thousands of pupils already this year on projects similar to SchoolsQuestion Time I feel it is important to highlight the positive behaviours and attitudes of the majority of young people, rather than the negative reporting within certain areas of the media of the minority which creates a false impression of today's youth.

JAMES TAYLOR

BT R & D Co-ordinator, CragRats Ltd