Young People For The Win!

 I was asked to be on a panel for the Youth Summit. I never considered the impact it would have on me.. I knew I was expected to go in and talk about how bullying has affected my family, and share with the teens our own personal story about the struggles we've gone through as a result of having a daughter who is transgender.

What I didn't realize, was that I would walk away feeling a sense of renewed pride in the younger generation.

Ninety students are chosen from neighboring schools to take part in this summit. The purpose is to raise awareness of problems like bullying..and to have the students organize and plan ways to get involved in their communities and personal lives to make positive change. The students are not chosen based on status, grades, race, or any other qualifier. They are chosen because they have expressed a desire to be a part of a group who is seeking ways to make our communities, schools, and homes..better places for everyone.

Before the panel discussion began, I was able to sit in the back and watch these young minds brainstorm together about the social problems they see and experience.

Several things that I was a bit shocked to discover:
Administration and adults are often encouraging bullying and/or bullying people
There is still a tremendous amount of self imposed racial segregation. There is little to no education offered to students to encourage mixing of races and cultures to improve interaction with one another.
There is no education about gender issues, sexual orientation issues, and how to handle them or understand them.
Students often feel they have hit a dead end when trying to speak out about injustice. Despite the "zero tolerance" policy most schools have put into place, there is little follow through and consequence for bullying behavior.

These factors were disturbing to me. I have experienced them through my daughter's high school career, but I almost felt as though what she went through was more of an isolated incident. Sad to find out that it is much more prevalent than I thought. I'm a believer that much needs to be taught at home. The fact is, we are no longer part of a society where that always occurs, whether it's due to parent's working or just an overall lack of important dialogue in the home. I also feel that schools have been forced to follow a curriculum based on what will show on standardized testing..this leaves little room for abstract education. This is a failure on a grand scale.

On to the positive...

Above all, the thing I was most impressed with was the desire among these kids to create a stronger sense of community where each person feels a sense of responsibility to their peers.

So encouraging!

While I was supposed to be there to share my own personal experiences, I was overcome with the need to praise them, bolster them, and encourage them for being a generation of people that can see past the racial, religious, cultural, sexual, gender, and physical boundaries and hold a strong conviction that we all deserve to be treated equally.

This gives me so much hope for the future. To think that the younger generation is more apt to see past the things that really don't matter. To know that equality isn't a question of want or who...it just is.

I am excited to see the changes that will take place as they get older and become adults who stand united in the belief that we are all people..despite the differences on the outside.