Thursday 6 January 2011

FINDING OUT WHAT MATTERS TO YOUNG PEOPLE

Almost 500 young people in Thanet have given their views on what matters most to them, what they want to do when they’re older and what things concern them.

The survey, aimed at 11 to 19 year olds, was included in the Youth Matters magazine and www.thanetyouthmatters.co.uk and asked a wide range of questions.

The results showed that two thirds of those who responded were satisfied with the area as a place to live, while 23% weren’t. When asked what the one thing was that young people liked about the area, the most popular answer was the beach or the seaside.

Young people took part in a variety of activities, of which sport was the most popular, selected by 36%, while 20% either went to dance classes or youth clubs. Despite this, when they were asked how many hours a week they took part in sport or physical activity outside of school each week, nearly two thirds of those who responded said that they did three hours or less. Most young people thought getting to activities and events in Thanet was easy, with around 45% going on foot, while 35% catch the bus.

When asked about how safe they felt, 86% of young people said that they felt safe during the day. However, only a third felt safe going out after dark. The things that most concerned young people were crime and drugs, with 44% saying that each of these was a worry for them.

The survey also asked young people what they wanted to do in the future and what they could actually see themselves doing. 62% of those who answered wanted to earn lots of money, but less than half of those thought they would actually do this. The second most popular choice was owning their own car and nearly all of them thought they would achieve this.

The most popular way to find out about activities and events was by using Facebook, Bebo or MySpace.

The results will be used to help draw up the latest Youth Strategy for Thanet.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please note comments that may be libellous, comments that may be construed as offensive and anonymous derogatory comments about real people will be deleted. Also note the facility to leave anonymous comment will be turned of during periods when I am unable to monitor comment, this will not affect people commenting who are signed on to their blogger accounts.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.