 | Topics: Youth The Youth Service Movement:
America's Trump Card in Revitalizing Democracy by Matthew Moseley Reprinted with permission from the National Civic Review, Summer-Fall 1995, pp. 267-271. Copyright ©1995 by the National Civic Review. Matthew Moseley is program coordinator for The Common Enterprise. Far from apathetic, today's youth have chosen to contribute to society in unconventional ways. The burgeoning youth service movement represents a valuable resource of energy, creativity and commitment, if appropriately recognized and nurtured. If life were a card game, America would be holding the best card of them all in its hand. But it is hidden behind others and not recognized by the players for its immediate value. If this card is not understood and played at the appropriate time, it will become useless—likely to be shuffled back into the deck and chalked up as another lost opportunity in the game of renewing America's democracy. Remarkable change is occurring among American youth. An enormous resurgence of volunteerism and monumental efforts in rebuilding the civic structure of America are guiding the nation on a path toward revitalization and renewal. Political pundits and the media mistakenly paint a picture of lazy and apathetic youth. They could not be more wrong. It is time to wake up and shed old stereotypes. America must move beyond the misleading label of "Generation X" and all the negative stigmas attached to it. It is time to acknowledge the exciting momentum of the youth service movement. While there is no shortage of statistics indicating widespread political apathy on college campuses, the terminology used and types of questions asked often skew the result and lead to a negative conclusion. As Terrell Bell, former Secretary of Education in the Reagan Cabinet, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, listed then as a Little Rock attorney, wrote six years ago, "Young people have learned only half of America's story. Although they clearly appreciate the democratic freedoms, they fail to perceive a need to reciprocate by exercising the duties and responsibilities of good citizenship." Misconceptions abound regarding young men and women. For example, a Newsweek article published on June 6, 1994, "Global Whining We're No. 1: U.S. Youth Still Outmoans All," described American youth as "passive" in their whining, as well as lazy and apathetic. The current literature fails to acknowledge that social activism has replaced political activism as the principal form of youth involvement. Such books as Paul Loeb's Generation at the Crossroads and Neil How and Bill Strauss's 13th Gen paint a dismal, if not inaccurate, portrait of American youth while failing to recognize the many positive contributions of youth service. Regretfully, they ignore the facts. An INDEPENDENT SECTOR survey conducted in 1992 concluded that over half of all people between the ages of 18 and 24 volunteered during the preceding year. It is not hard to understand that youth of the 1990s have found it much easier to make a difference in the world if they start at the most basic level—their communities and neighborhoods. The popular misconception, as in the Bell-Rodham Clinton essay, is that declining interest in partisan politics and a lack of interest in inside-the-beltway issues translates into political apathy. Politicians and the media would have us think that youth today are lazy and unconcerned with civic responsibility because they don't buy into the political system. They are sadly mistaken. In a speech delivered at the National Press Club on February 9, 1995, Senator Bill Bradley described society as a three-legged stool. One leg represents government, which is firm and strong—perhaps too strong. Another leg is the equally strong private or corporate sector. The third leg is the civic sector, which is disproportionately weak. The fact that civil society is weak in relation to the government and corporate sectors has caused a great imbalance. But youth are stabilizing the system through significant and effective work in the civic sector of society. And what is civil society? It is the place where we live and make our homes; it is our families, where we play sports, where we worship our God and teach our children. It is that place in society where we listen to music, view art, experience culture, appreciate theater, and hang out in coffee shops. Civil society consists of beauty parlors, front porches, Elks Clubs, Junior Leagues, and all of our various forms of groups and associations. Most significantly, it is the realm of our society that so desperately needs support and strength to stay alive and healthy—not hindrance and neglect. There is a "movement" quietly occurring in America in which young people are taking an active role in repairing and building up this third and weakest leg. Consequently, the misunderstanding of how youth perceive their political role is drawn from the absence of youth involvement from the private and public legs of our societal stool. This movement is a broad, sweeping wave of youth action that builds upon that third leg, and not only brings America back into balance, but leaves a lasting mark on civic renewal in its wake. Many young people have big hopes and exciting dreams for their lives. Many members of the younger generation may have given up on the super-success of high-paying jobs. Indeed, "twenty-somethings" have changed the way they measure their personal success. But they aren't as down and out as public opinion analysts and the media so often suggest. It isn't because jobs aren't as available as they were, because they are. On Sunday, June 4, 1995, Lisa Ganasci of the Associated Press published an article entitled "Grads Find Improved Market," in which she cited a 88-percent increase in recruiting for students with doctorates and master's degrees in science. But enhanced campus recruitment efforts—and higher bonuses for those students who do choose to sign-on with corporate America—indicate that young men and women are rejecting the idea that they must literally sell their souls for the almighty dollar. Nancy Nagy, career services director at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, states, "With the market more competitive for graduates, many companies are offering 'signing bonuses' of anywhere from $2,000 to $50,000, bringing some salary packages to six figures. The average salary for a graduate this year [1995] is $63,500." Clearly, the cost-benefit analysis has changed: Many feel it is no longer worth it to sit in the dismal, lifeless corporate cubicle that Douglas Copeland describes in Generation X as the "veal-fattening pen." Rejection of the cradle-to-grave employment model shouldn't be interpreted as indifference. The hopes and dreams of youth today are different from those of previous generations, but they are just as important and