BULLYING, sex and recycling are the three most important topics which need to be tackled by parents, teachers and Government, according to a new report carried out by sixth form students in Stratford.

Pupils from four local schools, including Stratford High and King Edward VI Grammar, linked up to prepare the peer-group project which aimed to discover which issues and themes were most important to the district's 17-year-olds.

More action from teachers to tackle bullying, compulsory recycling and help for parents to discuss sex education with children were just three things the teenagers wanted to see.

The project, the brainwave of Stratford District Council, was carried out by 25 pupils who asked their peers what they thought of the facilities and services available to them, as well as identify and rank in order of importance anything they would like to see.

The aim of the project was also to discover how well young people think they are involved in decisions that affect their daily lives and these findings will be passed on to those responsible for teens' lives and facilities in the area.

Policy officer Chris Mitchell said the report was one part of the district council's policies to get more young people involved in local democracy.

"Adults, particularly adults who make decisions which affect the lives of young people, can choose to take account of the results or not, as the case may be," he said.

Enabling young people to have their say and encouraging them to participate in their communities is only one side of the coin.

"The other side is that adults include young people in the community processes, so enabling young people to have an effective voice."