I think empowering youth to be leaders and catalysts for change is an excellent idea. I agree with Adeola A. Oredola and members of Youth in Action that youth are some of the best people to make changes in society. I remember being young and how much energy I had and how passionate I felt about things. I saw that energy and passion in a lot of young people around me. If that energy isn’t harnessed into something positive, it can become negative. Given the right opportunities, that energy can fuel positive change in society. Young people are generally more open to change and more willing to take risks. When we get older, we can sometimes cling to the safe and familiar. There are countless examples of movements such as the political and social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s that were fueled by young people. 
Even today, the economic revolution against income inequality inspired by Bernie Sanders has been supported largely by young people. Although sometimes these revolutions can occur spontaneously, it can also be helpful to educate youth about the social issues that they are facing and that are present in their society so that they have a framework for making positive change and don’t just internalize the problems that they see around them. Helping youth to become active participants in improving the world around them, like at Youth in Action, is not only empowering, but it can also help to build skills that can be useful in the job world or in life, in general.
Hi Madelin,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. Your memories of being young made me think a lot of when I was young, we all had so much energy back then! Anyway, I agree with the point that youth voices deserve to be heard in their schools and in their communities. I also think that youth voices are good because the youth of America is the future of America and their opinions will design how our future will look