Stand Up Week 14th - 18th November
We are delighted to be supporting BeLonG To for its amazing Stand Up! Campaign. While many LGBT young people develop their sexual and gender identities within supportive families and communities, some experience homophobia, transphobia and exclusion on an ongoing basis.For more information on Stand Up! Week, including details of how your school can get involved, visit their website here.BeLonG To’s Stand Up! campaign calls on young people across Ireland to support their LGBT friends, and has been identified as one of the key actions schools can take under the Government’s National Action Plan on Bullying. This year’s Stand Up! Week takes place from 14-18th November.During Stand Up! Week teachers and youth workers will offer all young people who participate in their centre/school the opportunity to participate in fun and educational activities. These will increase awareness, build supportive links among young people and reduce the incidence of bullying and name-calling.According to Dr Carol-Anne O'Brien, BeLonG To's Director of Advocacy, “Stand Up! tackles bullying by bringing a positive message of friendship to all students. It also tells LGBT young people that they are not alone, and they do not have to suffer or witness homophobic or transphobic bullying in their schools.” Want to be involved?Why not make a rainbow in your school to celebrate Stand Up Week! Send a photo of your rainbow to studentvoice@issu.ie to be in with a chance of winning a free LGBT+ campaign talk for your school! 
Introducing Zeminar
So what’s 'Generation Z'?
It’s the group of young people born in the late 90s and after 2000. They’re special because they’re the first generation ever who grew up totally surrounded by technology, and so their futures, ambitions and needs are completely different than those of any other generation before them…
It was this generation that inspired Zeminar, a youth summit organised for 15-19 year olds coming to the RDS this October! Zeminar is unlike any other youth event - it will bring together amazing speakers, like Bressie, Maria Walsh, Lynn Ruane and David Gillick, as well as the most innovative youth focused organisations in the country, all for you!
Zeminar is open to all. It will run over 3 days in the RDS (Oct 11th, 12th and 13th), and will provide young people with an opportunity to practice new skills, try out new activities and meet professionals from many different fields. High tech all around, diverse and interesting speakers and 8 different mini-Zeminar zones with themes designed to cover all aspects of being a young person from Generation Z - Zeminar is an excellent opportunity to try new things and gain information on everything from careers to wellbeing and self development.The ISSU is a proud partner of this event and we are looking forward to welcoming you all at the RDS in October! Keep an eye on this space as we will have some really exciting announcements to make as the summer goes by and in September, as we countdown to Zeminar. For more information about the event, the speakers and the different organsiations which will be present at Zeminar check out www.zeminar.ie (you can also book some earlybird tickets!) and if you have any questions, just email hello@zeminar.ieHave a great summer guys!
Christmas Greetings!
On behalf of all of us here in the Irish Second-Level Student's Union, we would like to say Thank You for all of your work for students and young people in 2015. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We look forward to working with you in 2016!The Irish Second-Level Students' Union office will be closed from 5:00pm on Wednesday 23rd of December until Monday 4th of January 2016. Please email info@issu.ie with any enquiries. Enjoy the holidays!
