by Nicole Wilsnach, Rylands High School.
If about a year ago, someone had asked me about my plans for “Youth Day”, I’d reply with a simple “I don’t know”. However, with this year and my new experiences at high school, I finally understand the importance of this special day.
Many adults will tell you when you’re young you should go live your life. When we do, they get upset at us for not studying or for not getting excellent grades, which is why we rebel. Rebelling is terrifying to me, but sometimes it just happens.
It all starts with wanting to give up and finally losing hope. Many children my age go through this cycle, I’m sure. Eventually, we find our way through, given our desire to be better than everyone.
With that in mind, my biggest concern should be obvious by now. Children living in this crazy world of ours are constantly growing in many different ways and from that, adults are expecting more from us.
This adds pressure on us. We’re even forced to stay quiet about how we feel. Why should we? Children deserve the right to speak out more, especially if it’s about their rights as younger people. After all, that was how Youth Day came about.
Now, I don’t mean children should have the chance to misbehave or to act offensive to anyone, regardless of age. What I do wish for is an agreement between our generations. Adults should be able to own up to their responsibilities when dealing with children.
Believe it or not, some of them can’t seem to do that. It’s almost as if they entirely forget that we’re still humans with our issues and dreams.
I, like many others, have aspirations of my own. The most familiar one is equality.
Commonly, when I’m in public, all I ever encounter is shaming coming from the by-passers. Why are we so quick to hurt each other? It always ends up being over something we as humans can’t control, like our race or other physical features or even our sexual orientation.
My dreams are oddly simple, you see. Instead of wanting money, or for this country to grow in the technology field, my main dream is for us to respect each other.
This is so that we don’t have to fear for ourselves or to act strong when we’re weak.
Fear can only grow into strength when dealt with by kindness, so let’s make that change and be kind to others first.
Youth Day is a strange day, that’s for sure. However, it is important, because it is honouring what we as young people stand for.
I might not be able to play that large a role in the future for this country, but I can at least use my voice to speak out.
* Nicole Wilsnach, Rylands High School.
* To Celebrate Youth Month, the Cape Argus invited youngsters in Cape Town to submit essays to the newspaper about their dreams, their vision and their hopes for the future.
After barely a trickle of submissions, our inboxes were filled once the word spread on social media. We have had youngsters from across the Cape Metropole sharing with us what they expect of those in charge and how they want to change things for the better in their communities.
The essays on this page have been chosen as the best, and each writer will receive a tablet computer courtesy of Double “O”.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to us. We encourage you to remain active, whether through the written word or participating in activities in your communities.
– The Cape Argus team