I spoke recently with a producer of City Visions, a show on public radio station KALW in San Fran. On June 15, in advance of the conference, City Visions will spend an hour talking about national service, exploring how volunteerism has changed in the 21st Century and taking a look at how various generations interpret the call to serve.
As I think about generational differences, a John Mayer song comes to mind:
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it.
Being the same age as Mayer, I definitely understood this sentiment upon first hearing the song. What can I possibly do today that will make any difference in the world? The ideology is a far cry from the youth of 1960’s America who believed that, through protests, sit-ins, art, and, yes, sometimes violence, they could make a difference.
Remember, as Gen-Xers we were told, repeatedly, that we were taking up space, up to no good. Mayer later goes on to say that one day the younger generation will be the decision makers and then the world will change. Did we believe that message so much that we still feel like we can’t do anything until we “grow up?” What kind of change will that be if we wait to act when we're 50?
At Youth Service America, we firmly believe that youth can and do transform the lives of neighbors, locally and globally. I think of some of our Service Stars, such as Zachary, who started the Little Red Wagon Foundation in order to help homeless youth across the U.S. Or Hillary who, upon learning that rescue dogs had a hard time identifying people with Down Syndrome, set about educating youth with and without disabilities on what to do if they got lost.
And let’s not forget the older youth who came out in record numbers to participate in the 2008 election proving that, whether democrat or republican, they care about their communities.
While I understood the feeling of powerlessness that Mayer sang about, I realized that change is slow and we, as adults, sometimes forget that small acts – such as raising money, raising awareness, or voting – can make a world of difference. Zachary and Hillary don’t go through life waiting until adulthood for the world to change; they had a vision and they followed through.
We have an obligation to encourage that sense of empowerment for youth; service and service-learning provide a wonderful opportunity for us to instill in youth the knowledge that they can be the locus of change. If young people understand that they can make a real difference today, then they have that much more time to work toward global change tomorrow.
As Obama stated in his speech in Egypt, youth, “more than anyone, have the ability to re-imagine the world, remake this world.” And that starts today.
**For more information on service-learning, Steve Culbertson will be speaking on YSA’s Semester of Service program at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, June 22-24, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco California. His workshop is part of the Youth Leadership track, sponsored by Bank of America, also a Semester of Service sponsor.
For more information, visit www.volunteeringandservice.org. To read the official blog, visit www.ncvs.blogspot.com.
NOTE! It’s official - Youth Service America is off the exhibitor’s waiting list and will have a booth (#131) at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in a couple weeks. I’ll be hanging out at the booth with information about YSA, Global Youth Service Day, and Semester of Service. I’ll also have some great oval bumper stickers that say “SERVE”. Pick up a handful – they make wonderful souvenirs for your loved ones back home.
