Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comFinding Hope in Our Youth
~ Debby Ball
“Our youth are not failing the system;
the system is failing our youth. Ironically,
the very youth who are being treated
the worst are the young people who
are going to lead us out of this nightmare.”
— Rachel Jackson
It is disheartening to hear so many people bash young people today as if they are the problem when it comes to declining values, crime, public disorder, etc . But did they create the problems? So much of what we are experiencing are problems that have been around for longer than most of our younger generation. They are living examples of how generations before them have model values, or lack of, including powerful and influential leaders. They are the mirrors; they simply reflect the problem. This is a world beseeched with issues created and contributed to long before these younger generations came along. These are the legacies left to them. They have inherited the problems, not made them. It is my hope that these young people today will not be filled with a sense of hopeless and dispair so that they find solutions, and that generations to come, will inherit a world dramatically better than the one facing us all today.
If you choose to sit on the high throne of judgement and condemnation, perceiving youth of today as lacking respect, honor and integrity, take a long look in the societal mirror. Carefully examine world leaders, so-called spiritual guides and advisors, full-grown men and women who cannot or will not resolve conflict and disputes in any form but violence and discord, big businesses that put greed and power before respect for people, our planet, all life forms and future generations. See the lack of honor, integrity, compassion and respect that is modeled daily for our youth, for far too many years. This is the world our children and young adults have been handed.
Before you choose to discredit our youth, think long and hard about the responsibility we all must bear and own up to, the responsibility that also fell on those that came before us. It's time to foster a healthier perspective and approach toward, and for, our youth. Let us instead choose to offer support and healthy guidance to those crying out in pain in a world filled with deep wounds. Let us applaud and encourage those who seek solutions. Let us join with them in love and compassion as they stand for change, change that is so badly needed. Let us accept our role as their guides as we prepare to pass the torch to them, the future guides and leaders who will create positive change that carries into the next seven generations. I will. I will join you, my young friends and family. I honor you as you take that which is broken and put heart and soul into creating change and healing for all of us and for our planet. Thank you for seeking and being the change. You are the change we need to see. I honor you.
“If we are to reach real peace in this world… we shall have to begin with children.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“The more we increase the active participation and partnership with young people, the better we serve them. … And the more comprehensively we work with them as service partners, the more we increase our public value to the entire community.” — Carmen Martinez