October 30, 2007 - 5:22pm — JJ Express
Obstacles to Youth Activism
Hey guys -
As many wonderful people there are out there who are dedicated to helping youth and their projects - there are those who don't like to accept or believe that youth can make a difference.
For example, I once posted on the Massachusettes Art Institute's Job Board (at the staff's recommendation) for talented college art students to try working with JJ Express. I got many friendly students, but one student after hearing about my project in detail wrote an angry email back saying that I had posted a "misleading" posting and that since I was "only 16 years old" I must only be in middle school and that there are "plenty of school publications that you can get involved in if you want to be published." Basically, he indicated that a magazine was a huge endeavor and that he didn't think a "middle-schooler" should be taking it on.
Well - I wasn't a middle schooler at the time, I was a junior in high school because I had skipped a grade. Furthermore, so what if I was a middle-schooler? It's not like I told everyone on the post that I was some professional who was willing to pay big bucks. Maybe he felt a little humiliated that he was emailing a "middle schooler" asking if he could illustrate for her publication.
I was tempted to write an angry email back and point out all the mistakes in his email, but I didn't. I ignored his email and moved on with my project.
Have you ever had anybody who didn't believe you could do it? What did you do? What about some amazing people who totally believed in you one hundred percent? Rants and raves here!
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
Ok as I read above I had also faced the similiar problem before 2 years while People mOvement was going in Nepal I was 16 at that time than I was recenlty affiliated with Colletive Campaign for Peace(COCAP) which works in the field of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights.COCAP was monitoring the movement. Peoples Movement where huge force was used to supress the movement.COCAP was monitoring the Human Rights Violation incident. Than I was going to monitor the movement as a Peace and Human rights defender But COCAP's Programme Coordinator stopped me for that.His arguement was that I am a youth and I amnt matured yet so that i cant monitored properly. His arguement was also that youth have a bad temper so you are unable to go than I tried to convince him but he was not ready to hear me. Immediately I called chairperson of COCAP who was ex-volunteer of COCAP also than he allow me the permission than I got chance to go.After that I prepared the report of that days monitoring which United Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) published it in its book. That Programme Coordinator was amazed by my performance.
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
Great job! We can prove as a group that youth can really make a difference.
"Life is the biggest bargain - you get it for free!"
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
Just wanted to add some thoughts in regards to "obstacles"
When I met my ally she told me that if you encounter individuals who are older than you holding you at arms length to keep in mind that they are simply operating under the accepted norm that "wisdom comes with age" and are deep inside jealous that you are younger than them and have more wisdom than they do.
She told me that many Native Americans currently have acknowledged that the youth of these days are the true elders and that I should not give any energy to trying to convince my so called "elders" that I have knowledge beyond their own because it will only aggravate their insecurity.
She then said that "action" is what determines outcome and gave me this quote from a plaque that hangs on her wall:
E.M.P.O.W.E.R.M.E.N.T
Your accomplishments are determined not only by the willingness to succeed but the strength to achieve them.
It takes a good sense of self esteem and strength to forge ahead with your dreams in the face of nay-sayers and doubting Thomas' attitudes. If you don't buy into the same concept of age=wisdom and engage in self-esteem training (I recommend Jack Canfield's "Self-Esteem & Peak Performance" audio") then you should be able to bypass these obstacles and not allow them to take a piece out of you so to speak. Every great person knows inside themselves they were destined for greatness and a person following the path of destiny must always go through a period of isolation, rejection, scorn, and persecution from those who don't have the same strength and are too afraid to change and grow.
There is a Hindu God named Genesha who is in the image of a big elephant - he is known as "the remover of obstacles" I like to visualize Genesha crushing obstacles in front of me when I feel I don't have necessary weight to do it myself!
Hope this contributes
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
Wow! That was awesome! And this is totally what Youth Venture stands for...rock on venturers!
Jenny Chen
Editor-in-Chief
JJ Express Magazine
"Life is the biggest bargain - you get it for free!"
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
There are some adults who are naysayers to youth activism, but are there some youth as well? Do you know people who don't think that they could make a difference?
Jenny Chen
Editor-in-Chief
JJ Express Magazine
"Life is the biggest bargain - you get it for free!"
