Gen Y are about MORE ACTION and less talk

Alana Smith & Chris Varney @ VGen

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/generation-pepsi-all-froth-and-bubble-on-leadership-20090328-9et0.html

Before reading any further, we suggest you check out the link above.

Given Gen Y’s purported ‘Look at Me’ reputation, those reading this over their morning toast and cereal could be forgiven for thinking that this is another 700 words written by two young people who want to draw attention to themselves by giving their two cents. As Gen Y’ers, we are considered a marketer’s dream; we consume, consume and consume, and we want, want and want. Until recently, we were a generation that, relatively speaking, only knew a life based on wealth and affluence – this perceived ‘Me Me’ culture continues to be heavily discussed and debated in the media, amongst politicians and within schools and unis. Unfortunately these misconceptions polarise a negative image of young people and prevent the community celebrating the enormous value our generation contributes to modern Australia.

Indeed, the Global Financial Crisis has forced Gen Y like everyone else to re-consider the way they do life (most of us would have gone straight to Wikipedia to see what ‘recession’ meant). We have grown up during a period of high economic growth and just assumed that if we finished school or university we would continue to enjoy the job flexibility and opportunity like those before us. However, just like our ability to adjust quickly to a new phone or the ‘new look’ Facebook, many young people are seeing this ‘crisis’ as an opportunity. While our intention is not to trivialise the anxiety that many of our friends are currently feeling as they search frantically for graduate jobs, it is evident that the crisis is helping young people re-prioritise what is important. Increasingly young people, as seen through Vision Generation (VGen) – World Vision’s national youth movement – are becoming aware of the crisis’ impact on the world’s poor. In fact, some see the real ‘GFC’ as being the ‘Global Food Crisis’ – a catastrophe that today sees 900 million people starve.

From an early age, our generation has been saturated with brands. Within the backdrop of the technological boom and information superhighway, society has forced on us the idea of ‘celebrity’ meaning success. In spite of this upbringing, youth countercultures are emerging more strongly. We are seeing through Vision Generation’s youth-led ‘Vision Group’s’ in local communities, a focus on the issues, such as the world’s 27 million enslaved people, and not the brand. As further evidence, the fact that global poverty was part of the debate in the lead up to the 2007 election was partly due to the enthusiasm and leadership of young people in campaigning for more aid and fairer trade under the Make Poverty History banner.

Through campaigns like Don’t Trade Lives (www.donttradelives.com.au) young people are becoming aware of the effects that their purchasing has on the world’s poor and are consequently demanding that the clothes they wear and the coffee they drink is child labour free – this is certainly inconsistent with the belief that we are consumers without a conscience. If we were to wait for the ‘tap on the shoulder’ mark of approval from that of our parents’ generation for permission and guidance on being tomorrow’s leaders, we would be waiting a while. We live life as today’s leaders, choosing not to wait till our bank balances are bulging before making a personal commitment to being a citizen responsive to the needs of the world.

Sure, not every young person is going to care or feel compelled to give a damn – just like not every old person (Gen X’er) will appreciate the potential that Gen Y has in working towards positive change. But close to every young person will be well versed in Facebook and personal blogging – no doubt aware of the power that such mediums can have, if used effectively to create awareness of domestic and global issues.

We are seeing through platforms like the Australian Youth Forum (AYF), topics such as global poverty, climate change and human rights being discussed by young people – issues that will not necessarily directly impact an individual. This is indicative of young people wanting to participate in discussions that are not solely ‘ME’ focussed.

We are concerned that the general media and public are so preoccupied with Gen Y’s negative traits that they fail to report on the successes and aspirations of Generation Y that may lead to a better world. Given that this week is National Youth Week, we would love to spend more time, on behalf of Gen Y, imparting our campaign successes and social justice ‘wins.’ Contrary to popular opinion, this is not so that we can be seen as ‘the perfect heroes’ of our generation. In fact, we would be quite happy to do it anonymously – without our names on it – provided we were given the word space to clearly outline ‘action points’ to enable readers to respond to the issue and motivate then into action (and for those who are already committed world changers – encourage you to keep up the fight!). However, we fear that any further words would result in us being labelled as the ‘all talk, no action’ generation, which is not reflective of reality at all. And so this week we invite the wider community to celebrate our positive contribution to society and ‘make a move’ away from focussing on the negative.