Accepting your roles, responsibilities as youth

The happenings of the world around us can be discouraging at times; however, we must have faith within ourselves that we are capable of making a positive change. On the weekend I overheard two Trinidadians speaking about their intentions to visit “Vincy Mas”, and it was clear that the potential level of violence here was a major concern to them.{{more}} Although the conversation was rather inflated and made an extremely great deal of our circumstances, though not for an instant comparing us to Trinidad and Tobago, it appeared like we were slowly joining the bandwagon.

As an offshoot of our colonial history, our people have inherited many dimensions of poverty. However, the generations preceding emancipation exemplify that as a society, we are well able to flex our muscles of resiliency. It is in this regard that our youth must take a sense of direction. This is fundamental if we are to pass a legacy of resilience to the future generations of Vincentians to come.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty and crime are man-made and they can be conquered and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Our Vincentian youth product must play an integral role in any such attempt. As youth we cannot be passive spectators of the effects of poverty and crime on our nation. We must begin to vigorously arrest this issue from the grassroots level.

As we continually reassess ourselves, we must ask the question, are we approaching issues of poverty alleviation and crime in the way that we should? Our country’s major social ambitions are clear; our interests are in poverty alleviation and crime reduction. The education revolution when allowed to grow and flower will indeed be the much needed panacea. Nevertheless, our youth must at all times recognize that like all revolutions the process is never one for the passive in spirit.

According to a recent census, the majority of our population is comprised of youth. The role to be assumed by us will have an invaluable impact on both the macro and micro societal issues which today are arresting national attention. Our nation’s children and youth have been afforded the right to Universal Access to education. This in itself will help to reduce the disparities of wealth and power by providing able youth with skills to enable them to find a valued place in society. The immediate task remains – it is to build our youth product as far as is humanly possible in order that their intellect, skills, aptitudes, vision, cultural awareness, energy, commitment and health will enable them to spearhead any effort to address issues of poverty alleviation.

At the same time, we are aware that major influences such as social and family backgrounds will affect school performance. However, with a more robust system of education one can expect a leveling of the playing field as it relates to the present disparities along lines of class.

Therefore it is clear that fundamental to the economic development of St. Vincent and the Grenadines that those comprising of the economically active group must begin to work harder and smarter. Our local circumstances continue to dictate that greater emphasis should be placed on technical education. It is important to stress that it is through some form of technical education that a country is provided with skilled and semi-skilled workers. This also provides a safety net, particularly for students who are skilled oriented in allowing them an equal chance to succeed in life.

In a speech by former President, Nelson Mandela on South African Youth Day ten years ago, noted, “The greatest challenges facing our nation are to conquer poverty, illiteracy and ignorance. These challenges more so faces the youth. The working youth is critical to our future. The economy depends on you. With your hard work and efforts at improving your skills, you can make our nation one of the most prosperous nations in the world. I call on the unemployed youth not to despair. Use the opportunities that are starting to open up in big and small businesses. But don’t rely merely on others. Create the opportunities yourselves, and take advantage of government programmes to assist small businesses, including small farmers.” This advice is applicable to our circumstances across the Atlantic. As youth we must begin to assume greater roles and responsibilities from today.