Be Heard! Student’s it’s time to get signed up to vote
With a referendum on Voting @ 16 just around the corner, now is the time to get out and have young peoples opinions heard loud and clear! If you are 18 now, or will be 18 before February 15th you will have the opportunity and right to vote in next year’s upcoming referenda on everything from Marriage Equality to ensuring Gender Equality takes shape in the future of Ireland!Students and young people often are only considered as advisors; but with the prospect of a lower voting age and a high turnout of young people across Europe in recent elections and referenda, that’s all changing; Young People are having a big impact on the way their country is run! Studies show that Young People, when they get signed up and engaged in the discussions at hand, get out and vote! And the best part is, they vote in a progressive manner that tends to move the country towards more positive decisions!The bigger the turnout of young people in this referenda, the more positive the campaign for Vote@16 will become! Everyone deserves a say in democracy, including you! For example, young people are the driving force of the Marriage Equality campaign , and it will take more than convincing conservative minded people to support the changing of the meaning of the term ; “marriage”, it will take votes, and plenty of them, and many of them should be people like you and I! I’m not asking you to vote YES and I am not asking you to vote NO, but I am asking you to vote, and November 25th (This Tuesday!!) is your deadline to be heard! So? If your turning 18 before February 15th or already in the stages of early adulthood, now’s your time to make sure your voice is heard!Voting in elections and referenda are what drives this country forward, and you have a say in just what direction we go in! Don’t miss out! So many get caught at the last minute, and go to apply for the register a week before polling and find they can’t use their democratic right to have a say in issues concerning them. As a student activist, a secondary student, and a fellow young person who turns 18 this February, I want you to join me and thousands of other new voters in moving this country in our direction, because getting young voters out means giving young people a say in their Ireland, because after all it’s our generation that’s going to be really involved in the aftermath of this; be it positive or negative; it’s going to affect us; so I say: Let’s be Part of it! Signing Up to vote is so easy and you might be signed up already Click Here to check the register and Here if your not on the register to make sure you are on it in time! Remember you don’t have to be 18 now or before Tuesday to vote next year, once you meet the voting age by February 15th it’s your democratic legal right to have a voice in matters concering you! So get out and get voting, it’s time to be heard!
ISSU Welcomes New Anti-Bullying Procedures
The Irish Second Level Students’ Union has welcomed the launch of new Anti-Bullying procedures. These new procedures and guidelines, aimed at addressing and preventing bullying such as homophobic and transphobic bullying, and particularly cyper-bullying. This will be mandatory for all schools . ISSU Equality Officer, Conor Lynott, said; “These new mandatory procedures will greatly improve the lives of all of our young people in making the school environment a safe and happy place for young people to grow and achieve their full potential.” ISSU President, Mark Caffrey, said; "The steps taken by the Department have been very positive in recent years when it comes to bullying. Now that schools have had a good chance to look at the department regulations and recommendations it is clear that schools will no longer have any excuses for developing their own local policies on bullying. We wholeheartedly welcome the new regulations. These reforms fit perfectly into the ethos of our second-level schools and are built around the action plan on bullying which the ISSU had a direct role in developing".
NATIONAL STUDENT BODIES & TRADE UNIONS JOIN FORCES TO TACKLE YOUTH JOBS CRISIS
NATIONAL STUDENT BODIES & TRADE UNIONS JOIN FORCES TO TACKLE YOUTH JOBS CRISIS Three national student and trade union bodies today (Sept. 5) issued a joint call for immediate government action to address the youth jobs crisis and have proposed the adoption of a new National Jobs Strategy for Young People to tackle the problem. Together, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and the Irish Second Level Students’ Union (ISSU), have called for an end to the ‘lock-out’ of young people from the jobs market and proposed a range of measures to improve access to the workplace and enhance employment skills. The three organisations are seeking joint meetings with “all relevant government ministers and departments” on foot of the proposals. The measures are contained in a new, joint publication - Locked out? Investing in a Future for Youth.
National Jobs Strategy for Young PeopleJobs StimulusMajor investment in the Youth GuaranteeA legal framework for work placementsThe creation of a new Career Information ServiceCreating a new National skills map Speaking on behalf of the Congress Youth Committee, Lorraine Mulligan said: “We cannot afford to lose a generation to precarious work, joblessness or emigration. We need a clear strategy to tackle the problems facing young people, including investment in a Youth Guarantee, offering employment or training opportunities and ensuring decent pay and working conditions for those in the labour force.” USI President Joe O’Connor said: “Some 35,000 young people left Ireland in the last year, as a direct result of policies that didn’t offer them genuine opportunities, while a further 65,000 young people remain unemployed here. “Many are highly-qualified graduates who benefited from huge state investment through their education and would prefer to stay and contribute to our national recovery. But the opportunities just aren’t there. That has to change,” Mr O’Connor said. Mr. Mark Caffrey, ISSU President said: "The issue of youth unemployment and underemployment has not gone away. It is crucial that major steps are taken to ensure that opportunities are created for young people so their employment prospects improve. We need to end this 21st Century Lockout of young people from work and opportunity.”