The Youth

Published by rudy Date posted on February 8, 2009

Ask anyone over the age of 25 and they will tell you that the youth today are different, that they aren’t like what they used to be back in the old days. Ask anyone under the age of 25 and they will tell you the youth of today are different and that things aren’t what they used to be back in the old days. There is no generation gap it seems. Except that the gap is so wide it could be called a black hole. Or the tech-savvy youth might prefer to think of it as vast as cyberspace.

And so we play the blame game. We blame it on our food and our trans fat and our diets. We blame it on the media. We blame it on the nuclear power plants that mutate everything they touch. We blame it on global warming. And then, of course, we blame the youth themselves.

We accuse them of being lazy. We accuse them of being self-centered. We accuse them of being rebellious and uncooperative. We claim that they have no drive. No passion for anything worthwhile. No capacity to make choices. And then we very self-righteously shake our heads at each other and ask what the world is coming to. And so young people find themselves trapped within the walls of our perception of them.

But everyone who has ever spent a lot of time with young people (especially teenagers) will tell you that the problem is not young people themselves, but in grown-ups who do not give them an opportunity to become better than they are. Most young people are merely looking for a cause to follow, a crusade that they can die for and adults that they can look up to. Sadly, very few adults have stepped up to the challenge.

But if you would see young people in action, as they truly are, you we see a fire in their eyes that could move nations, a strength of character that would put world leaders to shame, purity of purpose that could convert sinners and wisdom far beyond their years. In my work and even outside it, I am always amazed by how young people can give so much of themselves without expecting anything in return. In one religious youth organization, for example, young college students organize and implement Christmas parties that benefit thousands of young children. In the school where I teach, teenagers work in the summer and give half their salaries to help support the schooling of young students like themselves. During the World Youth Day, thousands upon thousands of young people declared their faith in front of a world that no longer found God important.

If we adults would only give them a chance to prove themselves and the encouragement to be better, we would show all young people that being young is not about being powerless and inexperienced and self-involved but being passionate and generous and virtuous.–Nancy Unchuan Toledo, Philippine Star

July 2025

Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”

Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.

Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar.  Reject Military!

#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos

Time to support & empower survivors. Time to spark a global conversation. Time for #GenerationEquality to #orangetheworld!

July


3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 Ju
ly – International Plastic Bag Free Day
 
5 July –
World Youth Skills Day 
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day 
17 July – World Day for
International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons 


Monthly Observances:

Schools Safety Month

Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month

Weekly Observances:

Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week

 

Daily Observances:

First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines

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