Brandon Ross, 16, Cumbernauld.

I am a young carer. Being a young carer is when you've someone in your family you look after. Being a young carer is a really different challenge. It's a really good opportunity and gives you a lot of confidence. You can feel so proud, to say you look after somebody and you are one of the most important things in their life.

I have looked after my mum since I was 12, about 3-4 years. I noticed my mum was starting to get pain in her body and Action for Children brought a presentation saying that if anyone feels as if anything is hard at home they were there to speak to them. They do support groups with you and weekends away. I write song lyrics when I get angry. Since my dad left, I find writing them really helps, you get into the words and you know what the singer was meaning when they wrote it.

I have left school now and am going to college to do mechanics. I was getting grief from the teachers for being off all the time. Trying to explain to a teacher that you have to look after your parent. It's usually the parent looking after the pupil. They automatically think that I can't be bothered coming to school and you start to feel really upset and it makes you feel really low.

I would just like Scotland to be a wealthy country, to make sure there are plenty of jobs and that as well. So many people are in Scotland that need a lot more jobs. There are a lot of people out of work and that. They can't afford the houses because there are less jobs. If Scotland were a wee bit wealthier it would help a lot.

I am leaning towards saying 'No', as we are running out of a lot of our resources. I don't think jobs will be easier living in an Indy Scotland. A lot of jobs you get transferred to England and Wales. If we weren't the United Kingdom we wouldn't have as many jobs as there are now. If we were independent there would be a lot less jobs.

I am still stuck in the middle but leaning towards 'No'. There might be something that could