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Il n'est pas rare que les idées des jeunes soient laissées de côté
sous prétexte qu'elles sont émotives, impulsives et sans substance. On
retrouve de telles attitudes dans la couverture médiatique des
protestations sociales.
Les jeunes militants sont trop souvent dépeints comme des hippies, des
anarchistes, et de simples moutons. La créativité des tactiques qu'ils
emploient, même si elles attirent l'attention, a malheureusement souvent
pour effet de masquer leur messsage sous-jacent. Comment alors peut-on
s'engager significativement dans la société sans compromettre l'essence
de ce que nous sommes?
La Coalition jeunesse de Sierra (CJS), les Groupes action-Jeunesse (GAJ)
ont pour but de pourvoir les jeunes des outils dont ils ont besoin pour
pouvoir s'engager à fond dans leur communauté.
”First
they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you
win.”
-Mahatma Gandhi-
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Be
Heard, Learn How
Tim
Murphy
National Coordinator,
Community Youth Action Project
Sierra Youth Coalition
February 2005
 y
grandmother tends to express her disapproval in the most subtle of ways.
When I first pierced my eyebrow she told me "c'est jeune ça".
She said the same when my cousin announced her intentions to forego the
traditional Catholic wedding and marry in the true house of God - the
great outdoors.
The tendency to dismiss youth trends as emotional, impulsive and
unsubstantiated is not specific to my grandmother. Similar attitudes can
be seen in the media coverage of social protests. Youth activists are too
often depicted as hippies, anarchists and aimless followers. The creative
choice of tactics employed by youth, while successful in garnering
attention, has the unfortunate effect of masking the underlying message.
How then, can we meaningfully engage in society without compromising the
essence of who we are?
The Sierra Youth Coalition's (SYC) Youth Action Gatherings (YAG) aim to
provide youth with the tools they need to actively engage in their
communities. The YAGs are free, week-long-camps held shortly before the
beginning of the school year. Planning is presently under way for a
potential bike gathering in New Brunswick. Specifically, the gathering
would bring together 24 high school aged youth (14-19) to cycle through
the province's South East region, spending equal amounts of time in each
of its 3 most prominent cultural communities: Anglophone, French Acadian
and Mi'kmaq.
The YAGs are about knowing the issues and acquiring the skills to fight
for what's right. They're about having fun, while making friends and
allies that will last a lifetime. They're about translating knowledge into
experience. They're what teachers don't teach. They are a new curriculum
for a new generation.
Young people are a gauge of the changing times. The YAGs should serve
as forums for exploration, inspiration and change; they represent a
convergence of young people, from newly interested youth to emblazoned
activists, to hone and build their crafts. They arrive with a hunger to
learn and an eagerness to fight for their ideals, unfazed by their ever
evolving, and often contradictory, ideas."
Issues such as affordable education, food security, racial equity,
gender politics, sexual freedoms and healthy, socially- just environments
find their way to the forefront of political debate not because of the
hidden radical agenda of some corporate-issued, middle-aged politicians,
but because these issues constitute the realities of today's youth.
While fed up with the power hungry world of politics (over 7 million
youth did not vote in the last election), youth nonetheless remain active
members of their communities, hitting the streets in record numbers for
protests small and large. Still, I wonder whether our voices, although
loud, are truly being heard. Through time, I have come to realize that it
doesn't quite matter, for regardless of the response, youth engagement has
value unto itself.
Through solid organizing and creative networking, youth movements have
become a force to be reckoned with and youth groups such as the New
Brunswick Environmental Network's Youth Action Group and the Sierra Youth
Coalition are working hard to assure this continues. The next logical step
would thus be to expand the network and further the movement by
strengthening ties and increasing communication between generations. Maybe
I should take Grandma to the piercing shop…
For more information on SYC'S Youth Action Gatherings, including a
planned New Brunswick bike gathering in the summer of 2005, please contact
Tim at cya@syc-cjs.org
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