I’d like to address a line in the ‘Being Heard’ report which has gained some attention. First, I think that on the whole, the report is an excellent piece of work and I commend @JohnRossScott and @KristopherLeask for creating it. However, this wording is inappropriate:

MSYPs are unpaid volunteers. We do what we do to improve things for young people - not for our own benefit. Some spend 10+ hours per week (and others many more) in order to bring about the change it is alleged we have ‘failed’ to here.

I agree that further change has to come before young people are truly involved in policy-making, and that *all* organisations can do more to make it happen. But to insinuate that MSYPs have ‘failed’ here puts the responsibility on us, as unpaid volunteers, and not those in power.

This is a worrying implication to make in an otherwise well thought-through report about fortifying youth voice. It is not incumbent on MSYPs to *make* change - that’s on decision-makers. If change doesn’t come about - that’s on decision-makers.

Is SYP doing everything perfectly? Of course not. But to say we’ve ‘failed’ implies that we’ve not faced up to our representative responsibilities, or made any kind of difference. Working with incredible MSYPs every day, these are implications that I strongly disagree with.

Further, in terms of ‘making our mark’ in 2019, I strongly dispute the claim that we have failed at this. On a local and national level, SYP has consistently delivered for the young people we represent.

As just one example, this is what Dumfries and Galloway MSYPs as part of DG Youth Council achieved in just one meeting with the Council. And this isn’t mentioning what SYP has achieved on a national level (which I could create a 100-tweet thread about - think UNCRC, to start)

So, while I think the report is generally well-written and informative, this recommendation and its implications, which I believe are unintentional, concerns me deeply. We must never forget that whatever change MSYPs campaign for is a voluntary effort.

Put simply, we do not bear the responsibility, as is implied here, to make change. We are responsible for listening to young people, and bringing their views to decision-makers, which we do. To imply that a lack of change is a ‘failure’ of SYP is unfair, uninformed and incorrect.

Why the thread? I think this is indicative of a wider attitude about young activists, specifically MSYPs, that needs to change. Most of us give our all to the role, with very little recognition. To be told that we’ve ‘failed’, with no evidence, in a report like this is upsetting.

MSYPs work voluntarily to raise the voices of young people. The organisation is world-leading, and that’s not an exaggeration. We have critics who seek to bring us down built mainly, in my experience, on baseless criticisms, and comments like this give them voice, and ammo.

I work with SYP’s members every day, and they make me proud to lead this organisation. Show me a group of more passionate and active young people, and I’ll be impressed. So I cannot stand by while we are told that we’ve ‘failed’, when I do not believe this is the case.

Ultimately this might be a simple wording or tonal issue, so I would be happy to engage with the authors to improve this for future publications of the report, as well as online versions. Please contact me if you’d like to take me up on that. /ends