VOICES

What Young Americans Think

It has been over a year since I started the Mile-Long Yellow Ribbon Project. To date volunteers have helped me collect signatures from nearly 10,000 youth in twenty five states across America. My project goals are to rally young Americans to thank the brave men and women who serve our country and to encourage thought and dialogue about how precious freedom is and what it means to each of us. My secondary objective is to learn more about the attitudes and opinions of today’s youth (variously called the Millennial or Y Generation) concerning terrorism, liberty, national defense, and peace. Of particular interest to me are the views of fourteen to eighteen-year-olds, because this group is closest to me in age. Through informal talks at venues coast to coast, I have interacted with thousands of youth.

Education is intended to teach us how think. It is every person’s responsibility to decide what to think. In the process, we must determine the reliability of information, separate fact from opinion, and from proper analysis of data draw valid conclusions about what is happening in the world around us. Friends use the term, “TMI,” which is short for “too much information.” Today’s technology churns out more information than most of us are able or have time to interpret. That is why schooling is so important. Through education we learn to synthesize and reason, which enables us to extract meaning from all this information. Once we attain some level of understanding of a matter, we are said to possess knowledge, a valuable asset in today’s knowledge economy.

What do I know about American youth as a result of this project? That depends upon how we define knowledge, a vast subject which philosophers debate. I use knowledge here to mean the expertise stored in my head, gained through experience with people and interaction with my environment, sometimes referred to as tacit knowledge. In the knowledge economy tacit knowledge is as important as formal, explicit knowledge.

I know the thoughts and opinions of the thousands of young people with whom I have spoken across the country. I cannot, however, make sweeping generalizations about all American youth. Drawing broad conclusions about whole populations based on limited samples falls within the purview of survey research. While I have never taken a course, I understand that survey research involves careful questionnaire design, sampling methods and qualitative analysis. My project was not designed as a scientific study. Rather, it was conceived as a forum for casual discussion and informal interviews. My data collection methods have not been rigorous. For example, I did not select random samples of youth for my project. In most cases participants have been self-selected; in other cases they have been appointed by teachers. Although socio-economically diverse, the groups with whom I have interacted have not been randomly chosen either. Moreover, it is likely that while I have tried to avoid it, bias occasionally has slipped into my conversations. That said, I am comfortable asserting that the views of thousands of youth collected from five regions over half of the United States may at least reflect trends of thought among young Americans overall.

It has been suggested that just as WWII marked the formative years of the “G.I. Generation” and the Vietnam War shaped the early adulthood of the “Vietnam Generation,” The War on Terror may become the global event that eventually defines my generation. While children under the age of ten at the time of the 9/11 Attacks may have little recollection of the shift in our collective consciousness, the rest of us well remember how the event forever scarred our nation’s soul. The War on Terror is not only about protecting America and her allies but about saving the civilized world. America’s youth seem to understand that.

Upon being invited to sign the Mile-Long Yellow Ribbon, young people’s responses have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. I have assured the public that this ribbon has nothing to do with politics. People realize that their signatures symbolize support for our troops, not necessarily government policy. That represents a significant change from the Vietnam era, when troops returning from war were spit on and verbally abused because some citizens felt the war was wrong. Frequently youth have asked if they can include a message along with their names on the ribbon. I have explained that for the sake of elegance and expediency we are asking that people sign only their names. Still, whenever possible, people have snuck in a quick, “We Love You!” or “Thanks and God Bless You!” with hearts drawn under their signatures. It has been wonderful to see how many adults want to sign the ribbon, too. When we started out, I turned down these requests, explaining that the ribbon is meant to be a message from America’s youth. So many adults pleaded with us to let them sign, however, that I had to revise policy. We continue to invite only youth to sign the ribbon, but now when adults ask to be included, we allow them to sign the name of a young family member or friend.

