Issue 4 2010 - Learning and teaching portal - Victoria University

What constitutes youth?
by Stephen Weller
When I think about youth—I think about my children.
When I think about my children—I think about myself as a parent.
And when I think about myself as a parent—I think about my own parents.
Yet when I think about my parents—I think of myself as a youth.
So, what constitutes youth?
Is youth a stage in life represented by age? Or is youth a state of mind?
If youth is a stage in life then what stage is it? Is it teens, adolescence, or the coming
of age?
If youth can be described as a state of mind, is this just a desire by the old to hold on
to the past?
And once we know who the youth are, what is to be done with them?
For those rightfully amongst the youth there seems to be an uncertainty as to when
it is time to act.
For those no longer amongst the youth there seems to be an insistence that the
youth must wait.
But surely given that youth are our future then why not let them have their time
now?
If youth is the period between childhood and adulthood then let it be a time to be
celebrated.
Let the blurred boundaries between naivety and experience be a time to be
championed.
Bobby Kennedy described youth as: ‘the appetite for adventure over the life of ease’.
So why not let adventure triumph over ease?
Let us recognise the perspective that youth provides fresh from childhood.
Let us recognise the perspective of youth that is yet to experience adulthood.
Let us invest in our youth and celebrate this unique period of transformation.
So let us celebrate youth and put the hands of the future in those who will live in it!
Stephen Weller is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) of Victoria University
Page 3