Calling for Youth Responses

I had just settled in for a cup of coffee this morning when this headline screamed at me on boston.com: "8 reasons why this is the dumbest generation". This feature shows the reader eight reasons Mark Bauerlein, (author of the new book: The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future) gives to ''not trust anyone under 30."

The author is a professor of English at Emory University and he is scheduled to moderate a chat on boston.com this Wednesday at noon.

While I have a number of concerns about the “8 reasons,” there is one that is jumping to the forefront: Why host a chat about youth at noon when youth are in school and will be unable to participate?

If we want to have any substantive or responsible discussion about youth we have to start by including them. The Patrick administration did this recently by establishing the Commonwealth’s First Youth Coalition. The City of Boston and a number of other communities have done the same. We also provide a forum at inspire4life where youth can submit their stories and experiences. As for me, I am on the fence about joining the chat- especially because youth are being excluded due to the time of day- what do you think?

I'd love to hear from youth and the community at large about what they see as some of the positive attributes of this generation. I believe that all young adults have potential. Youth are capable of change and growth. This generation is community and global minded. Young people have energy, skills and ideas to contribute. They also have the capacity to learn, to serve and to lead. These observations certainly ring true for the youth in my life. How about yours?