Ryan Revilock

Youth Energy: Perpetuating Change

Our world is a constantly changing entity. From generation to generation, we experience a different life than our ancestors. There are many different forces that have brought about change, including the energy within youth. I believe that within the children, and even more so teenagers, lays a very strong drive to shape the way our world grows.

Today's youth is much less ignorant than the youth of the generation preceding us, mainly due to the media. Movies and T.V programs have fewer restrictions on content, and almost everyone has access to the news. By being exposed to more of life sooner rather than later, people begin to formulate their own ideas about the world earlier, and perhaps even create a vision of their ideal world. These thoughts grow in size and power as the individual grows, and having them created at a young ages gives them more time to blossom. I have often found myself discussing important issues with my friends, from our next presidential election, to the concept of world peace. I know that I hope to one day change life as we know it for the better, and I believe I am not alone.

Individual power isn't the only thing we have coming from today's youth. Organizations exist to join those who wish to make a change. One of these groups is called the Peacemaker Corps Association, founded by Carole Sumner Krechman. The PCA was created to foster a message to the youth; a message of peace. By both educating the youth, and joining them together with others who share their beliefs, the PCA is a force to be reckoned with. And that’s not all they have going for them. Carole Krechman tells us that "businesses, government

agencies, public housing developments, schools, and community groups" have all lent a hand in helping the organization grow (1).

Soon enough, the youth of today will become the work force of tomorrow, and that is when I believe we have the most power. With an educated youth put in influential positions, we will be able to change the world as those who came before us did. The ears of the public are more receptive to the speech of someone with credentials, and that is just what this transition will provide. The ideas and feelings that have expanded since an early age will meet the ears of the majority, and will hopefully instigate both national and international changes.

Today's youth is in a great position of influence for world change. They are creating their own ideas earlier, and are being organized to help the bigger picture. Once they reach a place where they can be heard, the energy of the youth will explode from within, and after the dust clears our world will once again be different.