In venues where children are accompanied by adults, such as shopping malls, museums, and recreation areas, many parents urge their children to sign the ribbon. They have waited in line as long as 30 minutes to ensure that their children participate. Some with children in strollers have even lifted their toddlers up to the table and guided their little hands across the fabric. This kind of parental oversight demonstrates the way families are teaching respect and support for our military.

Generally speaking, children below the age of ten seem to be unaware of the threat of terrorism. This probably is a good thing. Most do not know that our troops are engaged in battle. When I asked one seven-year old if he had ever heard of Iraq, he guessed that it is a shelf where people store iPods. Oblivion is a safe place. Such innocents will have to face reality soon enough.

A few young teenagers and all older ones with whom I have spoken remember the 9/11 attacks and express concern over the spread of terrorism around the world. I have overheard a few adults make disparaging remarks about all Muslim people, but negative comments by teenagers have been directed specifically toward the Islamic Jihad. This suggests to me that because of the emphasis on diversity training, youth today may be more sensitive than previous generations to ethnic prejudices. As a result, they are careful to distinguish extremists from mainstream religious groups. If this is the case, it represents a positive trend.

Asked what freedom means to them, a common first response among young children is, “I get to play when I want,” or “I can have ice cream and candy.” Obviously their concept of freedom is only as broad as the boundaries of their homes; however, these are not shallow answers. Young children still understand that loss of freedom represents restriction of activity. Their lives center around eating and playing, so it is natural that they would focus on these activities. Adolescents commonly answer that freedom of speech is most important to them, perhaps because this is the age when they begin to enjoy extended conversations with friends over the phone or internet. The majority of teenagers think of freedom in more abstract terms involving their own and other people’s ability to decide how to live their lives. Areas of common concern to them are choice of religion and career. Not surprisingly, teenagers seem extremely annoyed by the idea of anyone restricting their mobility. One eighteen-year old told me that life wouldn’t be worth living if he had to give up his wheels. This sounds a bit extreme to me, but then I have not yet learned to drive.

Older teenagers say that they do not live in fear of another terrorist attack, although many expect America will be hit again. Asked why they are not more afraid, they answer that fear is just what the terrorists want us to feel, and they do not want the terrorists to win. Most say that they think our leaders are doing the best they can to protect us; but because we are a free and open society, we are still vulnerable in many ways. Adolescents and teenagers believe that America’s military is strong and should remain strong. The men and women serving our country are admired by young Americans and described most often as “brave,” “genuine,” “awesome,” or “heroic.” One ten-year old called them, “the real deal.”

On the subject of peace, young Americans have mixed feelings. Children, naturally, are idealists. They don’t understand why, if everyone wants peace, we don’t have a peaceful world. Adolescents recognize that cultural and religious differences are not the underlying cause of conflict around the world; it is people’s intolerance of the differences that lead to aggression. What they don’t understand is why people are intolerant. Asked how they think we will achieve world peace, they offer very different answers. Some say it will happen when we get rid of all the bombs, others say it won’t happen until we get rid of all the “crazies” who set off the bombs. Still others suggest peace will come when more people get an education, we solve the problem of starvation, people stop hating each other, we eliminate poverty, or people start being more honest. Teenagers as a group are not as optimistic about world peace. Many believe the world is in such a mess that it will be a long time, if ever, that the international community comes together. Some are less worried about the loss of freedom in America than they are the threat of a nuclear war that would blow our country right off the map. In a few cases where we have talked at length, teenagers have pointed to hypocrisy as a major obstacle to world peace. They do not consider many world leaders to be honest people, and without honesty they believe peace efforts are doomed. This is particularly interesting to me since the issue of honesty is addressed by adolescents and teenagers alike.

As signatures are added to the Mile-Long Yellow Ribbon, more youth will express their gratitude to the brave members of America’s military, think about what freedom means to them, and perhaps share their thoughts about how we are going to bring peace to the world. If courage, respect, dignity, individual responsibility, honesty, and integrity are important requirements, then surely the fine men and women serving our country are our models and hope for a better future.

by  Matthew Cook

© September 21,2006