SpunOut.ie Blog

August, 2009

Young people can help build a new Ireland

Blog: SpunOut.ie opinion piece in The Examiner.

A vast untapped pool of ideas, innovation and enthusiasm lies patiently waiting, but it appears that nobody is listening. Instead of opening up the corridors of commentary, debate and decision-making to a dynamic new generation of thinkers and leaders (35% of the population is under 25), Ireland remains shackled to the fading authority of industry, politics and religion. While each of these traditional pillars is rapidly losing credibility; they still call the shots.

Everyone agrees it’s crisis season in Ireland and abroad. From health care to housing, and banking to the environment, the outlook seems bleak. As our leaders stumble in search of solutions to problems they themselves helped create, the lack of fresh thinking and ideas is worrying.

Take the current economic debate. We are at the country’s greatest turning point in almost a century. Uncertainty rules and tensions are rising. People want leadership, they want vision. Instead, our greying government tries to placate us with vague proclamations of “working together” and “sharing the pain”.

Condemnations, cheap shots and criticisms aren’t scarce as the “I told you so” brigade muster for position in what constitutes Ireland’s political and social opposition base. However, now isn’t the time for point scoring. It is a time for constructive debate and dialogue, where we must articulate and realise alternative visions for the future.

As the Celtic Tiger joins O’Leary in the grave, it is our younger generation that will build a new country from the lessons of our turbulent history. To do this, they must be given the opportunities and conditions to do so. They must be supported and nurtured and given guidance when needed.

Instead, what is happening is that this “generation now”, as some have mockingly dubbed them, are disregarded as being utopian, thuggish or spoilt mé féiners. Such marginalisation ignores the harsh situation facing this generation.

The realities posed by further education fees, a youth unemployment rate of 21%, thousands enslaved to negative equity mortgages and the return of emigration are casting a shadow over young Ireland. In addition to this, we have an urbanised generation that was groomed for consumerism (which was good for the economy after all) and who have been ironically condemned for landing us amongst the highest European levels of binge drinking, drug use, obesity, teenage pregnancy and suicide.

Shop keepers, sometimes encouraged by local politicians, employ pest control “mosquito” devices aimed at teenagers and the media wages a daily war on “anti-social” hoody wearing youths, adding fuel to a generational gap where the nation’s young people are often branded as being “worse than animals”.
 
All of this takes place in the context of strained family structures, little or no sexual health education in schools and alarming gaps in youth health services. The outlook ahead is for further funding cuts to youth organisations and community groups and a situation that leaves young people hanging out in the streets or online, exposed to the risks of alcohol, drugs, sex, crime and commercialism.

If there is a crisis within youth culture then we must surely ask ourselves how this came about and who is responsible? If young people have become anti-social, then surely this is a reflection of failing parenting, schooling, health and social provision? If young people are failing, then surely it is Irish society that has failed them.

There are those who say young people today have never had it so good and to some extent they’re right. It’s true we’re not facing the severity of the Irish civil war, the misery of Frank McCourt’s Ireland nor the violence of the Northern conflict. We have more insights, opportunities and entertainment than in the eighties. The spiritual dogma and abuse of our recent past is lifting. We are exposed to new cultures and ideas and are more educated, skilled and well travelled than ever before.

However, each generation has its own mountains to climb. It is easy to see why young people today might fear for their future. We live in a globalised world facing the biggest international recession since the thirties, where one in seven people go hungry each day, where an ongoing “war without end” is raising tensions between east and west. All of this against a backdrop where the very survival of humanity is at risk because of a mindset that sees nature as something to be exploited at all costs.
 
Of course there are plenty of young movers, shakers and agitators out there willing to get stuck in and make a difference. I encounter thousands of them each year through my work with SpunOut.ie. They have plenty to say, know how to say it and are beginning to influence all areas of Irish life from music to sport, business to the the arts. However, despite their willingness as active citizens, most will agree that old Ireland refuses to take them seriously.

This is true for the teenage Collison brothers in Limerick who failed to gain Enterprise Ireland's support for their software business Auctomatic, which they sold last year for more than €3 million. It is also true for the hundreds of thousands of disillusioned young voters who don’t see anyone worth voting for and who desperately want meaningful forums to air their views and participate in the decisions affecting them.

