Very often do we hear our elders and leaders talk about the welfare of the young people, saying that the future belongs to the youths, and that they are working for posterity’s interest. Yet, seldom do we see our elders and leaders making way for the youngsters, to whom they say the future belongs, nor prepare them for the future.
It appears the elders are so concerned about the young people so much so that they want to prepare the future for the youngsters instead of preparing the youngsters for the future. Unfortunately, in the process, the youngsters are left unprepared to face the challenges of the future!
It is like the proverbial phrase that says, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” Our elders today are so concerned about the future for the youths so much so that they want to give the youngsters “a fish” every day and in doing so forget to prepare the youths for the future, or to teach the youth “how to catch fish.”
In other words, when the time comes for the elders to go yonder, and when the future arrives, the youngsters who by now have become elders themselves will be unprepared to face the challenges facing them, the ‘future’ that their elders made for them. And so the cycle continues.
We must realize that the future is here and now. If the elders really care about the youths as they often profess, then they should make way for the youngsters today.
Elsewhere, there are youngsters achieving unbelievable feats in their teens and twenties, breaking barriers and smashing records. Here, young people in their teens and twenties are not given the freedom to make their own choices.
Elsewhere, people in their thirties are becoming national leaders. Here, people in their thirties are still considered too young to be given responsible roles.
There must be some wrong preconceived notions in our psyche. Otherwise, why wouldn’t we want to give the opportunity to the young people to build their own future?
The kind of future that the elders envision for the youngsters may not always be what the youngsters want. It is, therefore, very important that youngsters are given adequate opportunities to participate in shaping their own future. They should be given leadership roles and be invited to decision making platforms.
If the elders want a decent future for the youngsters, then they should focus on the present. What the young people are today, determines what their future would be like.