The Astounding Role of Youth in Social Movement and Impact on the World
Shohorat Mahapara Purnata
It is visible how youths create a social movement and simultaneously mesmerizing. Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Isra Hirsi, and Zuriel Oduwole have shown us the power of the youth voice. The fight against repression, years of injustice, and the willingness to live life to the fullest and let others show us how powerful youths' will can be and the everlasting impact on society and humanity. The results from the youth impact on society led to the year 2023 being announced as the Year of Youth, which led to the breakthrough of youths in the world together with far-reaching social changes around the globe.
It led to increased youth empowerment and involvement in decision-making roles as the Youth Parliament in Canada or the appointment of Jayathma Wickramanayake as the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Group on Climate Action shows a significant impact on the world system where now there will be a youth perspective and voice present in decisions being taken by leaders. Moreover, this change will mean the youths are now more confident in every aspect and are being trained for real-world issues, ensuring an efficient and effective operation in world affairs.
Additionally, declaring the 2023 Year of Youth will have a more significant impact on society in the sense that youths will now feel heard, there will be less generation gap, and it will help foster their relationships with everything around them. Feeling listened to and belonging will increase their self-esteem, assist in significant aspects of their life, and create a healthy environment that the world needs most right now, considering the post-COVID and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Further, youths may have essential and insightful opinions on significant crises, and hearing their voice can bring beautiful solutions that can escalate the solving process—particularly taking into account the power of social media, mainly Instagram and TikTok. These can turn an issue into a global phenomenon and raise awareness in minutes.
Youths today are aware of ongoing issues. Thanks to social media, they can bring reasonable solutions by considering more perspectives and ideas. And keeping them out of it is no good as it will get back long-term adverse effects. The reason is youths are more open-minded and bring more to the table, which helps solve issues quickly and efficiently.
The Year of Youth has seen remarkable changes in the climate change movement. From world-leading promises for a sustainable future to mass people becoming more aware of the climate and taking action. For example, the rise of Tote bags, the stop in plastic use, and finally, people shifting to a vegan diet shows how the Year of Youth has impacted the world.
Moreover, The Year of Youth has led to significant or groundbreaking changes in the mental health sector. Creating awareness, demanding mental health care access free of cost, forming support groups, and pioneering the movement against the taboo of mental health care contributed significantly to the rapid expansion.
Furthermore, the most unconventional change that impacted the world and changed the systematic flow was the movement of LGBQT+ by youth. The 2023 Year of Youth saw rapid change worldwide, especially in using pronouns and the rise in early teachings about it in Western countries.
Besides, it is the youth that forms that made the concept of cosmopolitanism true. As seen around us and in social media, there was a sharp decrease in the practice of parochialism and a sharp rise in cosmopolitanism.
The world was tremendously affected by the last two mentioned changes by youth. It led to a different shaping of society, the environment, and the global system. Though there is no hundred percent implication of the changes by the youths, significant differences were made that helped to create a positive impact upon the world.
Nonetheless, as just with good comes evil, the 2023 Year of Youth also had severe negative impacts on the world. One such example is the escalation in extremism and radicalization. Mainly, due to the spread of misinformation and propaganda through social media, it must be considered that giving youths too much power without supervision has resulted in this.
Next is the rise in crime, violence, and hatred. However, cosmopolitism has brought global peace, acceptance, tolerance, and prosperity. There is also a rise in anguishment that quickly spiked crime and violence among youth due to the formation of youth gangs. For this, the increase in self-esteem and lack of self-reflection are the primary causes.
Last but not least, the notable hike in social and political polarization has the worst impact on the world among the adversaries created by the 2023 Year of Youth, particularly in third-world countries that cause many deaths and accidents, bringing tragedy and end to many youths full of potential.
Besides, this has also given rise to drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, and suicidal rates. It shows the importance of extensive training and careful consideration before the handover of power to youths.
Nevertheless, the light among youths never fades away, so to use their potential to the fullest to ensure only a positive impact on the world, leaders and well-wishers worldwide have called for training for youths to be constructive and spreading awareness about the dangers of radicalization. Also, showing the differences between positive and negative execution of power, the youths are being encouraged to take it upon themselves and make the most of an opportunity while at the same time ensuring the world gets the best of it.
In addition, the practice of expressing emotions and anger constructively is being practiced worldwide, which is believed to have a generational change and break the cycle of violent anger expression that has been going around for centuries. This, together with the 2023 Year of Youth, is said to have an everlasting positive impact in the fast-paced world.
It is undeniable that social movements are proportionally related to youths; they pioneer them. This brings us the fantastic youth leaders who work tirelessly for the world to improve. The movement of #metoo has shown us how the world can be impacted through a simple tweet, and people in positions of power are taken down quickly who thought they were untouchable.
The emergence of new youth leaders and activists and winning wars show us our power. The power of will, thought, and positive intention to make a difference and positive impact made the unthinkable true. The world changed for the better, and only for the effects of people's actions. They made it possible to bring attention to issues that were ignored for centuries and caused damage to the world.
The 2023 Year of Youth also saw a significant shift in power dynamics, the youth's role in it, and the amplification of their voices against the injustices committed in the process. A landmark example can be the Russia-Ukraine issue or the Israeli-Palestine issue. That saw the emergence of many youth leaders who came to the front to speak against injustices committed and share their opinions with the world—hoping to bring a cheerful and peaceful ending to the wars.
It is noteworthy that youths in recent times are more aware and driven for positive change derived from the wish for a better and peaceful world. They showed significant courage when they showed up for their beliefs and opinions, which makes us more optimistic about the future as we can rest assured that it lies in good hands.
These would not have been possible without the 2023 Year of Youth, which showed a clear picture of the youth movement for social change. Further, it has led to a surge in youth-led activities worldwide, causing a rise in the willingness to bring positive change to the world. This was a turning point for the world and has again opened the hope for an entirely peaceful world as those with the future are driving towards beneficial social changes.
Hence, the youths of today need full support and help from the world to create a social movement that will benefit everybody, and they also need to be cautious about the adverse effects of misuse.
*I wrote the article for the QCEC 2023 and received the Bronze Award.
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