The Young Have a Voice
And they're coming out swinging
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Kids dont just speak when they are spoken to anymore.
In this age of instant communication and the almost infinite internet, young people have just as much of a voice in the digital world as the rest of us… and boy oh boy are they using it.
I just read an article by Lucas Dawn who, as far as I can tell is a young person in the earliest stages of being a teenager.
I’ll link to the article at the bottom of this article but, the point is, it's really good. Like… really bloody good.
Do you know what I was doing at their age?
Nothing.
I was drifting through school, doing a bit of theatre, playing some sports… the usual.
I wasn't learning to code, writing to an audience of thousands online, and ruminating on the state of the working world.
But I was thinking about how to make an impact. I just didn't have the tools.
Lucas does. This generation does. And they know how to use them.
It's 2022!
All kids need is an internet connection and a phone to put their thoughts out into the world.
Is that dangerous?
Hell yes. And god I hope they have guardians watching to make sure they're safe. The internet is a wonderful place, but it also has too many dark sides to count.
But danger aside there is something absolutely brilliant about having a place (the internet) where young people’s voices can be heard just as loudly as everyone else's.
Because young people have things to say.
And, you know what?
They’re right about a lot of stuff that us adults dont understand or choose to ignore.
This world will belong to them soon enough
And they now have the tools to be able to tell us, loudly and in public, not to fuck it up for them.
We need to listen to them. Sooner rather than later.
Because if someone like Lucas can make clear, well-argued, salient points about the pressures of the hustle…
