The Scottish Youth Parliament, including member Ben Stewart from Forres, voted on 15 motions for the country
A politics student from Moray is part of a national youth group aiming to affect change across Scotland.
Former Forres Academy pupil, Ben Stewart, voted on 15 motions proposed at the latest Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) tackling issues such as antisocial behaviour, vaping amongst young people and funding for education.
He explained: “These meetings have an effect on Scottish politics, particularly in areas concerning young people. This one in particular was impactful as it took place in the heart of Scottish democracy. It’s easier for the politicians to listen to young folk when we are sat in their chairs!”
He added: “Looking back, the SYP has always had an impact - free bus travel for young people and voting at 16 for example - so I'm looking forward to see what this SYP term achieves.”
There were 10 member’s and five committee motions at the SYP meeting at Holyrood earlier in the month.
“The meeting was very good,” said Ben. “Each motion was presented by individual members or the chair of the committee presenting them. There was space for an official opposition speaker and comments were taken from the floor in favour of, and opposing, the motions.”
Members’ motions included: increasing wellbeing support and improving funding for students and apprentices; recognising and protecting against femicide in Scots Law; better incorporating mental health education into the school curriculum; and improving education on xenophobia and racism in school.
SYP committee motions included: improving education on food budgeting and cooking during the cost-of-living-crisis; bolder action to improve Scotland’s global climate reputation; and taking action on access to reliable and affordable broadband.
Ben voted in favour of all of the motions but one: improving access to Gaelic education and language.
He explained: “I was going to vote in favour as I thought it was important to protect the language as it is dying out but after hearing the opposition I voted against it. The speaker made the point that Gaelic hasn't been a prominent language across all of Scotland so it makes little sense to have it mandatory to teach Gaelic in areas like Edinburgh.”
Ben explained his support for a motion calling for British Sign Language to be introduced into secondary education.
“It can make education and the wider community more accommodating,” he said.
Another motion called for all forms of vaping advertisements in sports to be banned.
“Vaping is a massive problem, particularly amongst young people,” said Ben. “With sporting events remaining incredibly popular, it makes sense to ban ads at sporting events to be shown to a potentially young audience.”
A further motion from the SYP’s Justice Committee suggested action to address the root causes of antisocial behaviour by and towards young people.
Ben is fully behind it, “Especially after the murder of a bus driver in Elgin by a teenager,” he said. “We see the impact of it here in Moray so I support all steps to tackle it.”
SYP's Education and Lifelong Learning Committee want to see action to protect funding and the quality of Scotland’s universities.
“Funding cuts to higher and further education have hit young people hard,” said Ben. “Moray College has faced cuts of staff and classes. If these were reversed, we hope that they will return and allow students to have the best education experience possible.”
The SYP is made up of 166 democratically elected representatives aged 14–25 from across Scotland who meet three times-a-year. Elections take place every two years and every constituency area elects two MSYPs using the Single Transferable Vote electoral system.
Ben was elected to join at the start of the year during his first year at Stirling University.
“My second year is going very well,” he said. “I'm set on going into modern studies teaching after university. I hope to convince another student to run for the SYP in a few years time!”
