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Aleta Shaanika
Grade 10
16 years old
!Garibams Secondary School

Section F: Personal Statement

A Children’s Parliament is an organisation that provides children with an opportunity

to participate in decision-making processes about activities regarding the
government. Being a part of this will give me experience that I never got before.

Every child's interest is different when it comes to being a member of the Children's
Parliament. These interests can vary depending on the specific needs and concerns
of the participating children. After doing some research, common interests such as
education, child protection and health and well-being are occasionally discussed in
the Children's Parliament. The interest that caught my eye the most was education
as I take my education very seriously and it would be great to hear what other people
with different opinions feel about it. Education has always been a top priority for me
ever since primary school. Mathematics has always been my favourite subject
because I would find it fun and I was great at it. I still am actually and i would actually
say that i am doing better in highschool than i did in primary school.

Personally, I have no experience when it comes to the Children's Parliament.

However, I do have similar experiences that I had in our debating club here at !
Garibams Secondary School. We used to occasionally debate against any non
debaters and that was the most I’ve experienced. Becoming a member of the
Children's Parliament will give me exposure to different approaches to a certain
topic. Being able to experience being a part of the Children’s Parliament will expose
me to building better leadership skills, overcome my fear of public speaking and it
will help me understand governance and policy making. Being able to understand
governance and policy making will guide me in the future as I will be able to
understand the changes the government is making and why they are doing it. If I can
manage to overcome my fear of public speaking, it will give me confidence and a
better character development.

My goal with being a member of the Children’s Parliament is to help empower the
younger children in order for them to have a proper platform to express their
opinions, help them build their self-esteem and to foster a sense of agency and
ownership over their lives and communities. One of my main goals also includes
advocating children's rights, as some people quite frankly just ignore that children do
have rights. Yes, do not get me wrong, in order for children’s rights to be respected
they should also respect their own responsibilities. This can also serve as a prime
example of promoting participation in decision making. According to research, the
main goal of a Children's Parliament is to encourage and facilitate the active
participation of children in decision making processes. It aims to ensure that
children's voices are heard, respected, and taken into account in matters that affect
them.

To sum it all up, me being part of the Children’s Parliament will help me motivate and
encourage the younger children into being more open to public speaking, advocating
rights and understanding governance and policy making fully.

(Word Count: 515)