Find your voice?

What is student voice?A simple question I hear you cry - just the gathering of pupils thoughts on an activity, lesson, process...but I think it must be more than this. I think good and thoughtful embedded pupil voice gives pupils confidence to have a voice outside of school.I was amazed to see the mass turn out for the "March for or lives" event and the excellent speakers on the podium. They were clear and articulate and knew what message they wanted the world to hear. The tragic events that led up to the March should not be overlooked, however the March and the subsequent marches demonstrated real and passionate pupil voice.https://youtu.be/C5ZUDImTIQ8 In the General Election, in the UK in 2007, there was an increase in the number of young voters, the largest turn out in the last 25 years. What made them vote this year? What captured their imagination? Was it brexit? Was it the "citizenship" program that has been running in UK schools from 2002, where pupils discuss, amongst other things, voting and voting rights in the UK? Or were they just pissed off?I have been an educator for 16 years (10 of which I was in the UK state system) and I do not have an answer. I am pretty convinced it was not the "citizenship" program, but possibly the atmosphere of debates that was created around it. I am sure, however, that as educators we have a duty to help the youth find their voice. To empower them  to know what they are passionate about, and to articulate these ideas. To think beyond the constraints of what is expected and decide on what they expect.But how do we do this? I encourage debates in my class and then hope for the best. Hope that they are armed with ideas from a wide range of sources and that they can use these to navigate the crazy world and find "their own voice". But this is not enough. It is too ad hoc and piecemeal. I am more of the opinion that we need to give them more room to develop their own educational landscape. Give them more opportunities to make real choices and decisions, that effect their real-time education. Maybe these are the skills we should be focusing on to prepare our students for the future!