Youth of today

December 21stth, 2009

Youth is wasted on the young, or so the saying goes.

Well, I am sure plenty of young people out there would disagree and accuse us old folk of just being jealous of their youth.

Challenging negative stereotypes about young people though is a serious issue.

It was one of the main issues raised when I met with the prospective members of the Scottish Youth Parliament recently during their election process.

Of course, there are always going to be a small number of young people who frequently do their bit to reinforce that bad image of the youth of today.

But in my role as MSP for the area, I have been fortunate to meet countless young people who make a real positive contribution to the community.

If I needed any further convincing, I certainly got it at Cappielow last Tuesday afternoon.

No it wasn’t Morton youth team strutting their stuff – instead the stadium hosted the Scottish Young People of the Year Awards.

I would have to commend Douglas Rae for his foresight in sponsoring and hosting this Scotland-wide event.

I was able to go along and present an award to 12-year-old lad from Moray, Bobby McClure, who shaved his head to raise money for Alzheimer’s Scotland in recognition of his gran’s illness.

And I was delighted for our local winner, 21-year-old Emma Shearer, who has made it her mission to use her experience to teach other young people about the dangers of underage drinker.

Another big achievement though was the pupils from Holyrood Secondary in Govanhill, who raised more than £120,000 for projects in Malawi.

There was a sad moment when an award was announced posthumously to Elaine Davidson, who despite three brain tumours managed to raise more than £10,000 for Teen Cancer Trust.

Tragically, she passed away last month but was represented by her proud mother and sister.

For once, there was no doubt what the result was at Cappielow – they were all winners.