The Contradiction
I am confronted by a glaring contradiction every day. It’s true. We are facing a seemingly insurmountable youth unemployment crisis. The numbers and reports back this up. So do the life experiences of our learners. For most of us, this crisis is silent. Our society remains insular, separating those in crisis beyond earshot of the rest. This is by design.
It’s hard enough to carve out our own piece of heaven in the midst of chaos. Imagine trying to fix the systems that make heaven feel out of reach for everyone else. Herein lies my daily contradiction.
The Obstacle
I am inspired by youth. They have energy, potential. Their silence is not a burden or weight on our society, but an indication of society’s weight on them. They are coiled springs, incapacitated by the sheer weight we expect them to bear. Child-headed homes, poor education outcomes, and large dependent counts rest heavily on their shoulders.
Imagine how much energy we could release into our economy and society if we shifted the weight. If we allowed our youth to flourish. A suspension only works if the weight is within capacity. A well-suspended economy requires ‘springy’ youth. A well-suspended economy would be more resilient, anti-fragile, and responsive to social pressure, geopolitics and shifting tides.
Investing in youth is not a burden or a weight. It is a strategic imperative for healthy economics.
This might seem complex and impossible. At its root, though, it’s simple. Their ‘springiness’ is a factor of their agency and creativity. These innate characteristics need restoration, amplification and runway. They exist in every person, but the weight our society asks them to bear has created compensation tactics. Similar to how the body resorts to its strongest muscles to bear the weight, compromising efficiency and movement.
The Reframe
I might be led to feel guilty or entitled. After all, it’s convenient to play the victim. I am not suggesting that your life is your fault or that your difficulties and challenges are not significant. Harnessing agency and creativity implies ownership. A victim cannot craft destiny. A victim does not effect his will on the world.
Our ‘springiness’ is revealed under load. When we no longer define the quality of our lives by our level of comfort, but voluntarily choose hard, embrace difficult, and seek out challenge, our agency becomes powerful.
Harnessing the power of youth is not achieved by making it easy, but by teaching them the right techniques to maintain form under load.
The Challenge
Perhaps then, our response is more telling than we realise. Waiting for the crisis to pass prolongs it. By leaning into the pressure with good technique, we become the examples our youth need for a different approach. The very challenge we face becomes the mechanism for our flourishing.
We certainly don’t have it all figured out, but we are making progress. The testimonies of our learners show us that the ‘springiness’ has always been there, they just needed some coaching on technique.
Check out our impact report for more details on the pathways and interventions that release this enormous potential.
Listen to this podcast for a perspective on how technique under load is more valuable than choosing easy.