A solitary voice is not enough to make adults' heads turn. What we need are the voices of many children, united as one, said eleven-year-old Koiya Donovan, a member of Children's Express for more than two years.
| Having an opportunity to do all these stories has given me a very clear idea of what I want to do... |
Giving a voice to young people on issues that affect them has been the aim of the scheme since its start in May 1995.
Open to those between the ages of eight to 18, it runs in London, Newcastle, Birmingham and Sheffield. It has published more than 300 articles in the national and regional press and contributed countless items to radio and television.
In April 1998, a team of 27 young CE journalists went beyond publishing and organised their own conference, Kids These Days, the result of six months' research into the way the media reinforces negative stereotypes of young people.
Four months later Children's Express was invited to contribute to the Government's Social Exclusion Unit with details of what life is like for children on some of Britain's worst housing estates. As a result, the SEU commissioned the charity to collect evidence for its work on reducing teenage pregnancies.
Interviews and discussion are grist to the mill of journalism and members find this improves their confidence and self-esteem - a quality noted by Lord Deedes when he was interviewed.
They put exceedingly direct questions [to me] and one or two were downright awkward! he said. But what impressed me was the children's self-confidence.
To develop this confidence further, new recruits are trained by existing members or teen trainers. Trainers are usually more experienced members who have a good understanding of the story process and are passionate about the scheme.
You have to be confident because the way in which you train people determines how they will develop within the organisation, said Oliver Robertson, 17, who is a trainer himself.
Story work at Children's Express is a collective process with teams of five working together, researching, deciding on story angles and interviewing. Adults act as facilitators.
Katherine Faulkner, 13, describes the process: Somebody has an idea for a story and they write it down on a story suggestion sheet. The editors chair a board meeting every month. Everyone looks at the story suggestions and decides whether they would make good stories or not. Somebody takes a lead role on a story - they do the research and call up the team.
They do an interview or a roundtable, which is more of an open discussion. Or it might be an investigation - we once did one on young people being able to buy fireworks so that involves more of an active role.
When the story is finished, the tape of all that has been said goes off to be transcribed, the team discuss how the story went, then we just edit the transcript and write it up into a story and try to sell it to a newspaper.
Teamwork is key to Children's Express and members often find this a refreshing contrast with school.
In our class you have to work individually and you don't really get any ideas because you have to think on your own, said Loretta Omari-Asor, 12. I enjoy it better working in teams. It's nice to get new opinions and put them in.
Aside from working with people from different ages and backgrounds, members get a chance to learn about subjects they would seldom study.
I was on the young carers story, said Katherine. It really shocked me how much responsibility people of my age have towards their parents whereas I have always experienced it the other way round.
I guess that made me reassess things I found annoying. It made me realise how hard they have to work. They don't really get a break. It's hard to look after your parents when they can't give anything back because they're so ill.
The charity's mission is to help young people air their views in the mainstream media but it also aims to help them to develop personally.
I've become better at appreciating other people's point of view as now I can see why they have that view, said Rachel Kellett, 14. Another member, Pfungwa Chipatiso, 13, said he felt that Childrens Express had taught him the importance of being open and friendly.
You don't necessarily have to know what to say but how to say it, he said.
Children's Express also helps people to focus on their futures.
I knew I was good at English but that was all I knew, said Katherine. Having an opportunity to do all these stories and get in the mainstream press has given me a very clear idea of what I want to do with my career. I definitely want to be a journalist.
About the team
This article was produced by editors Lizzie Kenyon, 15, Stuart Fletcher and Oliver Robertson, both 17, and reporters Katherine Faulkner, Pfungwa Chipatiso, both 13, Loretta Omari-Asor, 12, and Benjamina Avro-Owiriwa, 11. It was published in the BBC's in-house magazine, Ariel, as part of Children In Need, which contributes funds to Children's Express.
BBC is the trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence.
