Young people in Hackney

Interview with... Kuburat Tijani, a Consultation officer for Hackney Social Services by Nyasha, Crystal and Jordan.

J: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your job?

K: After I left university I went to work for Greenwich as Children's Rights Officer, and I have always worked with young people. Now I work in Hackney it's really good to be involving young people in policy change.

J: What is the young people's strategy?

K: It has come about from a Government paper called Every Chid Matters. What we are doing in Hackney is working in partnership with the Learning Trust, the Health Service and other Voluntary Agencies that work with children, young people and their families to make a plan for children and families.

N: What do you think of the Children and Young People's Strategy?

K: I think it is good because it is ambitious and it aspires to achieve a lot for Children, but I also think that there is a lot of hard work to be done and partnerships to be strengthened. I also think children and young people need to be supported and encouraged to help these changes take place.

N: Where did you find the children to take part in your work?

K: Some of the children had already been identified through research we did in 2004. There are particular groups of children who might be more disadvantaged than other young people, so I wrote to a lot of people who work with these young people and they were very welcoming. We also commissioned some research amongst young people in the street.

C: What role did children play in the strategy?

K: Apart from being consulted, also the young reporters from Children's Express have run some research through competitions and the website survey.

C: Do you like working with children and why?

K: Yes, Yes Yes I do. Sometimes it can be difficult - young people have a lot of interests and sometimes they aren't able to come to places and spend their time on this. Also money is a problem. But I like working with young people because their ideas are fresh and you don't have prejudices that adults might have. I can connect with young people because of who they are.

J: How many children are directly involved in the development of the strategy?

K: In terms of the consultation, 200 young people were consulted. In the focus group I consulted 400 young people. It's a small percentage of the actual number of young people in Hackney, but the direct involvement will increase because we are so interested in hearing what young people in Hackney have to say.

N: If you had a million pounds what would you spend it on?

K: I'd like to think that it would be something positive - start a chain of good fortune where everyone can use it to help someone else. That's if I don't just keep it to myself!

N: We are coming to the end of our interview. Is there anything you would like to say?

K: Yes. I would like to acknowledge you and celebrate your confidence and abilities. You three are a good example to other young people in Hackney. I think this is a really positive thing.

C: Can I just ask, do you think it would be a good idea for children to be involved in politics because of their fresh ideas?

K: Yes I do. But I think they must be well supported to make sure they understand. I think young people should have rights, but they also need to rise to the challenge of those

responsibilities, so they must be well supported.

Nyasha McLean, age 12

I am part of a team of young journalists who have worked on the Children and Young People's Strategy for Hackney - A Good Place to Grow Up. We have helped make the information appeal to young people and promote what is going on through a special issue of our What's Up magazine. We have interviewed people including Carole Williams the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, and we have written articles.

One of the things we did was make up a competition asking young people in Hackney to send in their Brilliant Ideas to improve the area. We also attended the short listing where all the judges come together and decide who is coming first, second and third. At that meeting we ate and drank, then we had a discussion about who should come first, second and third. We had to say why we thought what we did. We were looking for things that not everyone said, things that haven't already been done and things that were interesting. All the ideas sent in were good, and they brought out the real issues in and around Hackney. It was a really tough decision, and if we could have, we would have made them all winners.

Being involved in the strategy has made me feel mature and independent, because I am helping people older than me (adults) improve something really important. I think that the strategy is good for young people because it includes their opinions. Sometimes children's views are better than adults because we think of things that might baffle an adult. Sometimes they might listen to us and feel silly because they didn't think of our idea first. I think it is good that things are happening to improve Hackney for us, but it is still not enough, young people in Hackney still want more improvements to their lives.

Jordan, age 11

I am Jordan and I have been involved with Children's Express at A Space for one year. Our work included a lot of planning and discussions, and we interviewed the Mayor and Carole Williams, the cabinet member for young people. We have helped to improve the Strategy - it has been good to help adults do something really important.

Crystal, age 11

I am Crystal, and I have been involved with Children's Express at A Space for two years. Nyasha, Jordan and I were the editorial team on the special issue of What's Up that looked at the Children and Young People's Strategy. We had meetings with people from the Council and then interviewed lots of young people about how they think Hackney can be improved. I ran an hour long consultation with six children at my school too.

Brilliant idea prize winner Rana

Rana's Brilliant Idea:

"I am a Hackney young person and my brilliant idea to improve children and young people's lives is to consider all the children as individuals and listen to their ideas, likes and dislikes, to make Hackney a safe and happy place for them. I am very worried about knife and gun crime, so my suggestion is to have a trained person to send to schools to advise youngsters. The trained person should talk to them about the dangers of carrying guns and knives."

Christina, age 13

"I am here today because I answered questions in a questionnaire. I won £50 because I came first. It made me feel very happy. I might go shopping for clothes or shoes. I can't say what I really like about Hackney, but if I was in charge of Hackney I would make more clubs for children and more areas for children to play in."

Alfred, 15

"I am newly introduced to this project but I am hoping to get further involved in the future. We need the council to pay attention to what we are saying and help us improve things. If I could, I would change several things about Hackney. Two of the most important things are stopping violence and improving the environment. Most of my friends are in Hackney, but I can't think of much else I love about it. I got a five pound voucher for coming today which made me feel good. "

About the team

This story was produced by Nyasha 12, Crystal 11 and Jordan 11. It was published by Hackney Today.