Qais Hussain

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

About Me

Hello! I am a 17-year-old freelance journalist from Yorkshire. I specialising in opinion and feature-writing. I write about education, politics and issues affecting young people.

I have published in the Independent, Financial Times, i (paper), VICE, Metro, Prospect Magazine, The Morning Star, The Sun, The Telegraph, The Socialist Worker, The Guardian, The Daily Mirror, SPIKED, The Times, and The Sunday Times.

Outside of journalism, I am a student, studying some executing A levels.

Contact me via Twitter @Qaishussain14

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My Proudest Work

Mispronouncing my name doesn’t make you a racist

‘Racist”, “ignorant” and “a bigoted individual”: that is what you get called these days if you mispronounce a name. But as a young Muslim person with Pakistani ethnicity (although my ethnicity should be irrelevant to this debate), I can tell you that there is nothing racist or bigoted about not pronouncing my name “correctly”.

Nobody knows how to pronounce or spell my name and that’s one of the reasons I like it. Qais means “lover” in Urdu; it is the name given to Romeo in the Pakistan version

Tony Blair deserves to be praised not vilified by young people

I am not ashamed to say that I am a fan of the previous Labour Government and that includes Tony Blair.

Usually, when my generation hears the name Tony Blair they associate it with all things evil, and as a young Labour Party member, I am continually taught to loathe Tony Blair more than any other political figure.

I joined the Labour party when I was 14 years old because I avidly believe in social justice and equality. As a 16-year-old, I am relatively new to politics, however, one thing that

Open schools as soon as possible to prevent a mental health crisis

Millions of students like me are deteriorating at home. The lockdown has had a huge impact on our welfare and health — we have become the forgotten victims. But when we express how we feel, we are labelled as snowflakes or selfish.

As a 16-year-old comprehensive school student, this is the second lockdown in less than a year in which my education has been severely affected. My school has been closed for over a month now, and every day I am out of the classroom, it is just as excruciating as the

What It’s Like to Return to School During COVID

“I am fully prepared, my school has been amazing with communication”

I am so excited to go back. I know everyone in my sixth form, so it's really good – I have nothing to be nervous about. I am fully prepared, my school has been amazing with communication, we even had an hour assembly on the rules and how the schools now set out. The school as a whole and the staff have been amazing and handled it brilliantly. Holly, 16.

“I’m worried about being in classes with people who I know have been to a
The Telegraph •

Under-18s like me have become holiday castaways

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that creating life memories is the most treasured thing we can do. This year, I won’t have any precious holiday memories due to all the stringent rules on foreign travel.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to have a summer holiday. I travelled to Turkey, and found the experience refreshing, culturally enlightening and safe, but above all else, it was just good to have a break. One of the joys of being a teenager in Turkey is that there is so much to
The Telegraph •

What I wish I had been taught about money at school

As a 16-year-old student, I of course know everything: from duplicitous champagne socialists in English literature to frivolous painters in art. So I can see how others would assume my cohort and I also know the basics about money.

However, I am afraid that is not the case. Three-quarters of students said they did not get enough financial education in school, according to Save the Student, a money website. Seven in 10 students regularly worry about money and eight in ten want to learn more abou

Keir Starmer is changing the narrative around patriotism

Are you patriotic? Yes, but I am also a 16-year-old student, a Muslim, and a Labour Party member from Bradford. When Sir Keir Starmer said he was “patriotic” on LBC, the Corbyn folk were infuriated and deeply affronted by this. But for me, that speech was a real turning point. It illuminated to me that Starmer is what the left needs in a leader and in a prime minister. No longer could I be fearful, intimated, panic-stricken, or ashamed of being patriotic.

For the first time, I felt comfortable

Tracy Beaker was my idol. She’s let me down

Teenagers are always told to be bold, fearless and confident. I’m a 16-year-old sixth-form student from Leeds and I am sweating through hours of home learning while struggling to keep positive. But if I really need to motivate myself I think of my idol Tracy Beaker, who inspired millions of children in the UK and who is back on our screens this week. Yet Tracy was an arrogant, sassy, incredibly know-it-all care-home kid. She would eat worms and would insult people by telling them to shut their “