Internationally, half of the world’s population is under 25. From Iran to Rome and Bolivia to China, they are inheriting legacies of colonialism, corruption, conflict and poverty. Faced with new challenges such as climate change and the new opportunities of the digital age they will shape the century ahead in a make or break race to rethink our future.

I recently returned from Tanzania, one of the world’s poorest countries, where this story is unfolding amidst a life expectancy of 51 years, a 6% rate of HIV/AIDS and an average income of €1 per day. Whilst the statistics make grim reading there is a rising tide of young people and civil society organisations gearing up for change. One young activist there called Walter Rweikiza told me that young people are fed up waiting for change and are beginning to organise themselves to take control of their country.

 “Our government doesn’t care about us. They only care about their bank accounts and the next election. Look around you. Things are not good here. We have no choice but to take action ourselves or things will only get worse.”

It is this type of energy, idealism and sense of purpose that drove Barack Obama to the White House. The same momentum, if fostered, can open the doors to change everywhere.

As we approach a winter of discontent where the Sex Pistols’ screams of “No Future” might well make a comeback, we have an enormous opportunity to take a seismic leap forward in how we view young people.

To do this we need a unified and compassionate community response from parents, teachers, politicians, business and media. We need role models to step forward and invest time in nurturing young minds. We need serious long term investment in youth health and education, adequate facilities and services, and a radical opening up of democratic participation structures in boardrooms, on committees and in government.

We need a partnership of young and old, energy and experience, and a letting go by those gripping the reins. We must trust in the power and potential of young people to help deliver a better future for us all.

 

By: Ruairí McKiernan

 

Ruairí McKiernan (31) is Founder of the SpunOut.ie national youth organisation. He recently received a Junior Chambers International Award for Social Entrepreneurship and a Net Visionary Award for Social Contribution to the internet. SpunOut.ie’s work in Tanzania was funded by the Irish Aid Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund.

Links and Background:

CSO statistics
World population under 25
Youth unemployment rate
 
SpunOut.ie National Youth Organisation

SpunOut.ie is an independent youth powered national charity working to empower young people to create personal and social change. SpunOut.ie combines an interactive online community providing health and lifestyle information, signposting to help services, an alternative youth media space, dynamic discussion forums, and a platform for youth engagement, participation and advocacy. SpunOut.ie reaches nearly half a million users online each year, millions more through the media and has won numerous awards including a Golden Spider Award for 'Best Charity Website' in Ireland.

Voice it: make media for SpunOut.ie

Blog: Have your say on Electric picnic, exam results, debs, holiday romances and more!

It’s the last weeks of summer and we have the perfect distraction to thoughts of back to school, college, work or the end of holidays....

If you’re aged between 16 and 25 then we want to hear (and so do the thousands of people visiting SpunOut.ie!) what YOU have to say. We publish media on a wide range of inspiring, thought-provoking and awareness-raising topics.

If you think that an issue is important and that other young people should hear about it – then we want to hear from you.

We are also currently looking for your media (articles, videos, podcasts, images) on:

• The recession and its impact on young people
• True life exam results
• Electric Picnic
• Heritage week
• School uniforms: good or bad idea?
• Good things about the Irish summer of 2009
• To go to the debs or not?
• Debs survival tips
• Continuing with a holiday romance after the holiday
• Beating the back to school boredom tips

Submit articles and media here!

We always want to hear from you about:

True life: Share your experiences with other young people. We publish real life stories that help demystify the problems that young people deal with and that encourage young people to think positively and ask for support if and when they need it. Find out more here.

Inspire change: Help others make a difference in the world by creating a film for SpunOut.ie. Maybe you have made a difference in your own life or in your community, and you can tell others how you did it? Perhaps there is an issue, such as education cuts, animal welfare or domestic violence, which you want to highlight and ask others to take action about? Find out more here.

We are most likely to publish contributions that are:

• From a young person’s point of view.
• Inspiring, respectful and socially responsible.
• Well written/ created and well researched.
• Laugh out loud humour!
• Giving a voice to groups in society that are not usually heard.

