Young “pollies” from the Light Electorate have given the 2017 YMCA Youth Parliament their vote of approval, at a breakfast held on Saturday morning to celebrate International Youth Day.

The breakfast was sponsored by Local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo, to hear from members of the “Enlightened” Youth Parliament Team about their experience.

Nine students from secondary schools across the local electorate were part of the “Enlightened” team, sponsored by Tony Piccolo, participating schools and local Councils.

At the breakfast, the students talked about their experiences in the program, and all of them said it helped enormously with their personal self-development.

“To a tee, the students said the program helped them with their confidence in public speaking, knowledge of the parliamentary process, their ability to argue a case and prepare and structure a speech,” said Mr Piccolo.

“While training sessions and activities were helpful in preparing them, there was nothing like ‘doing it’ which students found the most beneficial,” he said.

Mr Piccolo was surprised and impressed with the personal growth of the young people involved.

“When I first met the students after their selection, they were very shy and quite apprehensive about the program, but to see them now is nothing short of fantastic.

“They have grown so much and their passion and willingness to learn is inspiring, ” he said.

Mr Piccolo said he was a firm believer in the philosophy that it takes a community to educate a child so he pleased that the mayors all agreed to chip in to support these young people participate in the Youth Parliament.

The “Enlightened” team prepared and debated a Bill to enable children under the age of five, who find themselves in custody for a minor criminal offence, to be able to stay with their parents.

“The students argued that children would benefit from remaining connected to their parents,” Mr Piccolo said. Mr Piccolo said the YMCA SA Youth Parliament is a nonpartisan program that seeks to empower young people to be advocates for their community.

“The program is focused on personal development, youth leadership and connecting parliamentarians and Decision makers with youth voices and opinions.” The YMCA is currently accepting nominations for 2017 Junior Parliament for young people aged 12-15 years, which will take place during the October School holidays.

More information about the Junior Parliament can be obtained online at http://www.sa.ymca.org.au/our-services/youth-parliament/junior-parliament/