Local Democracy Week aims to get kids interested in politics

The guides have been sent to every council and every secondary school in the country.

Local Democracy Week runs from the 15th-21st October and is about getting young people more involved with, and more aware of, their local council.

Currently, just a quarter of 11-16 year-olds believe that their local councillor is the best person to approach in order to change something in their community.

Research for the LGA by Ipsos MORI revealed that when asked who they respect most outside their family, only one per cent chose politicians.

The four guides focus on:
· Sending the councillor back to school - for councillors and councils.
· Getting the most out of your council chamber - for councillors and councils.
· Bringing democracy to the classroom - a wide range of lesson ideas for citizenship teachers.
· Introducing young people to local politics - for those working with young people outside school.

Cllr Les Lawrence, chair of the Children and Young People Board of the LGA said:

'Young people are very involved in single issue politics, but politicians have yet to turn this into a passion for democracy. These guides have been produced to help councils and teachers translate young people's enthusiasm in political issues into the politicians of tomorrow.

'There has been a long term downward trend of young people not getting involved in politics and yet there is clearly a passion for them to want to make a difference. Local Democracy Week is about turning the passion of change into the passion of politics.”