I left adolescence a long time ago, but I haven't forgotten the things that made me vibrate at those ages: concerts, music, books and, above all, unleashing my creativity. In the early 90s, without the internet or social networks, dedicating time to yourself to write or draw was an activity that few in my environment understood, but that I found extremely satisfying. It was one of my particular "drugs".
Incredibly, over the years one might think that young people do not have the same concerns. We see them on the streets with their mobiles, necks bent in the wind, indifferent to their surroundings and resigned to the absolute nothingness of the abduction of their minds because of the thousand tricks that technological advances have brought us. But, beyond that apparent axiom, I have discovered many people who have not yet reached the age of majority who are demonstrating that adolescence is still a period of creativity and unlimited desires and hopes.
When someone tells me that they have lost hope in youth, I always comment on the cases that I am aware of and that demonstrate that our young people are still a formidable caste. On our island there are youth associations that are dedicated to organizing a multitude of activities, always in the most precarious conditions and without any institutional support, except in the rare cases in which the politician on duty wants to take the promotional photo. These associations work on a multitude of projects without anyone's support, and many times it is they who put some money to give some quality to their activities.
A few months ago I met with someone who knows the situation of youth in Lanzarote very well, especially in Arrecife, and he explained things to me that left me totally fascinated. He told me about a group of boys and girls who are preparing a mobile application about game books. He also told me about the number of activities carried out by other groups, related to their passions, such as the world of Manga, K-pop, role-playing games, dance and an endless number of creative and playful concerns that they carry out with the utmost passion.
Beyond that, I wondered why no institution was capable of betting on them, on those young people who stand out for their unwavering desire to continue doing things for their fun and learning, without discriminating against anyone and without the support of any element of the political world. I found the answer by looking to the past, to my adolescent "self": young people are not important in the political world until they are old enough to vote. That is the sad reality.
However, I like to look further, to a future where the young people of Lanzarote are the protagonists of a real change on this island and are the leaders of a fresh, fighting, free-thinking and supportive generation. Because they are our future, they are the field where we must sow the seeds of gender equality, of solidarity; they must be the champions of the fight against xenophobia, racism, homophobia and any expression of reactionary hatred. They will be the banner of a promising future, in a difficult and hard world, but one that they will know how to face if we give them the right tools now to train and develop their objectives.
Let no one forget that young people are the engine that will move our lives in a few years, and it is our responsibility to provide them with the necessary tools so that in the future they are prepared to face a series of challenges that will be presented to them. Among these challenges are job insecurity, the difficulty of accessing higher education in Lanzarote, the lack of prospects for creative and sports development, or the ever-present problems of social inclusion, addictions to psychotropic substances and sexual and family education.
Therefore, if you allow me, I am going to break a lance - and ten thousand if necessary - in favor of the youth of our land.
I do believe in them. For me, young people do count.
By José Ramón Navas,
fourth on the list of Lanzarote on Foot - Yes We Can in Arrecife