Youth Voice Conference gives students a chance to speak

WITH a little more than 100 days left to the start of the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG), activities are now in full swing. On April 19, the 2023 CYG Youth Voice Conference was held, giving secondary school students in Trinidad and Tobago the opportunity to raise concerns about challenges they may be having and ways of coping.

The 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games will be held in TT from August 4-11.

Students in Trinidad attended the conference at the Upper El Dorado Community Centre. Two schools from Tobago – Bishop’s High School and Scarborough Secondary – participated virtually.

Most of the schools taking part were from east Trinidad, including El Dorado East Secondary, El Dorado West Secondary, Tunapuna Secondary, St Augustine Secondary, Bishop Anstey High, Trinity College East, Hillview College, St Joseph's Convent and St Augustine Girls' High School.

The conference was facilitated by the British High Commission, the Ministry of Sport and Community Development and the TT Commonwealth Games Association (TTCGA). Among those who attended were TTCGA president Diane Henderson and British High Commissioner Harriet Cross, who delivered the feature address.

The discussions, moderated by Kobe Sandy, were interactive, as students shared their thoughts. Students also joined Sandy on stage in panel discussions. Some of the topics were women and girls in sport and mental health, along with the positive and negative effects of social media.

TTCGA relations lead Jariel Mc Collin was satisfied that students got the chance to participate.

“Speaking to some of the students today, they voiced that they never really had the experience before today at a conference where they are able to voice their opinions on topics that matter to them.”

The youth games are not only about sport, but having conferences like the one on Wednesday to educate children.

“This is part of the prelude to the games,” Mc Collin said. “A lot of people have the misconception that the youth games is just strictly sports, but there is a cultural and educational aspect to it. Sports for all is one of them.”

The Youth Voice Conference is being supported by the Birmingham Youth Voice team of England.

Programmes and activities will be geared towards students leading up to the games.