Give young people a chance and they’ll do great things

We hear a lot of negatives about the current generation of young people: about their overall lack of fitness and a perceived reluctance to step up and take charge.

We believe, in most cases, all today’s young people need is a chance to prove themselves and a cause or activity into which they can really sink their teeth.

Given the right circumstances, they will not only accomplish great things, but exhibit great maturity, compassion and understanding in doing so.

We can see examples of it every day, just in our area alone, if we take the time to look.

The Central Kings students who took on bullying at their school in a big way last year, and saw their small gesture toward a fellow student garner national and even international attention and publicity, are a perfect example of what we’re talking about.

More recently, we read that a group of students at Horton High have initiated a fundraising campaign to purchase mosquito netting to help protect youth in Africa from contracting malaria. The initiative started with just six students, but the hope is that eventually the entire school will be involved.

The students were moved – as we all should be – by the heartbreaking statistic that the majority of children born in Africa today likely won’t live to see their fifth birthday, the age when most children in Canada start school.

It’s one thing to say the efforts of any one person or small group won’t make a visible difference to these children, but the reality is a little bit can help a lot when you don’t have much to begin with.

The Horton students are carrying out their campaign in conjunction with the Canadian Red Cross, which will administer the money they raise and see it gets to locales where it can make the most difference.

They hope to raise $1,000 through the school and $6,000 in the wider community, which will allow them to purchase 1,000 netting packages that potentially can save 1,000 lives.

By the way, that $7,000 total adds up to less than a dollar for every Kings County resident. We don’t know too many people who can’t afford a loonie for a good cause.

The two students spearheading the campaign, Violet Robertson of Port Williams and Brittany Parker of Greenwich, are both in Grade 10.

They are just two of many examples of young people trying to make a difference, and putting their money – time and energy – where their mouth is.

Kudos to Robertson, Parker, their fellow students and others like them, at Horton and other Kings County schools, for not being afraid to do what it takes to make a difference. We can – and should – learn from their efforts.