In recent years, lots of people have been rethinking their relationships to each other. The cliched rendition, usually attributed to African origins and now almost a mantra, has obviously struck a responsive chord. The invitation for a broader commitment to our young people is clearly welcome and long overdue. But the cliche is incomplete at best. It still leaves us with a set of assumptions about young people that we believe are historically unprecedented and powerfully destructive.
Young folks are the objects of the action, never the subjects.
They are passive and useless. The assumption is that, magically, at age 18 or 21, young people will emerge from their years of being filled, and re-enter the community as full and useful contributors. This formula is a disaster. Not only has it produced a generation of young people who think of themselves as useless, but it also has isolated that generation from productive interaction with older generations. It has relegated more than a third of our citizens to inaction or worse and has deprived our youth of the experience necessary for fulfilling their roles as citizens and contributors to the community.