Ok, it’s time for a good rant.
I’m so incredibly tired of hearing that “youth are the leaders of tomorrow” and the “hope for the future.” As a 19-year-old, I put myself in the category of young people who are actively trying to create change locally and globally. I have been quite impressed by the number of youth I have met so far at this conference who are doing impressive work in their home countries, which resonates on a global scale, and some of them are far younger than I am. In particular, one young girl here has founded an NGO and is eleven years old.
What I am trying to say is that action knows no age limit. Youth are not the leaders of tomorrow, but the leaders of today, and if we continue to suggest that we are all just getting ready to take a strong action, we will all just end up sitting around offering a face of hope for the regretful adults that we will also become.
So whether or not you are here this week, stand up, make A LOT of noise about what bothers you, and make sure to do that in the direction of the people who have policy-making power, as they can become your close allies in any fight to make change.
