Vicky Biccy's Blog

The coolest kids in school

I’ve been writing songs with teenagers these last few weeks. I’m not the pied piper; I didn’t just find these young people hanging around a car park and lead them on a merry song-writing dance. I’ve been on a tour of schools creating school anthems with big groups of 15 year olds. 

Peer pressure is enormous at 15. Some of the teenagers looked at us like we were inflicting torture, and refused to speak unless absolutely necessary. Others dived straight into the project, came up with some fantastic results, and loved every minute of it. They risked their reputation by beatboxing, singing and rapping on stage in front of hundreds of their peers… and received a standing ovation. This week, they’re the coolest kids in school.

I’m relieved to have left that awful pressure to ‘be cool’ back in my old high school, along with the hideous bottle-green gym shorts. But I sometimes wonder whether elements of peer pressure still catch me out, now in my twenties. Do I sometimes hold back from taking a risk for fear of what people will think? Maybe I should take my cue from the young songwriters, and carry on regardless.  

Created on Thu 19th March 2009 14:43