Wednesday, September 13, 2006
What issues are most relevant to youth?
I think youth are interested in same issues as adults-getting enough to eat, good employment, good health: except that they like things targetted towards them (ie; presented not as exciting and not too boring) and pehaps they are more passionate and direct in focusing on solutions. I think youthful nieveity can be a good thing, and often youth can see directly to the heart of the problem without excess baggage.
I have worked a lot within the environmental movement and have found that environmental issues definately iare a subject youth are passionate about, and can't seem to get enough of. I've been doing regular school talks and I've been blown away by the intrest and indepth questions being asked by young people, on issues such as high seas bottom trawling, gentic engineering, pollition and water quality issues. I am slightly older, and am 24, and am on the cusp of the PC generation; whereas todays youth have grown up with computers and the Internet and see less global boundaries and a more interconnected world - encouraging them to act on global environmental issues.
In January 07 I will be at a conference in Kenya for the Global Young Greens, who are a group of International youth working towards sustainability and social justice issues. It has been incredible, being part of the organising e-lists, to participate in discussions on many issues and in particular on homosexuality and the strong cultural divide between western views and developing countries views on the issue. In New Zealand youth sex and sexuality issues are still somewhat hidden and how schools in particular deal with this issue is of relevence.
I have worked a lot within the environmental movement and have found that environmental issues definately iare a subject youth are passionate about, and can't seem to get enough of. I've been doing regular school talks and I've been blown away by the intrest and indepth questions being asked by young people, on issues such as high seas bottom trawling, gentic engineering, pollition and water quality issues. I am slightly older, and am 24, and am on the cusp of the PC generation; whereas todays youth have grown up with computers and the Internet and see less global boundaries and a more interconnected world - encouraging them to act on global environmental issues.
In January 07 I will be at a conference in Kenya for the Global Young Greens, who are a group of International youth working towards sustainability and social justice issues. It has been incredible, being part of the organising e-lists, to participate in discussions on many issues and in particular on homosexuality and the strong cultural divide between western views and developing countries views on the issue. In New Zealand youth sex and sexuality issues are still somewhat hidden and how schools in particular deal with this issue is of relevence.
I believe climate change is the biggest issue facing youth, and in the future we will be seeing its effects more directly both on the environment but also how we structure society. Climate change has such potential to change the future of New Zealands youth and they have a stake in what happens now.
I have been involved in the youth rates campaign and this definitely is an issue relevant to youth and one that they are interested in acting on. It really is a question of human rights-and young people especially, hate being told they can't do something dependent on age. This is a similar theme to a campaign I anticipate working on in the future - to enfranchise 16 years.
There of course, are many more issues relevant, such as schools, the education system, then Tertiary education and student loans as well as the youth harm reduction Bill.
# posted by gareth @ 10:09 AM 
