Our Youth.
Our youth are more sensible than the people governing our country, and the nation states across the world. A cliché is truth re-told repeatedly, until we need to minimize its magnitude by labeling it as a cliché. Two clichés often said are: “Children are the future of our world” and “Youth are the future of our world.” What is the difference? The difference is age and experience. However young children and teenagers alike, appear to have more maturity than governments and the people who compose them. I have been thinking about this topic ever since the mass shooting that left 17 dead in a Florida school. Although the event in and of itself electrocuted my heart, the reaction from children and youth across the USA impressed me and impressed upon me, the need for ‘adults’ to better protect our youth. What failed to shock me was our government’s response, given the current social and political environment. A government who merits money over safety. A government who prioritizes power over equality. A government who demolishes dignity for the sake of fame. A government who stagnates survival for the sake of greed. A government who repealed liberty. A government who aids other governments to repel freedom for the majority. Our youth are more sensible than the people that govern us. How so? Across the world, including in the United States, violence is venerated on a grand scale. Our congress, who is ruled by the NRA and members of the wealthy class, demoralized our youths’ efforts to have life-sustaining laws passed, ensuring that no one could enter a school campus with a machine gun. Why? Why is it okay to risk the safety of our children and youth for the sake of greed? I’m ashamed of our government. However, our government is not alone. Violence is venerated all over the world for the sake of profit and power. Recently, chemical warfare was used in Syria. Daily, there are countries in South America, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East that use weapons to manipulate, control, and kill people out of greed. Children, youth, their parents, and others…people, are murdered every day. It’s a shame. “They who own the land, own the power.” “They who have the guns, hold the power.” They who kill, are cowards; yet power is theirs. I don’t want their type of power. I don’t want the future to venerate violence any longer. Our children and youth are the future of the world. Our children and youth are being terrorized because of violence. Have you ever sat with terror? Have you felt its sweat dripping down you like a flood as you rain tears? Have you ever tried to reason with terror to stop the earth from quaking, only to realize that you are the one who is shaking and not the ground? Have you ever wanted someone else to dream for you? I ask this, because to understand the consequences of violence, you must be familiar with terror. Those who enjoy terror or are too far removed, now dictate our shared and lived experiences as humans. They remove peace, piece by piece. However, I have faith in peace because I believe in our children and youth. They impress me and impressed upon me, the need for safety and peace. They are lively and creative in their demands for justice. They are organizing in their schools, already understanding that a large gathering of people with a good purpose, can and will change the world. They will soon be our constituents. Thank goodness. Across the world, we have children who know terror to the point that they will dedicate their lives to ending violence. Mass shootings, chemical warfare, guerilla warfare, drug cartel warfare, terroristic attacks, and greed have caused our youth to reach man-made limits, and search for alternatives. Our children and youth will create new bounds that will not be limited by power and greed. Our children and youth will promote peace on our planet, piece by piece. Our youth are more sensible than those who are currently governing the world. Thank goodness, our future is in their hands.
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Today’s topic for the class I taught was ‘How do we take social work research and ideas outside of practice settings and into the real and/or digital world?’. At Cleveland State University, we take pride in our social work students. As such, I wanted to use today’s topic and this blog to showcase both sections of my students who are currently enrolled in ‘Evaluation of Clinical Practice’, which is really single-subject research. This particular group of students, have devoted major chunks of their time to bridging the gap between social work research and practice, to meet the requirements of a challenging course. Here is what they had to say:
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