By H Phipps, 3rd year student
During the yearly Meath Comhairle na nÓg Youth Conference in the Ardboyne Hotel we got to talk to decision makers, discuss with other students from different schools and listen to members of the Comhairle.
We spoke to representatives from the LMETB, Gardaí and Meath County Council about topics including vaping and the new Leaving Cert course work. We were asked about the topic of school stress, which is the issue that the Comhairle has been discussing during their current term. We were asked about causes, coping mechanisms and solutions which we discussed with the other students at our tables.
The chairman of the Ombudsman for Children spoke and received questions from Comhairle members about the right for a student to switch off from school.
All of the participating schools, including ours, were able to elect 2 members of their student council to join the Comhairle for a 2 year term.
It was an amazing experience and we were able to see new ideas from other schools which we brought back to our student council. We are very grateful to Ms Caffrey who gave her time to give us this experience.
