Voices of Youth

"The truth will set you free." It was written in the Bible and while some of us deny the quality of this truly ancient document, just as I did, you might want to think as to why this book remained on the shelves of so many libraries and in the hearts of so many people for that long a time.

The truth is also a very subjective concept. It is a belief forged by the reasonable collecting and selection of information. In itself the truth is knowledge. The more knowledge you have of the world, of people, of events, the better you can understand things, and therefore the closer you get to the truth.

Today Wikipedia is a pupil's best friend, the Internet feeds us with so much information on a daily basis that often, while searching for legitimate info on a certain problem, we get rather lost. Lost in the flood of websites and "sources" and all these versions of the truth. Until one day we wake up and find our 10 year old siblings talk about things they've misunderstood and conspiracy theories and basically showing an entirely WRONG understanding of the world. And we, as young people, often arrogantly claim we do not need education and we don't need guidance. Well, yes, I can agree, we could change the curriculum, lose all the unnecessary knowledge that is being stuffed in our heads, make it more about critical thinking and information processing, crisis management and so on. But never lose it. Never lose it. Because education gives us so very much. Not just friends and experiences. Not just high school parties. And though they may have, at least in my country, a little bit lost their way in recent years, schools are our path to truth. They're our "Curiosity", on Earth.

Education gives us an exciting environment to blossom in. It doesn't serve us Veritas on a silver plate - it doesn't build a ladder to greatness. It gives us all the tools to build one. All the instruments to set aside all that is irrelevant and all lies and reveal the truth to ourselves.

And at the end, facing towards the new challenges of life, if we have made the best out of our school years, we look at the World with new eyes.

My truth may not be your truth. And no truth is a constant truth. But we need to make our beliefs - who I am; what the world is; what life is; what I want to do with my life; how I am going to do it; how I can help the world. Any uneducated man can google himself. But that wouldn't tell you who you really are, would it? Only you can answer that question. And education's purpose is to give you the ability to consume all the data and forge a new statement out of it.

The truth is not out there - it is inside you. Like the truth about gravity was inside Newton. Like the truth about the Universe was embed inside Einstein's brain. Like some new, unbelievable truth lies, buried, inside you. Not in Wikipedia... In a much more awesome computer, called the human brain. The best one on the market yet. And it's waiting to be set free.

A person is not only the product of his own parents but is also shaped by the community they grow up and live in. So it is very important, firstly to realize that we are talking about OUR children, which are our responsibility. And we seem to have forgotten our kids, brothers or sisters altogether. Recently, children of Central Africa have finally gained the attention of the adults that they so desperately need.

Although I am not supportive of Invisible children financing the Uganda army and openly seeking military conflict between them and Joseph Kony's "army", I do support their cause for building schools and rescue centers in the affected areas of northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. I also support the buzz they have created and the attention they are drawing to the enormous problem that is child exploitation and the lack of proper education for millions of children across the world.

But this problem is not confined within the borders of Africa. Central and Southern Asia, and more specifically India, have been fighting this social crisis for decades. Scientists and psychologists there have proved that the argument "those kids just don't want to learn" is absolutely invalid and ridiculous. Every child wants and craves learning - it is a natural process. According to the Convention of the Rights of the Child - every child has the right to a proper and complete education which means that depriving children of their rights is not only immoral - it is also illegal.

Think about it this way - if your daughter,son, brother or sister were told by anyone that they were not allowed to go to school, or that no one will be driving them 8 miles to the nearest school, or that they can not or will not be given money for schoolbooks and notebooks, how would you react? You would be outraged! Then, why on earth are people not thinking about the actual consequences on the individual human life?

In Eastern Europe, in my home country - Bulgaria, we are facing this problem. Romani children and children in the so-called "Child-homes" (institutions where abandoned children or children of parents who can not afford to raise them), live with dozens of other kids, who are often violent and completely hopeless. If you saw one of these homes, you would entirely understand the idea of the "children of the world" philosophy. They grow up in these homes - in these small societies, made up of other kids like them. Naturally their social environment is mostly hopeless and violent. Then they (because the law requires it) go to school for 7 years, where they are mocked, beaten and generally treated horribly. And this is the best case scenario!

Romani children who live with their families are not forced by law to go to school, meaning that they rarely finish their elementary school. What Bulgaria specifically needs is a new law forcing kids to finish middle and high school and providing them with the financial resources to do so (books, notebooks, etc)

But what society, all over the world needs to do, is remove their blindfold and finally begin to treats children as their own, accept them into society and their own hearts. Because we all cry for integration, do we not? We all beg for equal rights, but what do we do about it? KONY 2012 follows a simple and brilliant principle - as long as society is OK with the current situation, the government doesn't need to change anything. But if society requires a new method, a new set of rules and the respect of human rights for every person, then governments have to make a change, in order to prevent any kind of aggressive social reply (or in order to win the next election).

So, in conclusion our job is to maintain a humane and warm relationship with all people and execute OUR right to request change. Raise your voice, right now! I am certain that in your country, even your region there is at least one non-governmental organization that is working on the problem. But they need you - so find them (the Internet will make your quest easier). All you need is a little spark and some enthusiasm. You have the power to change things - so USE IT!