Many of us have fond memories of the days of our youth. Playing cricket in the road, trying to burn each other with nickers we had rubbed on stone, frolicking at the beach, playing in the moonlight, trying to catch fireflies – and the list goes on. Unless marred by some traumatic experience, I cannot think of anyone who wouldn’t agree that those were the best days of his or her life. Perhaps this is because we were carefree and, even though we had several responsibilities like caring for animals, picking wood, looking after younger siblings etc, we still had plenty time to have fun.
As we celebrate another National Youth Week, I had reason to reflect on the fact that our youth are growing up in a far different Anguilla than the one we grew up in. While they have the benefit of a more progressive Anguilla, better infrastructure and modern amenities, today’s youth are faced with many more challenges: easy access to illegal substances, the lure of gangs and the vices that come with that, the power of the internet as a positive tool or a weapon of destruction, and exposure to all manner of ills because they are so connected globally. Lately, another issue that they have been facing, particularly in this global recession, is unemployment. This is a reality for both those who have done well in school and, even more so, those who have left school without any qualifications. Sometimes we older folk like to criticize our young people, and blame them for almost all of Anguilla’s social ills, but seldom do we admit that we have contributed in large part to the very challenges they face and, quite frankly, if we had to grow up in today’s Anguilla we probably wouldn’t do any better.
If we stop criticizing long enough to really think about it, we would recognize that in our young people is a largely untapped resource of talent, creativity and the willingness to take risks. With notable exceptions, the vast majority of Anguilla’s young people aim to live positive lives and to contribute meaningfully to society. I think the time has come when we must harness the innate resources of our youth in a more strategic way for national development and the realization of their own personal aspirations.
Based on my observation of what some enterprising young people are doing without any prompting on our part, but with growing support from the public and private sector, there is no reason why Anguilla should not be a centre of excellence in several areas.
• Entrepreneurship – Anguillians have always been enterprising. However, the business ideas and opportunities that young people come up with and implement successfully must be commended. Some of us older heads would have never thought that we could make a decent living in those ways. The support now being offered by the Department of Youth and Culture to young people for small business development which, I understand, is patterned off a very successful youth entrepreneurship scheme in Dominica, is further impetus for Anguilla to develop exponentially in this area.
• Music, arts and entertainment – This needs no elaboration. The evidence is all around us: the music and theatre arts productions emanating from the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School, recording artistes spanning all genres, sufficient poets to create a successful anthology, fashion designers who display work around the region, thriving dance companies, film and music producers, events production companies, and I can go on. As I heard one person put it, Anguilla is becoming an entertainment mecca. Our efforts should be focused therefore on further supporting and facilitating this area of development.
• Science and technology – If you were to visit the science fairs for both the primary and secondary schools, you would be amazed at the level of thought and innovation of our young people. There are also initiatives both in and out of school which teach young people to use information technology in the creation of multimedia platforms (which open up exciting career possibilities). What I have seen suggests to me that we can harness some of the creativity of our youth to assist us in devising solutions for some of our developmental issues. For example, what is to stop us from developing think tanks – consisting mostly of young people – to make recommendations to Government (based on research and ingenuity) in relation to areas like greening the economy, the creation of virtual industries and light manufacturing. I believe they have the capacity to contribute valuable ideas that can help this country to chart a new development path.
The time has come in Anguilla when we have to encourage a shift in the mindset of our people, particularly our young people, away from finding jobs to creating opportunities. As simple as that sounds, it means that we have to be more proactive in our approach to making a decent living and should readjust our perspective so that we are focused on innovation rather than the mundane. I have every confidence that with the necessary support structures in place, that shift can be made and our youth will thrive in an economy which is strategically designed to ensure their success.
