Derry youth MP (14) who wants the vote at 16 outraged by silence on Gaza
14-year-old Kian Hawes from Foyle, Co Derry has been re-elected as Youth MP for a second term.
Recently re-elected youth MP for Foyle, Kian Hawes recalls that the first time he got political was in Primary 7, when the Mayor came to visit his school.
He describes that visit from the Mayor as a catalyst, “it was when the genocide began in Gaza, I wanted to get involved and have my voice heard, peoples’ silence outraged me and it still outrages me.”
“Since then, I’ve been active in rallying for a range of issues, whether that be the voting age being lowered to 16 or the active genocide in Palestine,” Kian explains.
Kian then began to notice more issues in his local community and set up a youth committee, working on issues such as transport, road safety and racism.
Kian says his main role as youth MP is “representing the views of young people in the local community, whether that be to politicians or decision makers”.
All of the youth MPs across the UK meet annually at a conference where they are all given the opportunity to state their policy proposals. The proposals are debated and then they meet at the House of Commons to vote for their policy campaigns, this usually happens in November.
You can be a Youth MP anywhere in Northern Ireland once you are between the ages of 11 and 18.
One of the biggest issues Kian wants to focus on going into his second term as Youth MP is the mental health service. Kian states “a lot of young people in my area have raised issues within the Child and Adolescence Mental Health Service (CAMHS).”
“I know lots of young people within CAMHS who are on waiting lists and aren’t being seen by mental health professionals, and I don’t think that’s good enough.”
Kian explains the Department for Health in Northern Ireland introduced a 2021-2031 mental health strategy. This 10-year framework is designed to fundamentally transform mental health services across the region.
“I believe that document has everything I would do to improve the service, such as increase staff numbers and reduce waiting lists.” Kian states that the issue with the framework is that it hasn’t been given a protected budget.
“One of my key beliefs is that it needs to be given a protected budget. Then staff numbers within the mental health service will be increased and more people can be seen and get off waiting lists”.
Kian believes that the most important thing for the mental health service is improving the services that are already there. “I would like to see a new service, but within the current means of the assembly, improving the quality of the current services is what’s important”.
The growth of the Irish language is something Kian is incredibly passionate about. “We’re up to 7,000 young people in the North that attend medium Irish primary schools, while that may not seem that high it’s a drastic increase from the 1000 students 20 years ago”.
He sees the demand within his own school, saying, “the amount of people who are taking Irish for GCSE’s has increased dramatically, and for the first time in many years we have an A-level Irish class.”
He expressed frustration towards politicians who are attempting to stop the growth of the Irish language. “There are politicians within the North that are hell bent on stopping the growth of the Irish language, and I’m one of those people that has to step in the way of stopping that growth”.
Kian explained that there is demand from all sorts of communities in Northern Ireland to learn Irish and it’s important that executives meet that demand with fair funding.
Bands like Kneecap and Irish influencers who are choosing to showcase their interest in the Irish language is something Kian sees as very positive. “It’s a language spoken by our ancestors, it’s been here for thousands of years and will be here for thousands to come, it’s incredibly important that we engage with it, I’d encourage anyone to learn it”.
Kian expressed concern regarding a survey that showcased over 90% of young people in Derry saying they don’t see a future for themselves in Derry. “It’s incredibly disheartening,” he explained.
He says there is a need for more apprenticeships in the region, “apprenticeships are a way to give young people an opportunity that is an alternative to school, not everyone thrives in a classroom environment.”
Kian believes the opportunities that apprenticeships provide need to be spread far and wide. “I don’t want people thinking ‘oh well I don’t want to go to University so I have no options, I’ll just do nothing’”.
He believes that young people don’t have an attitude of not wanting to do anything, they just aren’t aware of what alternative options are out there. “I want to use my role to spread the word about alternative opportunities for young people”.
The poverty rate in Derry sits at approximately 25% for young people. Kian believes that the feeling of lack of opportunity amongst adolescents can stem from living in poverty. “I want young people to know that just because you grew up in poverty it shouldn’t mean that your opportunities should be less than anyone else or you are any less valuable than anyone else.”
Kian says if he could change one thing about politics today it would be “for politicians to stop with the pathetic bickering they engage in quite frequently”, he wants to see more action.
“Bickering doesn’t improve our mental health services, it doesn’t address poverty, it serves no one. If I could change one thing it would be the attitude of our politicians”.
Kian expressed he hopes to stay involved in politics as he gets older, “I’m in it now so I’m in it for life” he added.