TED Community » Rebecca Cutts

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Making a difference, learning new things and speaking out on the behalf of people who do not have a voice.

An idea worth spreading

All people have ideas, thoughts and opinions, and all can make a difference. This includes teenagers. Whilst the media and certain members of the older generation have us all pegged down as trouble makers over 80% of young people in the UK regularly give back to their communities in ways that many adults could not imagine. Give them a chance and they can offer a lot more than you think. New attitudes, fresh perspectives and unwavering dedication to anyone willing to give them the opportunities they need. Remember - you were once young too.

Talk to me about

Absolutely anything! You will find a fresh perspective through young pair of eyes.

People don't know that I'm good at

I can't really say as I am still trying to work it out myself!

Comments

• TEDCred score: +1.30 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Who is your Everyday Hero?

  Oct 7 2011: My hero is my best friend Jess for bringing me back down to earth with a bang when I need it.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Do young people have a valid role to play in national and international politics?

  Sep 12 2011: I have got to say that I agree with you wholeheartedly on this. It is often the very people who should be standing up and taking notice that feel it is acceptable to sit down and do nothing, choosing only to listen to people with views and opinions similar to their own.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Do young people have a valid role to play in national and international politics?

  Sep 12 2011: I am always getting told that the art of politics is complaining about something and then doing something about it. As long as you can do that then you are well set up.

• A reply on Conversation: Do young people have a valid role to play in national and international politics?

  Sep 10 2011: Young people are the people that I represent on the UK youth parliament - between the ages of eleven and nineteen. This is also the age range of the Members of Youth Parliament.

• A reply on Conversation: Should kids have longer school days?

  Sep 10 2011: Here in the UK once you enter full-time education at around 5 or 6 you spend six hours a day in school, five days a week, not including homework. Even here you only start recieving a good education once you reach about 13, and depending upon which school you go to you may not recieve it then. The only ways to get a good education are to pay extremely high fees for a private school or to do it yourself.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Should kids have longer school days?

  Sep 10 2011: The main problem does not currently seem to be the length of the education provided, but the abhorent lack of quality in today's education systems. I do not think that an lots of poor quality education would provide anywhere near the same level of knowledge and skill as a little high uality education would.
• +5

  A comment on Conversation: What can be done to get the most out of one's schooling? What would you change about your education experience?

  Sep 6 2011: What should change in schools?
  -Stop treating children as though they are stupid
  -Stop offering all students exactly the same education - consider their abilities and interests instead
  -Stop teaching students skills and knowledge that they will never need and start giving them useful skills
  And most importantly
  -Stop telling schools what they have to teach and leave it up to them and their students!

• A reply on Conversation: Should CPR be taught in public schools?

  Sep 6 2011: It isn't just America though. I live in England. Students in England are treated as though they are dumb until they reach at least the last year of primary, if not longer. There isn't adequate provision for gifted students either and student councils are only a tick-box exercise. I was regularly told that I was wrong as a primary student, even to the point where I was told that prime numbers were NOT numbers that could only be divided by themselves and one. I have hated school my whole life. Thankfully I only have two years left of it.
  
  I apologise for the rant but it had to be said.

• A comment on Conversation: Should CPR be taught in public schools?

  Sep 5 2011: You don't just need to be taught CPR. All first aid should be taught in schools, from how to deal with people who are choking to bleeding wounds to how to treat heart attacks. It is all knowledge that you may need one day. I say this as a 16 year old advanced first aider who has been learning since the age of 12.

• A comment on Conversation: What can be done to get the most out of one's schooling? What would you change about your education experience?

  Sep 5 2011: If I could change schooling then I would stop forcing students to study what the government thinks that they should study and instead give them knowledge that they can actually use to make some type of impact on the world. I would also stop dumbing school down because children are capable of things that many adults couldn't even do.