It's not easy being young today

Politicians of all persuasions are seeking the vote of young people. But what have they to offer?

	At every level today's society is letting our young people down.

Young people can't get on the housing ladder - they are priced out of the housing market.

Far too few decent jobs are available for young people. The days of skilled jobs and apprenticeships in the shipyards and engineering industries are long since gone. It's now low paid jobs in burger chains and supermarkets for large numbers of our young people.

Like the Educational Institute of Scotland we are opposed to Jack McConnell's 'Skills Academies'.
Yes, young people should be given every opportunity to acquire the skills that our economy needs, but not at the expense of a good rounded education.

McConnell's proposals run the danger of a return to junior and senior secondary education - an inferior education for the children of the working class, and a superior education for the sons and daughters of the better off.

Young people who do make it to university today are being crippled by debt - now rising to £14,000 - £20,000 each - a deterrent to the children of the working class. University education could once again become the preserve of the rich.

How awful that Jack McConnell and Tony Blair should be talking about bringing back a form of conscription.

And how sad that the most disadvantaged of youth, denied decent jobs, are spilling their blood in the battlefields of Iraq.

	The future belongs to the young. You can build a better future!