Editorial: It's good to text but it's better to talk

This week we report how the Hansard Society went to great lengths to encourage young people from 500 secondary schools and 200 community youth projects to submit evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee on the criminal justice system via mobile phone (see p5). While this is laudable, only 101 young people registered to take part in the Citizen Calling project - out of which eight actually submitted evidence via mobile phone. We also report that the Frontier Youth Trust is setting up an initiative to allow young people to leave a message for God (see p2).

The Hansard Society admitted the pilot project "didn't take off in the way that was hoped". But while the response might have been disappointing, it perhaps was not surprising. It merely highlights the fact that young people use technology in complex ways and for different purposes.