At certain time or situation, you may have also doubted whether the youth are really the hope of the fatherland.
Admit it or not, the spirit of youth has changed dramatically over the years. When Jose Rizal said, “The youth is the hope of our fatherland,” he had no idea that time will come when some people would doubt his adage.
Don’t get me wrong. In my heart, there lies the powerful yearning for Rizal’s famous line to remain true despite the realities of youth I see, hear, and read about every day.
I see kids dropout from schools just so they can stay in computer shops all day. I see teen-aged girls pregnant by boys of their age. I hear about a high school student arrested for dealing drugs. I hear about minor girls working as entertainers in bars.
These realities break my heart because I do not see this kind of youth as the hope of our future. How can I when their individual future is so blurry and bleak?
I started comparing the way how things were and how they are now. How I would tremble in fear of my parents when I knew I did something wrong, to how some kids nowadays would stand up and answer back at their parents. How, as students, we would stop in the corridor when a teacher would pass. We would lower our eyes and say our greetings, to how kids nowadays treat their teachers as if they are of the same age. How – okay, if I continue with my comparison that would keep me very busy and I might not be able to sleep until dawn.
Somewhere along the way, something must have gone wrong. Maybe we, who were once the youth, have some contribution to what is happening right now. And maybe we, who were once the youth, can still do something about it. We, who were once the youth, and are now parents, teachers, lawyers, doctors, civil servants, can still be the hope of our future’s future.
Let’s ask ourselves, are we raising them well? Are we doing our responsibilities of guiding them, correcting their mistakes, being good examples to them? Are we?
I believe that as guardians of the youth, we have the greatest responsibility for them.
It is maybe late for now but it is never too late. Let us be the hope of our youth so the youth can be the hope of our future.
By Claysenia T. Imado
