I was thinking about my wariness of ‘the youth will save us’ mentality so have this short thread
I agree that young people have an incredible voice & sense of justice & when mobilised can be a huge force for change.
But what a burden for us to place on their shoulders.
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I agree that young people have an incredible voice & sense of justice & when mobilised can be a huge force for change.
But what a burden for us to place on their shoulders.
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I teach high schoolers. In the last decade, the number of teens I’ve taught with anxiety disorders and stress and depression has soared.
The world is an intense and discouraging place for many adults.
And we want to place the burden of fixing our screw ups on our children?
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The world is an intense and discouraging place for many adults.
And we want to place the burden of fixing our screw ups on our children?
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So many teens even in decent situations despair about the world. Climate change. Authoritarianism. Bigotry. Cruelty. Inaccessibility to job security and housing.
Pandemics.
Our job is to help them see hope. See a path. Teach them that change is possible.
To listen
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Pandemics.
Our job is to help them see hope. See a path. Teach them that change is possible.
To listen
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the overwhelming feeling of ‘i’m just a young person and how am I supposed to save the world?’ Isn’t helped when adults seem to be giving up and leaving it to the youth to save us.
They need us to save them. To actively create a world that nurtures them and treats them well
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They need us to save them. To actively create a world that nurtures them and treats them well
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We can celebrate young people’s wonderful sense of justice & equality & their passion without seeing that as a pass for us to do nothing.
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Ultimately, I see so many scared & disheartened kids who try their best to be the change they want in the world.
we owe it to them to do the hard yards. to prove to them that they are worth us fighting for.
They are worth us changing the world to make it better for them.
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we owe it to them to do the hard yards. to prove to them that they are worth us fighting for.
They are worth us changing the world to make it better for them.
End/