Monday March 16th 2026
Notre Dame High School, West End, pupil Matthew believes youth representation is “a really important cornerstone of Scottish democracy”.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
Education, climate change and the cost of living are among the issues on the minds of Glasgow pupils as a Scottish Parliament election looms.
Ahead of May’s poll, the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited Notre Dame High School in the city’s west end to hear from first-time voters.
The school’s ‘Spotlight’ group, which meets to talk about the week’s news stories, was holding a discussion about democracy as part of the Electoral Commission’s ‘Welcome to Your Vote Week’ — running from March 9 to 15.
Students from S1 to S5 shared their views on the commission’s theme for 2026, which is ‘why voting matters’, before we asked some of those who will be 16 or over on May 7 — and therefore able to cast a ballot — about what the key issues are for them.
Discussions on democracy were taking place in modern and social studies classes across the city during ‘Welcome to Your Vote Week’, a Glasgow City Council spokesperson said.
At Notre Dame, Luella, 16, said: “Me and my peers all collectively feel very passionate about what is going on in the world right now, what’s going on in our country.
“For me, voting is one of the essential ways to have a say in these things, especially as a young person.”
She understands why people “feel frustrated in the way politicians are behaving and the way the government is legislating”, but voting “gives you a direct stake in what happens in the country, and if you are unhappy with the way things are going, vote about it”.
Young people, through climate change campaigns and movements like Black Lives Matter, have shown they “care about the world”, she added. “They are not afraid to challenge authority in order to protect people.
“To think that we wouldn’t want to vote or that we are not intelligent or capable enough to vote is pretty laughable.”
Notre Dame High School pupils
Luella said climate change is “the issue of our time” and “any time that we are not talking about it is time that we are losing realistically”. She also wants to see increased funding in education and highlighted the cost of living as a key issue ahead of May’s vote.
Rachel, 17, added: “I really care about education, definitely the environment and, more generally, immigrant status, things like that.”
She wants schools to be adequately staffed as that “really impacts kids’ learning”. “I feel that’s something I would like to see a big change in, especially for when I’m older and I have my own kids because I want them to feel the benefit of that as well,” she explained.
Rachel added: “I’m voting because I think it’s really, really important for younger groups to vote because it’s our future. I feel like getting your priorities heard and reflected back onto your life is really important for all people.”
Matthew, 15, will miss out on being able to vote in May’s election by a matter of days. He is currently a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Glasgow Kelvin and believes youth representation is “a really important cornerstone of Scottish democracy”.
“Young Scots are Scots just as everyone is,” he said. “Our experiences, while we’ve maybe not had as many as older people, are still really valid.
“We have witnessed crippling austerity, we have witnessed education cuts and so many sectors falling away, like youth work and transport.
“We need the opportunity to fight for a fairer Scotland, just like everyone else does.”
The “main goals” of his youth parliament campaign were “around youth work and transportation so that everyone can get around and do the things that they want to do and need to do in Scotland,” Matthew said.
“It feels too often like young people get forced out onto the streets. Even when we are on the streets, we get shouted away from shops and things like that, but we have nowhere else to go, so there needs to be change in Scotland for young people.”
Jack Conlon, modern studies and English teacher at Notre Dame, set up the ‘Spotlight’ group, a “mixture of people who were always asking questions about current affairs”. It meets every Friday lunchtime to give students an extra curricular opportunity to discuss what’s going on in the world.
“If I think back to when I was in school, obviously me being a modern studies teacher, I felt like I was in a community of one with an interest in politics,” Mr Conlon said.
“So it’s really inspiring to see them super interested in it and they’ve got such amazing care and compassion for other people across the world.
“It really fills you with a lot of hope for the future.”
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