far-reaching. So what are young men and women doing? Southern Community Partners funds youth-driven initiatives in the South that are helping to revitalize urban and rural areas through key strategic efforts. Who Cares magazine, chronicler of the youth service movement, acts as a necessary clearinghouse for information and resources on youth-led and youth-serving nonprofit organizations. Partners in Education is forging partnerships between communities and schools, bringing community service into the classroom and tapping a valuable, previously underutilized resource. COOL (Campus Outreach Opportunity League) provides a much-needed forum for community service at colleges and universities across the country. The list goes on: Public Allies, City Year, National Urban Coalition, Youth Service America, Teach for America, AmeriCorps, Do Something, Black Student Leadership Network, Urban Service, Student Pugwash, Selma Do Something Fund, Bread for the World, and Campus Ecology, to name a few, all are agents of effective social change at the grass roots. United through the Alliance for National Renewal, many of these organizations are joining forces and collaborating under the newly formed National Renewal Youth Alliance. These organizations, along with countless others, represent fresh and innovative responses to the key emerging issues of our time that won't be heard on CNN or debated on C-SPAN. Oprah doesn't talk about them, and Letterman only has the occasional guest. These issues often lack the glamour worthy of big-time television. However, this negligence can be remedied. If people do have a genuine concern for the direction of society, it is crucial to understand the beliefs and motivations of young people, for they soon will become those of the entire nation. There are three fundamental ways in which youth are changing the world today. First, the way they participate socially and politically has vastly changed over the last five to ten years. The way young men and women think of themselves as members of society and how they express their participation through various networks and associations is profoundly different from those of previous generations. For instance, youth have rejected political parties as an avenue of participation in the electoral process. Apathy toward Washington doesn't mean that youth just crumble up and die. All across the country, youth are banding together in diverse ways to change their communities and their lives. They are shifting their attention to other activities whereby they can really make a difference. It is likely to be close to home, in their own backyards: building housing for the homeless, working in soup kitchens, helping the elderly, advocating for youth, educating underprivileged kids, etc. Second, the trend toward multiculturalism is having an enormous effect on youth and the institutions of the nation. Youth have waved good-bye to the All-American kid as a stereotype of what is "normal, mainstream Americana." This image has been pushed aside for a broader interpretation of American youth. With the proliferation of international students, at home and abroad, youth have struggled with diversity in the university classroom to witness a rapidly changing curriculum. Even Howe and Strauss agree in 13th Gen that American youth today are de facto more tolerant, accepting and open to differences in race, ethnicity and gender than any other generation in the history of the world. Third, the way people work to pay the bills has been modified for several reasons. The work ethic has changed dramatically over the last five to ten years. How, why and when people choose to work has shifted. Why are people moving out of the bigger cities and going to places like Telluride, Stowe or Lake Tahoe? It is because living in the apartment complex, shopping mall, corporate, or consumer mindset isn't enough to keep their dreams alive. There must be more to life. This is not solely a factor of youth, but a phenomenon that is occurring throughout all age groups. It just so happens that youth are much more mobile and apt to pick up and move if they decide they don't like a particular place for social or economic reasons. This mobility is responsible for an emerging new class of technical migrants or—as they are called in the Rocky Mountain West—Modem Cowboys. It is possible today for people to live and work almost anywhere in the world if they structure their working environments the right way. The young generation is rejecting the dichotomy between themselves and their elders—the classic breakdown between busters and boomers, the polarizing difference between "twenty-somethings" and "forty-somethings." Today's youth have never endorsed the catchy labels of Madison Avenue: 13ners, Gen X, slackers, the "me" generation. Part of the trend of fresh thinking among young and old alike is to break out of these damaging stereotypes. It is time to cast issues in a new light. Youth are exiting an age of intense polarization; the debate between conservatives and liberals and Republicans and Democrats is withering. Many young Americans seek equitable and feasible public policies without the entrenched political baggage of previous generations. Young people today believe it is possible to find common ground on most issues, and are nearly unanimous on such issues as abortion, gun control and deficit reduction. The political parties don't effectively represent and engage the American public and have nearly alienated youth. Ricki Seidman, executive director of Rock the Vote, a national voter registration campaign targeted at youth, believes that approximately 70 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 24 are registered as Independents. Young men and women tend to view issues more in the context of what is right and good, rather than which political organization proposes the solutions. A new type of leadership is quietly emerging from the ground up amid seemingly insurmountable problems in our communities. Young people are carefully redefining the American Dream and what it means to be a good citizen. They are rekindling the revolutionary spirit of our founding fathers. It is through small, intensely localized efforts that young men and women are playing their cards now. They are throwing down their most valuable cards with courage and vision—not holding back in apathy. Today's youth are ready and willing to play the game. They know "when to fold them and when to hold them." But the youth service movement needs more players at the table. The movement, though growing, must be encouraged, supported, recognized, and given a national voice if it is to be fully effective As in bridge, an opportunity foregone is lost forever. If utilized properly, the youth service movement will prove to be the trump card in our nation's effort to revitalize and renew American democracy. Back to Youth Index |
