MODERN sex education which deals with sexting and cyber bullying is high on the agenda for Urmston political activist Matthew Leigh, who is standing for the National Youth Parliament.

Matthew, 16, wants to replace personal social and health education (PSHE) with sex and relationship education (SRE); to extend Greater Manchester Transport's IGO scheme to support 16 to 18-year-olds not in compulsory secondary education; and activate young volunteers to help the homeless.

Matthew, who is taking 10 GCSEs at St. Ambrose College in Hale Barns, hopes his election to the National Youth Parliament, which will be conducted in secondary schools across Trafford later this month, will be a stepping stone to becoming an M.P. later in life.

He said: “PSHE is out of date and the government has already ruled that it should be replaced by SRE and I want that change to be immediate. Currently lessons don't speak to today's generation of teenagers.

“We have to deal with an explosion in new technology and problems such as 'sexting' and' 'cyber bullying' and need better advice now, instead of a curriculum that was devised before we were born.”

He added: “At St. Ambrose we have a volunteer programme to help the homeless at Cornerstones and refugees at the Revive centre both in Salford and I feel such programmes should be offered more widely to other teenagers.”

Formed in 2000, the National Youth Parliament has around 600 members, who are elected to represent the views of young people in their area to government and service providers. More than 500,000 young people vote in the elections each year, which are held in at least 90 percent of constituencies. It is managed by the British Youth Council.

Members meet regularly to hold debates and plan campaigns at least three times locally a year and twice on a national level, which includes the annual debate within the Chamber of the House of Commons every November.

St. Ambrose College Assistant Headteacher Patrick Groves said: “There has been a reawakening of political activism in young people in recent years not necessarily centred on party politics but on key issues and Matthew is a passionate and responsible advocate for the coming generation.”