Empowering youth to build better communities – The Herald

The Herald

Flora Teckie Correspondent

International Youth Day celebrated globally on 12 August was a reminder of the strength and vigour of our youth, their energy, enthusiasm and flexibility and that it is within their power to contribute significantly to shaping the societies of the coming decades.

Youth have the potential to channel their energy, capacities and talents towards building better communities and advancement of civilisation.

According to the Universal House of Justice, the governing council of the Bah international community the transformation which is to occur in the functioning of society will certainly depend to a great extent on the effectiveness of the preparations the youth make for the world they will inherit.

An effective preparation is only possible through a balanced education an education that would enrich both the mind and the spirit.

An education that leads to moral empowerment, as well as intellectual development, acquiring spiritual qualities and useful qualifications.

According to the Bah Writings, This education . . . in order to be adequate and fruitful should be comprehensive in nature and should take into consideration not only the physical and the intellectual side of man, but also his spiritual and ethical aspects.

It should cultivate behaviours characterised by decency and integrity of conduct, trustworthiness, and freedom from prejudice.

An adequate education would prepare our youth to act in the long-term interests of humanity as a whole. Such education, at the same time, would help to instil in them the awareness of the fundamental oneness of humanity.

Youth would be taught to consider all humanity as members of one family and to be just towards everyone from all races, nations, religions and tribes.

An adequate education, in the Bah view, will cultivate virtue as the foundation for personal and collective well-being, and will nurture in individuals a deep sense of service and an active commitment to the welfare of their families, their communities, their countries, indeed, all mankind.

Youth contribution to empowerment of junior youth

One of the areas of service that youth can participate in is by assisting the younger members of society children and junior youth to attain the spiritual and intellectual powers they need to build better communities.

It is now becoming increasingly obvious that without proper education and guidance during adolescence, our children could easily go astray, even if throughout childhood they have received spiritual guidance.

It is during the few years before the children reach the age of 15 at the junior youth stage that fundamental concepts about individual and collective life are formulated in their minds.

It is during this stage that they apt either to align themselves with positive or negative forces in the society.

Junior youth between the ages of 12 and 15 have special needs as they go through the adolescence stage.

By developing their inherent secular and spiritual potential, they will not only become agents of change for their own generation, but will contribute greatly to the transformation of society.

During the adolescence stage, junior youth go through many rapid changes.

These changes are not only physical, but also emotional, intellectual and behavioural. It is important to note that these changes do not occur in a vacuum.

Environment, culture, upbringing, relationships within the family and elsewhere all contribute to the nature or direction of these changes, influencing young people to think, act and behave in certain ways.

Many parents and teachers believe that this is a very difficult age, one of rebelliousness, irrationality and frivolity without looking to see whether the causes of such behaviour are inherent to the stage of growth of the individual or are imposed by upbringing and social environment.

According to the Universal House of Justice, the governing council of the Bah International Community: While global trends project an image of this group as problematic, lost in throes of tumultuous physical and emotional change, unresponsive and self-consumed, the Bah community in the language it employs and the approach it adopts is moving decidedly in the opposite direction, seeing in junior youth instead altruism, an acute sense of justice, eagerness to learn about the universe and a desire to contribute to the construction of a better world.

Junior youth programmes

Junior youth of this age have a good deal to say, and if we treat them as children we will miss the opportunity to win their trust, and help them form a proper identity.

They need an environment that gives them support, an environment in which their views are respected.

Based on the understanding of the great potential of the junior youth and their needs, Bah communities organise regular programmes for this age group.

Such programmes are intended to provide them with spiritual guidance in order to lay the foundations of a noble and upright character, to enable them to live in harmony and peace, and with understanding and respect for others, and to instil in them a commitment to serve the best interests of their community.

These programmes help junior youth analyse the constructive and destructive forces operating in society and to recognise the influence these forces have on their thoughts and actions.

In addition to sharpening their spiritual perceptions and enhancing their lives, they also help channel their energy and talents towards the transformation of their communities, advancement of civilisation and building of a better world.