WRITING a column at the tender age of 17 is a bit like going to prom - it’s exciting, a little nerve-wracking and potentially very embarrassing all round.

When I first sat down to write, and was confronted by Microsoft Word’s blank, merciless glare, I felt pretty daunted.

What did I have to say and why would anyone want to read it?

I decided, a few cups of tea down the line, that the best thing that I could offer was my perspective as a young person - both of Stroud and of the world in general.

My generation is firmly entangled in issues like climate change, tuition fees, and the Trump administration, and we are passionate about them.

We really do care, perhaps more than we are given credit for.

But Stroud’s teenagers are tackling this disinterested stereotype head-on - Stroud High sixth formers recently protested against Brexit in London, the Stroud District Youth Council is active and influential and Alex Parnham-Cope is Rodborough’s youngest Councillor, at 18.

As well as this, our interest and engagement in current affairs does not end at politics.

Theatre, film, and music events draw throngs of young people from all over the Five Valleys.

The Stroud Fringe Festival is a brilliant example, the legacy of the Block Party lived on in the Snapchat memories of many a party-goer.

For teenagers, Stroud’s doing pretty well.

It offers a little bit of everything - picturesque countryside as well as a touch of London Cool, an impressive array of chippies as well as legendary falafel. (Falafel Mama, keep doing what you’re doing!).

But it’s by no means perfect. Teenagers sometimes feel bored or overlooked living here, so there’s still work to do.

I can’t pretend to be speaking for all teenagers in Stroud but I hope that I will be able to shed some light in these columns on how we feel about the world and this town that we live in, both the good and the bad.

Let’s hope prom is a success!

By Grace Spencer, 17, a student at Stroud High School.