KIDS Are Alright campaign changing attitudes, young people say

The Kids Are Alright has made adults feel more positively about young people, say individuals and teams featured in the Cambs Times and Wisbech Standards award-winning campaign.

An online survey is asking young people nominated for The Kids Are Alright how the campaign has affected them. So far 19 participants, aged between 12 and 18, have responded. Young people featured in the campaign have until July 1 to fill in the survey by going onto http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LXFJ5RT.

Comments from those taking part include: great campaign and the campaign gave us a reward for what we do and also publicity to promote young people doing good.

One 16-year-old wrote: I like this campaign because it recognises the good in us young people and promotes it.

Another 16-year-old, from Marshland High School, who last year travelled with her classmates to Malawi to build classrooms for some of the world’s poorest children, said: The Kids are Alright campaign has encouraged me to achieve things I can be proud of by helping not only myself, but others around me.

Marshland High School pupils were among nine individuals and teams shortlisted for the overall Kid of the Year award.

The teenager said she had forged strong relationships as a result of her trip and still kept in touch with her friends in Malawi: Some of the friendships I made are very special and important to me as they are teaching me to love and learn about new cultures.

The survey so far indicates that young people still think adults feel negatively about their age group. However, 16 respondents (94.1% of respondents) said more adults think young people do good things as a result of the Kids Are Alright campaign.

Over half of those taking part in the survey said the most important thing about being put forward for a Kids Are Alright award was being recognised for their achievements. Four young people said the best thing was being good role models for their peers, while for three, the highlight was helping to change how adults feel about teenagers.

Asked how being nominated had affected them the most, almost half of respondents said it gave them something great to put on my CV. Five said it made them feel more confident, while three said it made their families proud.

Respondents were undecided on whether or not the Kids Are Alright had changed how young people feel about each other but the majority felt the campaign had changed how they felt about their own potential to achieve.

So far nine boys and 10 girls have taken part in the survey. Five respondents had been nominated individually for Kids Are Alright awards, while 13 had been part of a team. One respondent wasn’t sure if he or she had been nominated on their own or as part of a team.