Youth

So, currently I am at the Virginia Theological Seminary for the Episcopal Church, I am a participant at a Youth Leader Conference-- although I feel more like a youth here. But anyways, here is my thought process throughout one part of the program. I have become uneasy with the word youth. 

It is not the word itself, because honestly I think it is a clever word. But rather, I hate the label attached to it. How it is used as a device, a 'nickname' for a generation that I am in. The age gap continues to grow and become larger, and the next thing I know, I will be 34 and still considered a youth until I turn 35, then the bar is up to 40. It is a never-ending tick on the timeline of my life. 

It is a word that can be an aid but also a limitation. 

With such a movement for 'Youth' involvement in our world, i.e. in the church, voting, etc. the youth are constantly bombarded with the idea that they must be pro-active about absolutely everything. That because we are the 'voice' of the next generation that we must empower our peers to help fight for one cause, and get rid of another. We are the future. If I hear that one more time, I might puke. WHY can't you, adult, be the future now? You always get mad when we make fun of your age, and you say that you aren't that old. Then if you aren't that old, then why can't you be the future as well? That a little lazy contradictory of you. You will be here tomorrow, and possibly in 1, 2, 5, 10 years, I consider that the future. Don't you? 

But being a 'youth' can also be a curse, it seems. We are considered a 'YOUTH'; a grouping of young people. Our minds are made up for us sometimes. For example: "The youth don't believe in anything' [source: my dear friend Stefanie's personal encounter], 'The youth want to be different,' 'The youth need to be nourished because they are just so young.' Or my personal favorite:: ' The youth need to be saved. Like we are some dying, distressed creature that must "find their way" by the guidance of our "superiors" that just know exactly what to do, in every situation, in every aspect of life. That is what we were told, that is what we grew up with, and that is probably what we will tell our youth. 

As a young person (a term I actually prefer better than youth because it actually acknowledges that we are people, and are different persons that share the common age range) I am often told that "I just don't understand this world because I am just a youth." But if I am a youth in your eyes until I am 30. Does that mean you will not listen to me (because I "don't know what I am talking about) until I hit 30, get married and have kids of my own? If so, that is again quite obnoxious of you, fictional 3rd person character labeled adult that I am talking to. 

I am told that I am corrupt from the media that I expose myself to. But then again, I am told that it is not my fault, and it is just the youth culture that I am apart of, and I will grow out of it. Maybe I won't. 

This word youth is a complex noun that has been tossed to young people as a device used to categorize them us, and thus giving the older generation permission to either stress their constant concern for us, or create our thoughts, feelings and needs for us. 

Just a little food for thought, from a youth, herself. 

-Alli