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
There are definitely youth that are naysayers as well. I like to use the sand crab analogy, these scientists put about a dozen or so sand crabs in a little sandbox with walls that are just short enough that it is technically possible for a sand crab to crawl out. Every time a single sand crab starts to get out, the rest of the group notices and pulls it down back into the box. Youth often develop a thermostat controlled comfort zone of success. They will probably respond and try to help if you start going in a really downhill direction like a heavy drug addiction or other self destructive behavior, but they can also unconsciously stop you from evolving yourself as well. If you are on a path of making a change, you have to avoid idle people like a plague. Seek friends among the industrious, who through council and direct action will encourage you and push you towards your own evolution. Idle people will only sap your energy at best and totally discourage you from your dreams at worst. NEVER FORGET THAT IT TAKES NO ENERGY AT ALL TO BE A CRITIC BUT ALL THE ENERGY YOU CAN MUSTER TO CREATE SOMETHING REAL OUT OF YOUR DREAMS. thankyou
zavallaro
I would rather bash myself upon the rocks of my dreams
Than to drown in the sea of mediocrity...
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
That analogy is very apt. What have you all done to encourage fellow youth to take a stand and take a responsibility for their world?
What makes you want to help others?
I've been thinking about it myself, and I decided that the answer is very complicated but its partly because if I only worked for myself, I would be knitting a transitory illusion which would flee after I die, but I worked for the good of the whole world, my work would be live even after I go.
What about you guys? What's your motivation?
Jenny Chen
Editor-in-Chief
JJ Express Magazine
"Life is the biggest bargain - you get it for free!"
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
obstacles to youth activism in my estimation is rooted in adults unwilling to let go of the reigns. this is not all adults but a select few. the issue for youth is the same issue for laborers in a capitalist country, freed slaves in late 1880's america, women in messagenist environments and like examples; the select few spoken of having (perceivably) ultimate control of society being the political financial and social institutions. i can speek to one example of a high school that i worked at were there is an ample amount of funding coming from federal government and like agencies but there remained a lack of educational material, in my estimation -from my observations as a contractor (in retenion of the student population), and as a former student of the same institution- a disconnect between the teachers and the students plus many other issues i wont bother with. the most striking thing was the lack of accountability, the fact that there is a huge lack of productivity in this institution (as reported by the states board of education), and that the school essentually has no entity watching to ensure that the faculty does its job in equiping the students with the neccessary tools to be succesful adults. so in scope what we are dealing with is a school passing and failing students weather pass or failed leave with roughly the same amount of knowledge and no plan, meanwhile in school has received between 18,000,000-21,600,000 dollars with out any meanigful results. this show a systematic suppression of a population without so much as a single public notice. returning to obstacles; there must be a coalition built (this is the most proggressive coalition -of this fasion- i've encountered) between youth and adults that surpasses gender, creed, ethnicity etc with a mandate for progressive advancement. there has to be a drastic redistribution of resources into the hands of this coalition inturn allowing them to establish political financial and social institutions that create an equal playing field.
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
Hey...thought you guys might find this interesting! http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/teenstartups/article57804....
It's an article about youth entrepeneurs and how to overcome being belittled for our age. It's targeted towards teen entrepeneurs but I think it could be applied to all venturers!
Enjoy! :)
Jenny Chen
Editor-in-Chief
JJ Express Magazine
"Life is the biggest bargain - you get it for free!"
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
There may be obstacles, but there are also a lot of companies that encourage and reward our youth for being activists. Go to www.BKFK.com learn more about it!
Advertise Your Cause- bkfk.com/aycchallenge
MYOB Entrepreneurial Challenge- bkfk.com/myob
A2Z Animal Challenge- bkfk.com/a2zchallenge
Trash to Treasure- bkfk.com/trashtotreasure
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
You got your article published at 16? Good for you! You are the best example that our youth is our future. Don't let anyone tell you different.
_____
Johanna Bartley, Narconon Vista Bay volunteer. We are looking for others as well.
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
How in the world did you manage to get published at 16?
lol
----------------------------------
Email - tonyjlabs[at]gmail.com
AIM - dolphinlabs
Yahoo - tonyjohansen1980
Free Petition
Re: Obstacles to Youth Activism
Most of the people I work with day to day still don't believe that they are really working with me, that my mom must be using my name. I run a Tennessee Walker breeding farm, I've managed every aspect of it from sales, breeding, and training, to maintenance and vet care since the age of 12. At 17, I took over the finances. I've had to learn to prefer to deal with people over the phone or to use email, because once they realize how young I am by meeting me, they stop talking to me and lose all respect. Even if my mom (who is only really a silent partner) has no idea what they're talking about, they would rather talk to an "adult" than an extremely knowledgeable 18 year old. I have more often fought ageism than sexism, which surprises me in a way. I live in Georgia, so I see it everywhere everyday.
I haven't really encountered someone who was great about it, though I do wish I had!
Re:
There are way too many obstacles rather this one. Proper rules are always there when campaigning and having certain rallies.