※ 아래 스크립트는 발표자의 발표내용을 그대로 표기하였으므로 구어체 표현이 포함되어있고,
일부 문장은 문법적 오류가 포함될수 있는점 참고 부탁드립니다.
A word that has somewhat of significance to me is “youth.” As weird as it may sound,
I am maintaining a sort of love and hate relationship with this word, at the moment. You see,
being in the age group that is within the spectrum of "youth" makes you eligible for a lot of things. For example, student national assemblies, annual policy proposal competitions, and
free professional mentorship opportunities. Now, these are all great. They are all big moves.
But, the problem is those opportunities are just it, and nothing more.
I recently participated in another speech contest with a script that was about something that I am very much interested in: educational equality. Long story short, I ended up going to the final
round and receiving the special prize. I was pretty much satisfied with that result. But the thing
that slightly blew me off was a comment that I received from my advisor. And, according to
my memory, with some minor conflictions, it went something like this: “You did great. But I think you would have done better if you had delivered a speech that wasn’t about educational equality. You’re too young to talk about those things. Wait until you become a college student.”
And, “You’re a high school student. You’re barely knowledgeable enough.”
I think you all know who Greta Thunberg is, right? So, yeah, kind of an activist,
like Greta Thunberg, asked politicians what is very important to humanity, actions that would help stop the progression of climate change. Considering how youths are the ones that will inherit this world, it is really not that surprising that youths have the right to request politicians of measures
that would protect the environment.
However, youth activists often face criticism because of their age. If you look at articles about
Greta Thunberg and see the comment section of those articles, you can easily find comments that take in Greta Thunberg’s age as a source of ridicule. Even the man who was the president of the
United States at that time went on social media and posted a sarcastic statement that read,
“She seems like a very happy young girl who is looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”
Yeah, the word "youth" is used throughout the globe frequently, mainly for the purpose of
endorsing youth participation and youth representation. However, there is a sense of superficiality to this phenomenon. You see, though the word does not have any negative connotations, some
take in the word with a meaning that, an implied meaning of less intellect and less experience.
Youths are not those people, right? They have the same level of experience and intellect as any
other adults. It is one thing to listen to what youths have to say, but to actually listen, and
take in what they have to say with regard, is a whole another, whole, is, an whole another thing.
I ask all of you who are present in this room to listen to what youths have to say. And by that,
I mean really listen. Don’t disregard their opinions just because of their age. By doing so,
you’ll be providing them with the opportunity to take charge of what is their right and
responsibility. Thank you.