{"id":17657,"date":"2014-09-25T08:20:11","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T12:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=17657"},"modified":"2014-09-25T08:20:11","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T12:20:11","slug":"north-country-kids-are-all-right-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2014\/09\/25\/north-country-kids-are-all-right-really\/","title":{"rendered":"North Country kids are all right (really)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Monique<\/a>

Monique Cornett in Lac Megantic Quebec. Photo: Brian Mann<\/p><\/div>\n

Generally speaking, I think Americans these days are trapped in a pretty ridiculous cycle of unwarranted nihilism and sheer grumpiness.<\/p>\n

Whether we believe that climate change is going to incinerate the planet tomorrow (it’s not) or that Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ (he’s not) or that Common Core is a pact with the devil (it’s really not) we pretty much always keep our outrage dialed up to 11.<\/p>\n

Nowhere is this dudgeon less warranted than our constant, bitter hand-wringing over young people.<\/p>\n

I read essay after essay lamenting the imminent implosion of America’s youth, either because they’re lazy and feckless or because we adults somehow haven’t gift-wrapped a world suitably packed with boundless opportunity.<\/p>\n

Just yesterday, I heard an hour-long discussion on NCPR<\/a> of a new book that portrays America’s best, brightest and most ambitious college students as “excellent sheep.”<\/p>\n

The last few months, I’ve had an opportunity — kind of rare for me — to spend a ton of time with young people.\u00a0 I traveled over the summer to Lac Megantic, Quebec, with one of NCPR’s interns, Monique Cornett, who grew up in Potsdam.\u00a0 I co-hosted a training workshop for young journalists at the Blue Mountain Center in Blue Mountain Lake.<\/p>\n

And just this week, I had the opportunity interview Caroline Dodd, a Saranac Lake High School senior who took part in the United Nations climate summit in New York City.<\/p>\n

Here are my takeaways.\u00a0 First, this next generation of young people haven’t been brain-wiped by too much technology.\u00a0 They’re not so addicted to texting that they can’t think.\u00a0 They’re not lazy or depressed or hopeless.\u00a0 They don’t appear to me to have been coddled or packed ear-to-ear with irony or ennui.\u00a0 They have attention spans and they read books.<\/p>\n

Surveys suggest that, yes, there is real concern among young people about the job market, about student loans, and about bigger issues like the environment and climate.\u00a0 But every generation faces hurdles and speed bumps.<\/p>\n

My second big take-away is that by and large these human beings are perfectly equipped to deal with the sharp corners and slippery patches of life.\u00a0 Monique dove in with me on a brutally tough assignment, working through technical problems, rolling with confusion and uncertainty, and finding ways to make things work.<\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/a>

Caroline Dodd at the United Nations in New York City. Photo provided<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s what she wrote after our trip<\/a>:\u00a0 “There is nothing stopping you at any given time from making something: whether it is using your body to dance, your hands to sculpt, or your voice to sing. You can create things. Whatever your passion is, there is a huge chance you don\u2019t need a title or paycheck to continue creating something. For me, this means there will always be stories to tell and people to learn about.”<\/p>\n

I got a similar sense from Caroline Dodd<\/a>, listening to her take on one of the world’s biggest challenges, climate change.\u00a0 She had a far more level-headed, grounded sense of the opportunities and the limitations on our collective response to global warming than I hear from most activists twice her age.\u00a0 “It’s kind of a small world and we’re all in this fight together,” she said.<\/p>\n

And the young journalists we hosted in Blue Mountain Center were deeply ethical, intellectually curious, and full of the kind of Pabst and vinegar you want to hear in people under the age of 30.\u00a0 These folks didn’t need or want anything gift-wrapped.<\/p>\n

So here’s the deal.\u00a0 Yes, our kids spend more time on their smart phones and less time in the woods.\u00a0 Yes, they can be irritating as hell.\u00a0 Yes, they have habits that make us cringe, like Monique’s fondness for dill pickle-flavored sunflower seeds.\u00a0 (Why is that even a thing?).<\/p>\n

But really it’s another symptom of our own collective “Get Off My Lawn-ism” that we see these young people as anything other than another turn in what I like to think of as the endless cycle of us.<\/p>\n

For some reason, I’m reminded of Fitzgerald’s famous line.\u00a0 \u201cSo we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.\u201d\u00a0 Only in this case, they’re rowing ceaselessly forward into the future, facing some tough currents, and looking pretty strong and confident as they go.<\/p>\n

So here’s my challenge to In Box readers.\u00a0 Instead of debating this in the abstract, share one specific story (no need for names) about a young person in your life.\u00a0 How are they doing?\u00a0 Are they making you proud?\u00a0 Frustrating you?\u00a0 Exceeding expectations?\u00a0 Still lost in the tall grass?Comments and stories welcome below.<\/p>\n

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