Engaging Youth to Act

 PC THOMAS

Once a youth was admitted to hospital following severe injuries attained in a bike accident. When asked him how it happened he said – After participated in the Youth Day’s cocktail party in the hotel and while returning to home late at night, I saw two motorbikes coming parallel in my opposite direction. I began to accelerate in order to race between their motorbikes. But it was they come nearer, that I realized the headlights belonged not to two motor-bikes, but to one car!

Different from the above scene, the youth of today has now become fully disciplined in roads as Coronavirus taught them a bouquet of life lessons in their way of thinking, driving, working and acting. Young people have become heroes of the pandemic now by adapting themselves with critical life situations, keeping careful behind the wheels, lifting spirits of others and letting people know the type of protocols to follow to fight against the pandemic situation. Let us send the virus thanks for these precious lessons it taught.

Today, 12th of August, the nation celebrates one of the awareness days, the International Youth Day. The day is celebrated to recognize the importance, role and hard-work of the Youth. It is one of the most important days to engage the generation of the youth of our world to help them and contribute more to our communities and society. The theme of the International Youth Day-2020 is “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.  The day intends to demonstrate the manners by which youngsters at the local, national and worldwide levels are upgraded.

In India, the youth constitutes about more than one-fourth of the total population. Therefore, Youth Day is important for India as it focuses on making a better India with a set of priorities according to improvements in the lives of children and youth.

Needless to say, this year’s International Youth Day comes amid an unprecedented global crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in acute social and economic impacts around the world.  Young people are particularly exposed to the disruptions the pandemic has caused, and many are now at risk of being left behind in education,   economic prospects and health and wellbeing during a critical stage of their life development. Young people are more likely to be unemployed or to be in precarious working arrangements, and thus they lack adequate social protection.  About one billion students and youth across the world have been affected by school and university closures. Economic miseries and social isolation have pushed many people to the brink or beyond.

In the light of the above, on International Youth Day this year 2020 youth can effectively spread the message and make it interesting and relevant. They can use all their channels to propagate the message about the World Youth Day and its significance in a manner handling with the pandemic crisis, by organizing a virtual public debate or meeting to discuss young people’s contributions to national and international levels. They can take the lead in fighting against false information which is intended to mislead people in the present crisis, as well as in spreading preventive measures. 

Let youth accelerate their drive towards goal and ensure that they have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies amid the crisis. To make all the goals a reality will require the cooperation of each individual, including Governments, the private sector, civil organizations and people around the world. This article published in Metro Vaartha on 12.8.20- Stay updated with the Best Blog PC Thomas