“The young people of today are the ones who are going to be leading the world of tomorrow, which is why it is crucial that the youth have an equal voice and a fair say in the things that matter to us.” - Member of SA:SRC
On Friday 13 May we attended South Australia’s first South Australian Student Representative Council summit in the city chaired by Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly. Being in a room with over one hundred like-minded high school students across the state where we all collectively wanted to make our voices heard was an eye-opening experience. From the start of the day, we were placed into small groups, depending on our school location, where we were able to connect with one another. With these groups we expressed our concerns as youth. From workshops throughout the day, we were able to learn about starting campaigns and learn about past movements. Our small group was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of meeting Labor MP for Elder, Nadia Clancy, and had the opportunity to express our concerns for young people in our local community. We were given the topics 'education, wellbeing, equality, youth voice and environment' as discussion points. Our group, being the only all-female group, focused on the topics 'equality' and 'wellbeing' as we had shared experiences as young women which we hope to further campaign about. As we move forward with our issue, we will continue to collaborate with our group members and have more opportunities provided by the organisation to help us with our campaign strategy.
Anna (11MSMI) and Asmitha (11MSMI)
South Australian Student Representative Council Members