Our Global Education System, as structured, teaches us that youths are the future of tomorrow’s world and possess the ability to redefine and change the socioeconomic and geopolitical dynamics of the modern world.
It also teaches us that young people possess the necessary creativity, talent, energy and drive, vision and outlook as well as technological and transformational skills needed to confront some of world’s most serious threats to the coexistence and continuity of the human race and protection, as well as preservation of the environment in which they cohabit.
As a result, elders across the globe and in very different locales have wasted no time in underscoring the importance of education, integrity, truth, knowledge and reason as prerequisites that should be instilled in youths in their most formative years.
This has lead to the creation and continued development of formal and informal institutions and organisations over several decades, if not centuries, aimed at preparing young people for the mantle of leadership while nuturing them to shape and redefine the global order in a positive and more effective manner.
Additionally, there can be no argument made against the fact that the rhetoric and philosophy of many powerful and ordinary elders are supportive of young people adding their voices and joining on global discourse on crime and violence, ending wars and diseases, reducing poverty and inequality, ending human rights injustices and social discrimination, and maintaining the balance of power and the search for world peace.
Youths, the world over, distractions aside after working, studying and adhering to the social constructs of their time are expectant that as soon as they feel they are of age, they can lead, rule the world, engineer positive and revolutionary changes and take up their destiny.
Unfortunately, recent history is replete with examples as to how the very system and elders that encouraged and educated youths are actively undermining their efforts to lead and create change as they see it.
The truth is, many elders refuse to step aside and allow new youthful blood to take over the spheres of power and control that influence aspects of the world’s status quo.
Many of them use the excuses that youths are unsettled in their world view, too ambitious and inexperienced, possibly incompetent and pragmatic. So they use various structural policies to give ‘some kinda’ power, presence and a limited voice with the obvious aim of windowdressing to appeare proyouth and proinclusive.
In the developed world, any market analysis will show how hard it is for youths to climb to the top of dominant firms, entities and leadership groups such as the UN, WTO, PAHO/WHO and a slew of others. They literally have to upset and fight against the discriminatory processes that favour elders over youth to get ahead and in many cases, they prove themselves worthy of their portfolios once interference is kept at bay.
Closer to home, there are fewer opportunities for youths to be a part of a meaningful regional discourse and decisionmaking process that changes the way things are done in the Caribbean and South America.
While there are many established paper laws and instututions that seek to carve youth into the pot of power, there are even more personalities and elders who prefer conformity to their traditionalistic and idealistic outlook on regional affairs over the daring, bold and sometimes too ambitious plans of youths.
Decades after, the Caribbean Community still does not have a cohesive, influencial and powerful youth forum that can hold its elders to account whenever they fail to deliver, or debate with meaningful outcomes and not paper declarations, important socioeconomic and political issues that are retarding the forward movement of integration and the unification process, as well as the growth of the Region.
At home where power is concentrated in the realm of politics and wealth, the situation is worse but not surprising. Youths are used as poster boys and girls for political campaigning purposes, marketing appeal by powerful companies and rubber stamps for aid and donor agencies but are hardly ever properly rewarded, promoted, empowered or made influencial.
While it is clear the ruling Government is making steps to deal with aspects of youth leadership and inclusivity by piloting a national youth policy, that policy remains in the theatre undergoing corrective surgery.
There is also a noteable imbalance of youths sitting as MPs in Parliament and core ministerial as well as Government posts…two steps backward when one examines the record of the last PPP Government in these respects.
It seems as if youths are only made given prominence when elders need them to access wealth, power and status. While there are hundreds of elders who are eager to step aside and are not guilty of hording power and positions, there are thousands more to pay pure lip service to notions of youth power, influence and leadership.
It may be too later for the latter group when they realise that they should have been more wise as the world they will live in is still to be shaped by our ideas and visions.
We must all give way to the way of the young!
