It was just hours after the result of the referendum on Britain’s EU membership was announced that 17-year-old Hannah Turner let rip with a precision-targeted speech that summed up the anger felt by many young people in the UK about the result.
Referring to the majority of older voters who elected to leave the EU, Turner said they had “everything given to them” – citing a generous welfare state, the NHS, job security, pensions and affordable housing – and asked how they “could have voted like this and left us, who don’t have any of that, to deal with the effects of your vote”.
Turner had been invited to “freestyle” during a debate. The question, “Should the voting age be reduced to 16?”, couldn’t be a more appropriate – or inflammatory – one to pose to more than 100 teenagers just hours after such major political upheaval.
Students debated it back and forth at the culmination of the Orwell Youth Prize celebration day. The arguments on each side were put politely, if occasionally a little diffidently, by young people in speeches that had been planned in consultation with their peers during group workshops an hour earlier.
The Orwell Youth Prize, now in its second year, supports young people to find the most effective ways to express their political views. Mick Callanan, a former English teacher who runs its schools programme, says the students who volunteer for the sessions tend to “have a political sense, quite strong convictions, are critical of the establishment and very sceptical of authority and of the lies that people tell”.
Callanan points to the narrow focus of the curriculum, which fails to promote curiosity and questioning. “It’s not about flexibility and independence and the ability to act on feedback,” he says. “It’s now about the ability to recapitulate information or a narrow, teachable skillset … teaching is based on trying to match simple examiner expectations.”
However, he continues, a lot of children find themselves drawn to believing in elaborate conspiracy theories, so the sessions “are also about thinking critically”.
Whether conspiracy or failures of the curriculum, Sarah Marshall, head of politics at a sixth-form college, says students like to question those in power, but are hindered by a lack of reliable information. She says: “They are aware that they lack knowledge and as a result generally don’t try to scrutinise politicians because they know they won’t be able to do so properly. This causes apathy when they get older.”
Marshall says her A-level politics students have often said they think the basics of politics should be taught at GCSE. “As it stands, children are learning that they have no real role in the political system, which means they tend to ignore politicians rather than critiquing their views.
“They know that politicians may not be telling them the truth, they lack the capacity to distinguish truth from falsehood.”
Others report that teachers are worried about tackling controversial topics in the classroom. English and media teacher Shelley Eastwick-Thorne says there is “a real fear” among teachers about influencing students politically.
She points to autonomy in the classroom as a potential solution. “Teachers need to be given the control back to tackle controversial topics and encourage students to think critically about the world around them rather than learn textbook standard views and responses.”
Alison Hall, head of government and politics at a secondary school, agrees: “Many teachers feel uncomfortable when discussing controversial and sensitive political and social issues because they might not know enough or know just how far to go.”
Hall thinks the focus needs to be more on teaching critical skills than the issues. “It’s not the topic knowledge that’s important,” she says, “it’s the ability to help students look at a debate from a range of sides in a safe environment.”
But even the structure of schools can be a problem when trying to encourage students to think for themselves. English teacher Hannah Bridges, who accompanied her group to Oxford for the celebration, said her students “tend to back down in discussion”.
“I’ll play devil’s advocate, trying to get them to challenge and explore the other side of an argument, but if I argue one point of view, they’ll back down, going ‘Oh, okay then’ because I’m a teacher.”
The prize winner Anna Morris, 17, from Yorkshire, doesn’t toe any party line. She used her entry to reflect the voices of people who try to protest and find that they are serially ignored. “My aunt, it’s not so much that she minds being poor, it’s that she has to justify getting her benefits all the time. She has health problems, and it’s really draining,” Morris explained to the assembled throng in an interview about her entry.
Her essay, The Voice Of A Benefits Claimant, argued that, contrary to those worried about a rise in censorship, free speech is alive and kicking in this country – if you are lucky enough to have a platform from which to shout. Her aunt, she explained, had tried many times to campaign against the savage benefits cuts affecting disabled people. Repeatedly, Morris wrote, “No one listened.”
“Free speech isn’t under attack,” her essay continued. “What should be under attack is platform privilege.”
Morris recalls how she “found it hard to express my view without sounding too ranty”. It’s hard to write simply, and particularly so when driven by indignation, anger or dismay. As part of its remit, the Orwell Youth Prize schools programme offers feedback on all students’ submitted drafts, helping them to refine their arguments and challenging each writer to find the most compelling words with which to put their views across.
Morris says she worked hard to pare back and simplify her message. Still early in her writing career she’s realised that readers often “tune out when people are expressing their views in an angry way”.
Back at the celebration day debate, tempers cooled – but questions remained among the gathered students about what was being done by the powerful in their name.
Louise Tickle, shortlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize, led a session at the Orwell Youth Prize Celebration Day last week.
