By Ashley Anthony
Young people are an incredibly important part of our society. Yet, for some reason, many of us feel undervalued. We feel sort of shortchanged: too young to be taken seriously, but too old to not be doing something meaningful. But then how can we do something meaningful if we aren’t taken seriously?
Undervaluing youth happens at every possible level. It happens in the home, at school, in the workplace, and even in the community. Young people are stereotyped as being irresponsible and naïve, and thus their opinions are valued less. In the home, it could be something as simple as not letting a teenager have agency over how they want to study. As a parent, you might feel that the best way for them to study is to have a rigorous schedule and stick to it, despite your child telling you that this doesn’t work for them. Ignoring their protests could actually be counter-productive. Perhaps if they were given more control over how they studied, they would be able to design a schedule that helps them function most effectively. I’m not saying that you should release all parental control, but I am saying that as children get older, they should be given more control over their lives. How can we expect young people to have confidence in themselves if their own parents do not trust them to manage their time effectively to pass their examinations?
At the school level, the principle is roughly the same; younger people have less of an impact simply because of their age. Arguably, the most important person within a school is the student. Yet, students often have few avenues for expression. Our schools usually do not have student body councils and thus there is no organised body that represents the student’s interests, ideas or concerns to the principal and other teachers.
If a student has an idea for a school improvement project, there is often no existing system through which they can submit the idea, or if there is such a system, it isn’t widely publicised. I think this is truly a shame. Students are the ones who know best the inconveniences they face, and when given the chance, sometimes they come up with truly brilliant solutions. A great example would be “Lictor Live” of Queen’s College. The project was proposed at a student conference hosted by the alumni of Queen’s College, and it served to solve the problem of poor information circulation within the school. After receiving the support of the alumni, the project blossomed into one of the school’s most active clubs. Students report on activities within the school, and post pictures and articles to the official Facebook page “Lictor Live”, which now has amassed a following of over two thousand people. If those students had not been given an audience, that idea would have never been realised. I am not saying that every idea has to be implemented, but that there should be more opportunities for youths to propose such ideas.
At the community level, the idea is similar, but not exactly the same. Youth are often chastised for being apathetic about social issues, but then when we attempt to become politically active, we are often told that we are too young to know what we are talking about. It’s frustrating. The political opinions of young people shouldn’t be limited to just what their parents or families tell them. They should be able to do their own research, and to respectfully challenge the opinions of those older than they are. Being young shouldn’t make us less relevant.
