Youth opinions are welcomed in speeches, campaigns, and social media slogans, but rarely reflected in actual decision-making. This contradiction creates frustration, because being visible without being influential is not empowerment; it is performance. When youth speak about education, employment, climate, or political reform, their concerns are often dismissed as emotional, unrealistic, or immature, despite the fact that they are the ones who will live longest with the consequences of today’s decisions.
Many institutions invite youth participation only when it is safe and symbolic. Youth panels, consultations, and forums are organized, but the outcomes are rarely binding. Young people are expected to speak, but not to disrupt, challenge power, or demand accountability
- The problem is not that young people lack understanding, but that systems are designed to exclude them. Economic barriers, unpaid internships, limited political access, and rigid hierarchies prevent youth from influencing policy and governance.
- Experience is often used as an excuse to block youth involvement, even though experience itself is denied by exclusion. This circular logic protects authority while pretending to value inclusion.
Youth frustration is often misinterpreted as impatience. In reality, it is a response to slow systems in a fast-changing world. Young people are growing up amid climate crises, economic instability, and digital transformation, while institutions continue to operate with outdated assumptions. Expecting youth to quietly wait their turn under these conditions is not realistic; it is negligent.
If societies genuinely value youth voices, they must move beyond listening and start sharing power. Youth do not need permission to care about the future; they need access to shape it. Until then, youth voices will continue to speak loudly outside systems that refuse to hear them inside.
