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Search site for keywords: Youth - Young people - Media - Government - Respect - Syria - London - Children - School - War - Waltham Forest - Students
Young people accused of extremism for questioning government and media
Lily Douglas, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
I am a 15-year-old who was asked to write about child protection officials' outrageous political attack on young people. A London borough has said youth who question the government or mainstream media may be extremists!
As a young person who is fighting the Tory government - and disagrees with basically everything the media says at the moment - I have to admit... I am not happy with that statement. I think many will be angry, especially the students at my school.
There has been uproar about the decision to bomb Syria. Despite what some people think about us, young people know what happens in this world and we feel the effects like everyone else.
Obviously, right-wing MPs like Stella Creasy do not think so. One of my friends tweeted Creasy the "Miley, what's good?" meme - challenging her to explain her hypocrisy over Syria. Creasy tweeted back telling her to go to the secret 'public' meeting she had called to justify voting for bombing!
Another friend tweeted Creasy that she used to be her role model, but not anymore. Guess what Creasy said back? Nothing. She ignored her.
In our citizenship class the Friday after the vote to bomb, we were being taught about 'British values'. Our teacher was not too happy about my friends' tweets.
We were told 'British values' are democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance. Apparently we have no right to 'bombard' Stella Creasy because we are breaking 'our' British values of tolerance and mutual respect.
But bombing and killing children is OK? Where is her 'respect' for the victims of bombs - or young peoples' views at home? And where is the 'democracy' in her voting for war against the wishes of 75% of her own party's members?
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