September saw some significant progress to Somerset Member of Youth Parliament Emma Brown’s campaign – Young People and Social Media – with conversations, the opportunity to present at a forum week, and a survey. Read on to find out more.

September has been a busy month for my campaign on social media and its influence on young people. To start, I have had some fantastic meetings with people from different organizations where we have discussed how they can help me with my campaign. We also had a very interesting conversation about looking at the positive side of social media and working out what’s going right for all of those who are happy on social media.

This led to a discussion about me presenting my campaign and Somerset Youth Parliament’s work at an online forum week, which I’m so excited for. This will include the findings of my survey (which will be with you shortly), general statistics, and my personal view on why it’s so important and my top tips for online safety. In addition, I hope to release a podcast talking about my campaign with some other Members of our Youth Parliament.

My survey!

Over the summer holidays until now, I have been trying to form my survey, and once I have the approval of Somerset Youth Parliament, it will be sent out to catch your views on social media and how it affects you. With my survey, I hope to reach as many young people as possible to ensure that my results are as accurate as possible while also ensuring that I work with my results to better my campaign and the work I do in the future. Watch this space so you can fill it out once it’s released!

I have started compiling a presentation on all my campaign research; it’s a long task, but I’m slowly making progress and also trying to make it as young people friendly as possible. With this work, I hope to be able to present my findings and research at many events to further reach and effect young people in Somerset, so they are aware of the risks of social media but also the benefits.

Just a reminder to sign off, be responsible online; the things you post will be on there forever. Reach out to a trusted adult if you need help or want to learn how to use it responsibly.

In addition, check out my article on the Houses of Parliament!

Emma

Somerset Youth Parliament campaigns

Each Member of Youth Parliament works on a campaign during their term, which is supported by their Deputies and the Advisory Group. It allows us to understand what changes young people want to see in the communities they live in and makes sure that those views are heard by Somerset’s decision makers.

To find out more about our Member of Youth Parliament’s campaigns visit our Campaigns page.