Are We Undermining the Youth of Today?
We’ve seen it everywhere. In the news and on the internet, the battle between generations and generation labelling. No matter what the generation is, there will always be positives and negatives, achievements and failures, agreements and disagreements, and so on. The unfortunate part about each generation is that they all get labelled as different things such as “the lazy generation”, “the useless generation”, “the narrow minded generation”,etc. Each generation thinks highly of themselves, as they should, but a question that constantly came to my mind was “are we undermining the youth of today?” I realized that the world has come so far and times have advanced yet youth are still being treated as “just kids”. To see if these were my own biased thoughts, I spoke to social worker Vanessa Box-Jones about her opinion on whether or not we are undermining youth, and here’s what she had to say.
What’s your story? What do you do for a living and why?
I have always worked with kids, and youth have always been my favourite demographic. I went to University to become a gym teacher but met a young man while I was a summer camp leader and in getting to know his life, realized that he needed a social worker, not a gym teacher. I went back to University my second year and changed it all up. I went on to do a second degree as well, in Human Services Counselling and all of my projects and thesis focus was on youth. My very first job after school was running the youth centres in two cities. I feel it is so important for youth to have a place to hang out in an unstructured setting with appropriate staff support. I have been working for Children’s Aid for 18 years and for Our Kids Network for 12 years (both at the same time). I am the teen parent specialist on my CAS team as well as the LGBTQ+ specialist on my team.
- Having worked with youth quite a bit, do you think over the years, youth have been increasingly exposed to mature and more advanced situations such as their take on politics and heavy involvement in global movements? Why do you think the importance of youth voice and social change is so important to this generation of young leaders?
Absolutely, social media has impacted the amount of the world the youth see. It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that their need to be intelligent is increased. I think youth these days due to social media realize they have power and have fresh new ideas and the world is changing so they understand it more than other generations currently do. I think youth started to think “what’s the adults’ problem?” when it came to racism, gender equality, discrimination and other social issues, and wanted to help create a more inclusive environment. They’ve become more involved in politics and it makes them more knowledgeable allowing them to take a stand. They have lost their innocence perhaps a little earlier than usual, but then things like tik tok comes along and brings back that innocence. They have a balance for being mature in life but also knowing how to be silly and it’s a great balance that’s important to have. Another thing is, competition in your lives is harder than it has ever been with school,jobs etc. You guys always hold a fight in your hands with every step and just tell yourselves “Well I’m gonna do it anyway no matter how hard it is”. It’s important because this is your future. You’re in a place where you have older generations who have different mindsets, but this is your future and you’ve come to understand especially in the last two years, what power you have and that you deserve to speak up, whereas kids before, they weren’t, or were too afraid to speak up. You guys have a safe place to have a voice where people will listen to you and you have the power to carve your own path and boast each other up to have that lead. You understand as early as possible to create a path for yourselves.
2. Would you say that the youth of today are changing traditional systems? If yes, do you believe that it will have a positive impact on the generations to come?
Absolutely. It goes back to what I said, “what’s the adults’ problem?”. You guys roll with everything and everyone. The world is so different from when I was a kid and when my parents were kids. Nowadays, we are open minded and more accepting of people with the mindset that “people are people”. I love it when I go out and see tables of teenagers where everyone is at the table and no one is being left out. We do need to recognize though, that the older generations are trying to adapt to new ways youth have created. What you guys have built is a safer world for people to be who they are, and we can’t ask for a more positive outcome than that.
3. What is it that gave you that initial spark of belief in the youth of today?
Perhaps the youth centers I worked with. I worked with youth and teens before that, but I truly believe in youth centres. I saw some kids who came from a struggling background and I saw how they could blossom by just having the consistency of having staff be there for them. I saw some kids go from struggling with their life and the cards that have been dealt with them to being leaders and advocating for themselves. It made me realize that if they are supported properly with love and rules, they were able to grow into who I truly thought they could be . I think that’s when that initial spark hit because I saw it first hand.
4. The use of social media by youth is often viewed in different ways. With platforms such as instagram, youtube, tik tok, etc, some youth have already created a living/ platform for themselves that keeps growing. Some have also created a business through freelance work and marketing on the internet. Do you agree that with our progression in creativity and innovation, youth have already set themselves on a pathway for a successful future in entrepreneurship, mentorship, artistry, empowering influence, and so on?
Yeah I think so. Some traditional jobs are going to the wayside and that’s just a natural progression. I think society has to readjust their ideas of artistry and entrepreneurship. Some people of older generations might often say “That’s ridiculous” when it comes to entrepreneurship, artistry, and any of those aspects, but youth have to be able to respectfully call out other people in regards to being a positive influence. The internet allows for a lot of negative influence as there are keyboard warriors behind the screen and it can be harmful, but I think that the bigger movement you guys started in supporting each other is great. Unfortunately on your own, you have to learn not to listen to those trolls and only focus on the positive which can be challenging. The internet sometimes isn’t the most positive but I think negativity is a small degree. Now you’re seeing the world,living in the world and being the world, and it’s being made more accessible to the point where your entrepreneurship can be worldwide rather in just your local community which wasn’t so easy back in the day. I’d say social media and the new ways you guys created stoked your ambitions to have you making your mark, which may be different than 1 or 2 generations ago and that’s awesome.
5. Finally, do you think working with youth has helped you gain the ability to connect and relate with them more than it would had you hadn’t worked with them? And do you have any words or advice for the youth or older generations that may be reading this right now?
I gained a deep understanding in youth especially within your generation alone, the world has changed drastically and you helped me see the world through your eyes. I learn new things everyday from you guys, and going back to the last question, you guys being so motivated in the world in all of those aspects just swells my hearts because you guys are so awesome and I love chatting and getting to know all of you, and who you are. I try to be open minded and respectful of how others see things. I’ve been grateful I get to work with you guys because you have this big bad world that changes constantly and you guys just roll with it, whereas some of us need to learn how to do that. I think society would be so much better if we made connections between older and younger generations though. For me it’s all about exposure, so sitting down with the group of people you don’t understand, and talking over some differences,may hold struggles, but being open to learning new perspectives will help gain a real appreciation for each other. Every generation has their positives and negatives but you guys are moving forward so positively. I think we have a lot to learn from youth and you guys from us as well, as you learn from history. Both professionally and personally I know you guys are leaders and the dynamic of the future.
I’m so glad I was able to speak with Vanessa and get her take on youth today. I think both youth and older generations can read this and understand that our world is progressing so fast which means so are the youth and their development. With each generation understanding the importance of communication and listening to one another, we won’t have as much of a barrier between generations as society plays us too. It’ll take time, but with the right understanding, generations will unite more than ever.
Global Changemakers has an unshakeable mission of supporting youth to create positive change in their communities. A global pioneer in supporting youth-led development, they have trained youth from over 180 countries and provided grants to over 360 youth-led projects, which have had a combined impact on over 6,2 million people — www.global-changemakers.net
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article belong to the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or Global Changemakers.
