The Power of Youth

“Youth, more than ever, are at the forefront of global social, economic and political developments…” So say the United Nations in the preface to their document of Statistical Charts and Indicators on the Situation of Youth. And that was from 1980 – 1995. Little has changed in the years succeeding that.

It was an unknown 23 year old Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, who was introduced to the world by setting himself on fire on the 17^th December 2010, sending a loud statement reverberating around the Arab world; a statement pitted against personal injustice inflicted on him by a municipal official, but more than this, a statement against Government tyranny.

This was not the act of a pyromaniac or a deranged man, but a one of desperation, a microcosm of growing recognition of the need for change; one which had been bubbling at the surface of civil society for some time. Bouazizi’s act became a catalyst for the revolution in Tunisia and indirectly lead to the Arab Spring uprising where thousands rioted against domination and authoritarian regimes. Young people at the forefront, they sought social and political change. As the rest of the globe looked on there was a sense that if Tunisia could do it, why couldn’t they?

Bouazizi’s self-immolation unwittingly gave rise to the appearance of Arab youth on a world stage for the first time as they began to represent change, saying never again to oppression. They moved from their roles as passive recipients of this autocracy to active leaders out of it. It’s a pity Bouazizi didn’t live to see it.

Similarly, think of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black man. Suspected of planning a revenge attack following the murder of a cousin, he was shot dead on 4 August 2011 by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham.  His death sparked a reaction at a time where public relations were already volatile. Members of the community were outraged at the prospect of radical budget cuts and an ever widening societal division between the well off and the struggling (dare I say it..). They questioned the circumstances of his death and this, with already existing tension, escalated into wider riots, looting and arson.

So what is it that makes young people so instrumental in affecting social change?

Throughout the past century it is young people who have stood up as change agents and said no more to injustice. Consider the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Civil Rights marches in the 1960s in Northern Ireland which gave rise to thirty years of unrest; the riots against the hike in university fees in 2011; consider even the athletes in the Bahrainian national football team who challenged a Government crack down on free speech in 2010 and were subjected to imprisonment and torture as a result.

All of the above met Government opposition in one way or another, yet young people continue to be the ones to ask serious questions. I guess being a young person myself, we recognise when our liberties are being taken and possess the impetuosity of youth in taking steps, even breaking the boundaries of established societal rules, to challenge that injustice.

Young people carry with themselves a real sense of energy; we believe that nothing is impossible to achieve. We bank on this energy to attract others to these movements by offering other young people something to identify themselves with, and in carrying out dangerous acts of protest. As the movement advances, a collective identity grows and young people gather more and more support through various mediums like the internet.

Most of us have not been alive for long enough to encounter the absolute bureaucracy of any system of administration, marked by red tape and proliferation. We have not yet been suppressed enough in our beliefs that we just concede to Government control.  We see things in black and white; it is natural to protest against any miscarriage of justice. And it should be that way. Therefore, all the potential dynamism of youth is expressed in audacious acts which defy the conventions of society. Having little to lose, we ask questions of the powers that be.

We recognise the opportunity to produce a new identity for ourselves; to do something by which we will be remembered, something which defines our generation. The riots in Tottenham in the summer of 2011 may have been given press for despicable behaviour, but in reality the majority of people will remember them as a time where frustrated young people had their say. They recognised a future denied and were simply acting like there was no tomorrow. The riots renewed solidarity and awakened a new identity in the community.

Similarly, in the Arab world, it is the young, tech-savvy who want something better for their generation. They are willing to put their lives on the line for it. When is the last time any of us believed in something so deeply and so completely that we would willingly make great sacrifice? I’m not for one moment condoning the carnage. Rather, i’m saying that Government crack downs don’t fix things. Let young people have their say, with over 1.2 billion of us in the world imagine what change could be affected if every one of us were willing to do something to bring it about.