When I started working full time at LEO, I had a few ideas for pieces I’d like to see in the issues and themes that I wanted to explore. One of those ideas was the Under 21 issue.
The Under 21 issue offers a platform to Louisville’s young people to highlight issues and ideas that they care about.
The rules are simple: tell LEO what’s on your mind. Whether it is food, friends, fun or anything else, share it. If it’s art, we want to see it. If it’s a restaurant review, we welcome it. The space in this issue is yours.
Still in its infancy, the Under 21 issue grew a bit over last year but my hopes are that we cast a wider net, and are able to include more and more kids each year. Maybe to the point we can publish more than one Under 21 issue.
Why Under 21?
We’re living in times where the future is uncertain. Too many of us have lived in a period of upheaval and uncertainty most of our lives, from Gen X to the up-and-coming Gen Alphas. We’ve seen the beginnings and end of wars, climate change threaten and destroy species, and far too many school shootings and major events in our lifetimes. These generations have a unique connection through so much, and it is to all of our benefit to listen to the concerns of the youngest.
I’ve written about the threats that face young people, and implored the adults in their lives to do more and to be more present without being too present.
We need to make space for these young people to grow. When we crowd them out, we lose. It reminds me of how the Boomers can’t let go of power in government, despite many of them being sorely out of touch with how the world has changed, and what it might take to live in it for the future.
Kids need spaces.
Gen X had our community centers, teen clubs, shopping malls, school dances, etc. We had outlets. The kids who have come after us have seen those spaces erode to almost nothing. Luckily, the community centers continue to hang on. If there are no places for kids to meet, to commiserate, how will they develop the networks they need to build for their future successes?
Sure, parents can facilitate kids’ involvement in clubs, sports, etc., but kids also need places that are not under the parental eye — places where they can meet each other without expectations to perform. They need spaces to be silly, to do dumb kid shit, and to learn how to navigate authentic and organic interpersonal experiences.
I hope that as you read the voices of the young people who submitted to this issue or as you see their images, you know that the world is still in good hands, and that it is okay that they are young, and that they don’t know everything we think we know. It’s refreshing to see that they care and that they are striving to stand out in this wild world we’ve built for them.
If you’re a parent reading this, talk to your kid about what’s on their mind. Do a daily check-in. I’m a busy parent, and sometimes the daily check-in is the only time my son and I can really find time to look into each other’s eyes and connect. It’s a dedicated, non-negotiable time for us every day. Make that time for your kid.
You don’t need to know everything your kid is doing. Let them learn to survive. They need these skills. If you’re teaching them not to take candy from strangers, at some point, they need to employ those skills and say no to strangers.
Give them that space.
Our job is to raise them not to need us. Young people need to be independent, skilled, and ready to survive in this world. Helicoptering them, and overscheduling them is not the way to go. They need to develop the response skills needed for their world — without too much of our help.
LEO will one day belong to these Under 21 kids, and I hope by dedicating space to them, they learn to appreciate the power they have in using their creativity and their voices.
