Resilience in Youth Month
Dear Editor,
The youth are one of the most treasured parts of our country and, by extension, the economy. We are important because we help in realising the dream for a better Jamaica not just for Vision 2030, but beyond.
We overcome, we become, and exceed boundaries and even barriers that are placed before us. However, 2020 has brought so many obstacles. Still, we have been resilient as we try to cope with the many different kinds of atrocities that beset us.
This year’s Youth Month theme undergirds the numerous activities to commemorate the yearly celebration: ‘Resilient through entrepreneurship, training, hope, innovation, networking and knowledge’.
With the uncertainty of COVID-19 a lot of youth are plunge in a cycle of insecurity, numbness, and trying to figure out the way forward. COVID-19 has not only been a global health crisis, it has crushed dreams and has placed youth on an almost permanent hiatus trying to figure out what will be the plan after high school, or how am I going to figure out college plans or to even find a job or career.
Even remote school/online school has been in shambles. The reality is the job market and access to jobs have been declining, and the COVID-19 work-fromhome protocols have pushed more and more youth into depression and other mental health concerns like anxiety.
While entrepreneurship has been one of the ways to realise dreams or somehow bridge the gap, with recent economic downturns and tight profit margins small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES) are still under the threat of COVID-19, as they have to either reduce stocks — as the demand for goods and services have plummeted — or simply say, “Nutin nah gwaan.”
I really hope this year’s Youth Month theme can sustainably provide some ways of restoring a sense of resilience, purpose, and there can be serious discussions surrounding how we mobilise youth with relevant solutions and recommendations to assist in mental health concerns like anxiety, jobs, and online school, especially as we approach Vision 2030.
Young people need to feel reassured in these times. We need a realisation of purpose, and for that we can only hope.
Equality Youth Jamaica St Andrew