In 2011 young people must seize the day

Dear Editor,

There are hundreds of Guyana’s youth looking for jobs right now. Only a few will turn to crime and drugs though lively observation suggests that the young unemployed are several times as likely to get into trouble. But, whether school leavers or graduates, a willing young generation may become a lost legion.

When your first encounter with the adult world delivers the blunt message that it doesn’t need you, the effect is even deeper and more damaging than many imagine.

In 2011 young people will have the opportunity to turn this grim outcome on its head. As Richard Francois wrote in his Stabroek News letter of July 7, it is young people who will decide the election, but only if they take time out to get registered and go out to vote on election day. The broad coalition being forged will put youth in the driving seat of its economic thrust post 2011. It is excited by the prospect of a new deal for Guyana’s young people shaped by their own desires, hopes and dreams.

In 2011 the young people must seize the day.

Yours faithfully,
F. Hamley Case