Premier Craig Cannonier might want to keep an eye on his Youth Parliament counterpart Kennedy Middleton in the wake of the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre protest.

Because the 17-year-old consulted with young Parliamentarians and led them to a unanimous consensus that the centre in St David’s should remain open — a week before Government made the same decision as protesters rallied.

In her final year at Mount Saint Agnes, the 17-year-old said entering Youth Parliament three years ago taught her that young Bermudians really can make a difference.

“Since I was little I’ve always wanted to make a difference, and I never knew exactly how to do that,” she said.

Bermuda’s current Youth Parliament Premier is a pragmatic, composed and ambitious young woman. She has her eyes set on becoming a lawyer and a real Parliamentarian.

The Youth Parliament experience is proving to be a useful stepping stone.

“[Three years ago] the Principals came to us and said ‘there’s a Youth Parliament’ and I had never heard of it before. And so I thought, ‘Okay, wow. I can actually make a difference. I’m actually doing something ... not just sitting around and saying ‘Oh, I want to make a change’, I’m actually doing it.”

Now a veteran in Youth Parliament, Kennedy said she has learned a great deal from her hard work over the years.

“Tiny issues or challenges can affect different aspects of Bermuda. It’s not just one part.

“So when we are making decisions, or bringing things up, we have to look at how it’s going to affect Bermuda as a collective.”

That pragmatic, holistic attitude towards decision-making was on full display in Kennedy’s first address as Youth Premier, which concerned the future of the Lamb Foggo UCC.

Among other issues raised were the need for trade schools in Bermuda, with one Youth Parliamentarian making the “radical suggestion” of proposing The Berkeley Institute become an academic school, while CedarBridge Academy turns it attention to trade-based learning.

Trade schools, she said, offer a way to boost the self-confidence of those struggling with academics, opening their eyes up to other possibilities beyond what is taught in the classroom.

“I feel [trade schools] are important because not everyone is academically minded,” she said. “Not everyone is like me and likes politics and law, so I feel they [the less academically inclined] need the opportunities that are afforded to me also. It’s not fair that there aren’t as many opportunities for them and I feel it cheats them a bit.

“It’s important [to teach children they can be good at things other than academics] because it builds self-confidence. They go to school and they may not be good at it and then people laugh at them, so it brings their self-confidence down. Having trade schools might bring [their confidence] up.”

The issue of gay rights was also raised in Kennedy’s address.

“I feel that right now [gay rights] are still a little bit taboo and we have to realise they’re the same as a straight person. They should be treated equally as well. It’s a whole thing with the younger generation. We’re more open and accepting of it more than the older generation. I think we’re just more open minded.”

A member of Delta Sigma Theta’s ‘GEMS’ programme Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully, Kennedy combines her love of black history and literature through the poetry of 1920s Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, and she takes time out to tutor classmates in maths and English.

Opposition Senator Diallo Rabain, whom Kennedy sought out for help and advice ahead of delivering the Throne Speech, said the way young people view the issues facing Bermuda today is too often discounted.

“[Kennedy] renews my hope in young people getting into the field of politics,” said Mr Rabain. “We need to do more to encourage our young people to get involved in the decisions of the country. We need to provide an avenue where they not only want to be at the table where the decisions are made, but they demand to be at the table where the decisions are made. We’re making decisions that are going to affect them and generations after them, so it makes sense to have some sort of involvement or some sort of interest in what’s going on now.”