Submit articles and media here!

Please check out the submission guidelines before you send in your work!

SpunOutters travel, Google and speak up!

Blog: Our June and July news round-up.

Monthly newsletter: The heart of SpunOut.ie

SpunOut.ie is a youth-led national organisation empowering young people to create personal and social change.

Digital Unity

Blog: Celebrating International Youth Day.

During the month of June, SpunOut.ie travelled south of the equator to Tanzania in an attempt to gain insight into young people’s health and wellbeing issues. We were blown away by the incredible individuals we were lucky enough to meet. Young Tanzanians are eager for change, knowledge, development and action and are on route to making real change in their country. August 12th marks International Youth Day, a United Nations day of celebrating young people all over the world. To mark the occasion we are launching ‘Digital Unity’ which illustrates our time in East Africa through blogs, podcasts, photographs and short videos.

What struck us most in Tanzania was a deep sense of spirit, community, family and friendship. Parallel to this was the desire for ‘development’ in the western sense of the word. This yearning ‘to be developed’ which may be necessary in part, is extensive, but at what cost to young Tanzanians in the future? In Ireland, it is seen that we are fully ‘developed’ and yet the breakdown of family and community life is palpable, compounding an ever individualistic society. Several young people we spoke to believed we could learn invaluable lessons from each other in this way and we had to agree.

For economic growth and expansion to take place, some Tanzanians in leadership roles believe they must look overseas for assistance and direction, much like we have done in Ireland in the past and still today. “The problem here”, Daniel aged 23, a young male we met in Dar es Salaam said “is that often this guidance causes nations to naively hand over resources, assets and rights benefitting the assistant and not the assisted". Undoubtedly poverty, inaccessibility to education, inequality and other health and social issues are widespread in many parts of Tanzania. Therefore, it is understandable that leaders may look externally for help. But from our meetings alone it was obvious that young Tanzanians were proud and determined to look internally, trusting their own abilities to take their country forward. Something they are very keen to do, if given the opportunity.

On another note, issues such as self harm and suicide were shocking to many we spoke with, but there is some evidence out there suggesting that the rates of both rise in tide with economic development. One group of young people we spoke to felt it vital that structures to protect the welfare of the people are put into place now, so that Tanzanians do not have to face these heart breaking realities in the future as we do here at home.

It has never been easier to communicate using the power of technology. Although internet penetration in Tanzania is minute and inaccessible to many, this is changing dramatically with plans for broadband cables across the coast of East Africa in the coming years. Now is the time to prepare. Langa Sarakikya; a university lecturer we met up with, feels we should embrace new technology to stop negative portrayals of Africa as “the dark continent” in the media, instead embracing the positive aspects of our “global villa”’. See below for Langa’s message to you.

Globalisation integrates the good, the bad and the ugly. The key is to look within and without. We should all perhaps trust the expertise of the people who understand the lie of the land whilst being open to other nations, sharing information and educating each other along the way. The need for communication, dialogue and understanding between 'the western world’ and Africa is more important now than ever, so the downright ugly face of development does not affect individual lives and local communities at the heart of it all.

With thanks to the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund and Connect World for their generous support of our project.

 

SpunOut.ie's double bill on the telly

Blog: Watch the videos here!

Hi folks,

The lovely RTE's iWitness team came to interview us in our groOovy HQ recently.  If you didn't catch us live on air now is your chance to check check check us out! 

See below for a 60 second snapshot of what SpunOut.ie is really all about. The staff and volunteers here put blood, sweat, guts and tears (yes really!) into our organisation.  We truly love what we do and fully believe in the power of SpunOut.ie.  We hope you do too.

Our very own Ian Howley was also interviewed for iWitness recently. Ian has been with us for years and has his very own powerful and inspiring story to tell. Take a look: 

 

The country needs SpunOut.ie now more than ever.  It's a tough time for so many of us at the moment, but we can all turn things around by facing up to our problems collectively and by taking control of our lives and the world around us.  Let's take action and do it together.

Love, the SpunOut.ie crew

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