Why we should hope in our “young people”
เวอร์ชั่นภาษาไทยโปรดคลิกที่นี่
Lately, we may have heard some frightening news involving young people,
like mass shooting, suicides, etc. It is easy for older people to feel that the
younger generation cannot be relied on and should be worried about. However, I
believe that the youth of every generation carries hope and light for the
future in them, but they might do so in a way that is different from the
expection of the generations before them. Throughout history, and today as
well, there have always been the courage of youth and their sincere determination
to help make this world a better place. There have always been children and
young people doing remarkable things for others.
We usually view youth as being hot-tempered, impatient and inexperienced.
But we should not forget that such character made them “act”. They “act” right
away when they see things that are not right, while the adults might ignore or
pretend to be blind, think that they could no nothing, keep postponing, or just
criticize.
Take a look at these brave kids, decades apart, and how they
made a difference to the world by deciding to “act” righteously.
1. The White Rose
We heard of the horrifying things that the German did to its Jewish citizen
Jewish people in Europe, but we might not have heard that among those German
who seem to be blind under the reign of Hitler, there was Die Weiße Rose—The
White Rose, a resistance group made of university students, who dared to
stand up to this evil power.
During the year 1942-1943, a small group of university students, including
medical and philosophy students, together with one of their professors, began
distributing leaflets opposing Hitler and the Nazi regime. They wrote about the
mass murder of Jews and tried to awaken their fellow Germans to the atrocities
being committed under Nazi rule.
I have tremendous respect for their
courage.
They were only a tiny group of people, yet they dared to stand up and say that
what is wrong is wrong, and we should not simply accept it. They dared to
resist an extraordinarily brutal and powerful regime—one that also enjoyed
widespread support among the German population at the time. You really need to
be brave and these kids were certainly brave, and more, they are the good
people who took their stance to stay with the “good” instead of flowing with
the mass and the illusion that the government created for the German during
that time, and supporting evil unknowlingly.
Eventually, several members of the group were arrested and sentenced to
death, even though they were only in their twenties. According to one account,
shortly before her execution, Sophie Scholl said “How can we expect
righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up
individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go,
but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and
stirred to action?"
And she was just 21 years old.
I don’t believe
this group of kids threw their young lives away. Yes, they were killed but the
inspiration created by what they did has survived across generations.
If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend the film Sophie
Scholl: The Final Days. I watched it years ago, and I have never
forgotten it.
I questioned myself, if were in that period,if I learned about what Hitler
did to the Jew, would I dare to resist those powerful evil force that can have me arrested and executed very
easily? Would I dare to stand with what is “good” in such circumstance.
To know that that some young people really did…that put tears to my eyes.
2. Jugend Rettet — Youth Rescues
Now let’s jump forward more than 70 years to 2015. If you
have watched “23,000 Lives”, then you already know this true story. If you have
not, here it is:
A 19-year-old German student and his friends saw
thousands of refugees and migrants risking their lives crossing the
Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. Boats were sinking, and thousands of people
were dying. These young people weren’t wealthy. They weren’t powerful. They
didn’t even have experience in maritime rescue. But instead of merely thinking
about the problem, they acted.
They founded an organization called Jugend Rettet
(Youth Rescues) and raised money through crowdfunding and social media.
Eventually, they managed to buy an old fishing vessel, convert it into a rescue
ship, and name it Iuventa. Then they actually went out to sea and
rescued people. Their operations were involved in saving more than 23,000
lives in the Mediterranean.
In 2017, however, Italian authorities seized the Iuventa,
and some members of its crew were accused of facilitating illegal immigration
and cooperating with human smugglers. They spent the next seven years fighting
through legal proceedings.
Finally, in 2024, the prosecutors themselves asked for the case to be
dismissed, acknowledging that there was insufficient evidence to support the
allegations. The court ultimately ended the proceedings and cleared all the
defendants.
When I first watched the movie, I did not know that it was a true story. At
the scene when the boy started to tell his parents that he wanted to buy a boat
and rescue the refugee in the sea, I was saying, “oh, such fooish idea! You don’t
even have a full-time job yet. Take care of your life first before attempting
something so grand.” Then I checked about the movie, deciding that I would
continue to watch only if this is a true story. Then it turend out to be a true
story! I continued watching, feeling shocked and ashamed at the same time. And
when it came to the part that he has saved the people from the first boat,
including a woman whose people in her village had been killed and woman raped,
tears ran down my cheek. A moment ago I just sat in a safe place judging him
for having foolish, unrealistic idea, and now look at the lives he had saved
from that idea.
I believe there are still many young people doing good
things to the world everywhere—including here in my own country.
3.
New Generation of
Thai Cops.
I remember once leaving my computer in a taxi and going to a police station
for help. At first, no one seemed particularly interested in helping me—except
for one young police officer. He sat down with me and went through CCTV
footage, patiently tracking down the taxi until he found it. Because of him, I
got my computer back.
He was the only one who helped me. Yet when my computer was finally
returned, several older officers came down to have their pictures taken with me
as though they had been part of the achievement. The young officer who had
actually helped me wasn’t even there for the photo. He was the one who did the
real work, without seeking recognition for it. To me, he represented exactly
the kind of young person we should be proud of.
Some years later, the same problem occurred to my notebook computer. This time, the whole team of young cops from another police station looked through the camera and helped me get it back safely. They all looked young and enthusiastic to give service to people. My bad impression that I used to have when I was young, about Thai police consisted mostly of those who need to have bribes in order to really get working, start to fall away because of the good character of this new generation of police.
Young people can sometimes seem impulsive and inexperienced. And of course they make mistakes—just as people of every age do. But there is one thing I deeply admire about the young people mentioned above:
They acted.
They acted in
situations where adults might simply watch without daring to go against the
tide, criticize from the sidelines, or say, “Maybe later,” or just simply
ignore, thnking that it is impossible to be done successfully.
These stories happened in completely different eras, under completely different circumstances, and involved very different levels of personal risk. But I see something important connecting them. These young people did not tell themselves: “I’m just one small person. There’s nothing I can do.” They saw something they believed was wrong, and they chose to do what they believed was right. They did something that they did not have to do, and what they did really made a difference in this world.
So, even if we often
read and hear troubling stories in the news about children and teenagers, we should
also remind ourselves that bad news sells so we hear more of them. The truth is there
are so many young people out there who can always be a source of hope for this
world.
