Student Virtual Parliament: letter to students

The Student Virtual Parliament is a big issues voting forum just for students.  

This is not a single event but a continuous ongoing experience of real grassroots direct democracy for young people. Students set the agenda, no one else. You can express opinions on any subject at any time. You can vote on an issue at any time. Every student has equal opportunity to be heard on a national and international stage.

The voting forum produces a live ranking of student opinion on the issues of the day. The student voice in each school, county, country and for the whole UK can all be seen in one place.  

A strong, healthy democracy thrives on free speech and public debate. Your votes in the Student Virtual Parliament make democracy stronger and you a part of it.

How the forum works

It’s like a free-floating student “opinion market” – transparent, continuous, live and competitive.

Students set the agenda by submitting opinions and ideas, in the form of concise “placards”, directly into an online leaderboard. All opinion placards compete daily for votes from students across the country and are ranked live in the transparent leaderboard.

It’s a continuous polling technique that lets all students vote daily and submit new opinion placards any time. Voting results can be viewed in selected sample periods such as last 24 hours, three days, seven days and 30 days. While you can vote any time there is no double counting because only your last vote is counted in the selected sample period.

Each student is issued with a Voting Pin Number. This means everyone knows the votes are real – political leaders, media groups, professional educators and the public will take notice.

Register to vote – creating a sign-in name and password

Visit www.studentparliament.com and select “UK” or use the shortcut to the UK site www.uksvp.com. Then visit the Voting Chamber for your school level. You will see a poll menu, select the forum called “Main Board : The Big Issues, All Opinions”.

Next click the green “Register” link appearing near the top left corner. Invent a sign-in name and password that you will remember. Note your sign-in password does not have to be the same your Voting Pin Number. You may prefer to use a sign-in password that is easier to remember than the Voting Pin Number. Complete the form, then click “Submit”.

Note the email address input is optional. If you do enter an email address it must be unique – that is, not shared with another voter. A valid email address will enable you to recover your sign-in name or password if you forget either of them.  Also if you provide an email address you will be notified of monthly pulse vote dates – discussed below and receive Student Virtual Parliament news updates. Your email address is protected by the website’s strict privacy terms.

The leaderboard

Unless you are one of the first to vote you will see a list of placards submitted by others. The placards are ranked by votes received. Note the placards that lead on any day depend on your selected vote sample period and the region selected above the leaderboard. The last 30 days is a popular sample period setting. Use the school selector to see votes from your school. However there may be a ten-minute delay before new votes appear in the school selector.

When many placards have been submitted the lower ranking placards appear in separate pages accessed from the page selector under the leaderboard. Placards are rarely removed, they just fall out of immediate sight to a lower ranking page when they no longer attract votes. It means student votes alone determine which placards are most visible with the highest rankings.

Voting and using your Voting Pin Number

The first time you vote you will be prompted to enter your Voting Pin Number issued by the Student Parliament administrator at your school. Your Voting Pin Number gives your invented sign-in name permanent access to the forum. You use your Voting Pin Number only once (unless you also use your Voting Pin Number as your sign-in password).  Once used it cannot be used by another.

Select the checkbox for up to ten placards that you support and then click the “Submit Vote” button.  If you are one of the first to vote and few placards exist or not all the placards you prefer can be found then click  “Submit New Placard”.

You can change your vote on any day a limited number of times. To change your vote just vote again the same day. This will override your previous vote of the day. Your last vote on any day is recorded permanently as your vote for that day. Vote regularly.

If others have access to your computer don’t forget to sign out after you finish.

Every month everyone is also invited to vote together. These are called “PulseVotes” and occur on the same day number every month.  If you provided an email address you will receive a vote reminder early on the day of the PulseVote. The PulseVote date is also announced in the forum.   

Submitting new placards
 
Click the “Submit New Opinion” button any time to float a new opinion placard in the Leaderboard. But first use the keyword search to check if a suitable placard already exists. Submit clear opinions not questions. Be concise and creative. Try not to use more than 12 words. Placards that resonate with others will attract more votes and rise up the leaderboard.

When submitting a new placard you will also be invited to add a more detailed comment, which can be left blank. This comment appears when the placard is clicked in the leaderboard. The comment also appears as the first posting in the attached debating forum – see below.

Debating forums

All placards have a dedicated discussion board or debating forum. Click the icon to the far right of any placard to see existing postings and to submit new postings any time. Note, your sign in and school name appear on any postings you submit. Avoid frivolous comments. Try to post well composed, concise speeches with thoughtful arguments. Be polite to those with whom you debate and set an example to our elder parliamentarians!

You are representing your school

Voting is anonymous however all votes and forum postings can be traced to your school using the region selector above the leaderboard. This means you are representing your school.   

Moderated forums

The forums are moderated. So there is a slight delay before new placards and forum postings are published. Editors may amend a placard if it is ambiguous, too long or includes poor grammar or spelling. Comments attached to a placard which include postings in the debating forums are rarely amended but not published if they violate the rules.  

Do not submit postings that attack people in the school community or other private citizens. Posts that our editors consider to be frivolous, defamatory, sexist, racist or inciting of violence are not published.

Useful Hints

Vote period buttons: Use the vote period button above the leaderboard to view near or longer term voting.  The shorter term periods such as last 24 hours show the hot issues of the moment while the longer term periods such as last 30 days or last 90 days show the issues and opinions that persist through time. Note repeat votes are filtered automatically. Only one vote is counted for each person for each placard regardless of the duration of the term.

Regular voting: Regular voting ensures that your vote is counted in the most recent vote sample periods.

Vote reminders: As soon as you vote you will be invited to set a vote reminder.  The reminder sends an email with a link directly to the poll. However this feature can be used only if you have provided a valid email address. To check, update or enter your email address click "Members Area" in the top menu then "My Details".

Forgotten Sign in or password: Next to the Sign in link (top left) notice the small “forgotten” link. Use it any time you forget your sign in name or password. However this feature can be used only if you have provided a valid email address. To check, update or enter your email address click "Members Area" in the top menu then "My Details".

Change your details: You can check or change any of your registration details any time. Start by clicking “Members Area” (top menu) then “My Details”. Also use this to change your sign in name or password and ensure your email is current.