Highland Council new Youth Convenor is set on improving online safety and technology for young people
Newly appointed Highland youth convener Leah McBain is hoping to improve online safety and technology for people living in rural areas as she starts her position this month.
Leah said she was honoured to take on the role, which represents the interests of all young people and provides a link to elected members and senior officials at Highland Council and other agencies in the region.
Leah has clear intentions for her year-long post - aiming to influence policy for young people across the Highlands and to run it as a “young person lead advocacy”.
“It's just my role to amplify that voice,” she said. “I’m 23 now, I'm no longer in high school and I think the young people in high school now, they grew up with technology and I think them speaking about how technology affects them will be more impactful than a councillor.
"Their research might back it up but what are the young people saying - making sure young people have their voice heard is really important.”
Having lived most of her youth in Lochinver, she is very familiar with the ups and downs of rural living.
“To get to school - that was an hour each way every single day.
“If I wanted to do activities like swimming, that's another hour. Inverness? That’s two, two and a half in the winter.
“You learn to live off the land almost, you prepare shopping two weeks ahead, I love it.”
This is what has led her to push for a better online safety and technology policy. Young people who live in rural areas are "predisposed to go online" as there is often not much else to do.
A lack of accessible facilities for young people across the Highlands leads many to become reliant on social media, online gaming and using the internet for entertainment and as a way of communication.
Having only been in the job since the beginning of September, Leah has already started to make an effort to better represent young people, by learning British Sign Language.
“Before I got the youth convenor role, I was going to be mentioning a young person with hearing impairments.
“I wanted to make sure I could speak to her in a way she wanted to be heard.
“Everyone should be on that same level of representation."
Leah credits her newly found position to her high school youth worker Yvonne Boa, who encouraged her to apply for the position after graduating from the University of the Highlands and Islands with a degree in history and criminology.
Her love for history was passed down from her father who she shared her graduation with, as he completed his degree in archaeology and history the same year.
Her decision to study locally was partly due to her being a board member for a local history charity and partly her love for her home.
“This is such a special place in the world, you wouldn't want to leave because there is nothing like the Highlands.”