International Youth Day: stop the clichés about the new generations

Demonstrators take part in a demonstration as part of the international youth climate action day in Nantes, western France, on March 25, 2022. AFP - LOIC VENANCE

Text by: Léopold Picot Follow

9 mins

Young people are all the same: they are lazy, dazed by screens, isolated, dissatisfied, poorly cultured, hate politics... On the occasion of International Youth Day, a look back at the clichés that surround such a category blurry than vast, often singled out, rarely for the right reasons.

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August 12 has been defined by the UN as International Youth Day.

A way of celebrating the new generation, generally carrying all the hopes of the old ones, especially in terms of ecological crises.

Paradoxically, this does not prevent the oldest from conveying many

towards the youngest, of which here are five examples.

"

Youth

"

This is the first shot.

In 2022, youth brings together all the individuals who are between 15 and 24 years old, that is to say born between 1998 and 2007... or those who are between 12 and 26 years old... or all those who are under 30 years.

"Youth" means nothing.

dictionary

attempts to define it as the “ 

 If the UN proposes studies defining "young people" as being people born between the ages of 12 (even 15) and 24 (even 30), it is clear that defining youth by age is already a question complex.

Childhood doesn't always end at 15, maturity doesn't always wait until 24.

“Youth” is also an aberration for sociologists.

By standardizing a whole segment of the population on the arbitrary basis of age, it obliterates the sociological and economic differences between social groups or individuals.

Unequal access to employment, culture, consumer goods, the differences between “young people” are multiple within the same territory.

It is therefore better to specify “of” youths.

Someone who speaks of “young people” often speaks more of a uniform youth that he fantasizes about, based on his own feelings and his environment, than of a sociological reality.

“

Young people think only of themselves

”

Young people would be more individualistic, would engage less for others, in politics, in associations.

This is not the case: investment in the

is simply not the same as it was 30 years ago.

Rather than traditional political involvement in a union or a party, young people favor involvement in charities or sports associations and during one-off events, for demonstrations or on social networks.

The researcher at the new Sorbonne University Sarah Pickard

of “ 

 ”, of “ 

 ”.

Here is a short piece I wrote about

young people and political participation in France:

voting, abstaining, protesting and of course Do-It-Ourselves (DIO) politics

as part of Worldwide Blog Week

from the marvelous Intergenerational Foundation @inter_gen⬇️https:/ /t.co/FhqZoQZxY1 https://t.co/6wgBmBi1X1

— Sarah PICKARD 🌳 (@sarahpickard2) July 19, 2022

Especially since it is not always easy to get involved when you are young.

A

in 2012 shows that a large proportion of young people “ 

 ”.

These temporary barriers are lack of time and opportunity.

On the contrary, those which are likely to permanently prevent the engagement of young people are the rejection of the political system and the absence of political resources, such as the network or the follow-up of the country's news.

In terms of pure and hard politics, of course, abstention is very high among young French people.

But this desertion can be explained by the age of the candidates in politics, 49 years old at the last legislative elections, by the still aging communication of politicians, although some are beginning to become aware of it, or by the majority debates which are struggling to interest young people: pensions and purchasing power, a subject from which they are sometimes

.

I loved seeing the reactions of these great privileged people who can't bear to see young people entering politics.

I liked your support, your messages and your determination even more.

Thanks to you and don't let go, they haven't seen anything yet, it's only the beginning.🙏🏻

— Louis Boyard (@LouisBoyard) August 9, 2022

The difficulty of gaining access to political commitment may also be the cause of this disinterest.

In France live nearly 10 million young people aged 18 to 30 in 2020, out of 67 million French people.

They therefore represent almost 20% of the population of voting age, but are only represented at 4% in the new National Assembly: 25 deputies are under 30 years old for 577 deputies.

And this is an observation that is not limited to France.

“ 

 ,” recalls the United Nations on

.

"

Young people

don't want to work

French employers are particularly affected by the clichés compiled in

, a reference to a comic strip created in 1957. In this comic strip, Gaston is a young tech-savvy employee who will be interested in new innovative things, more complex to understand for older people.

He has a selective interest or motivation: novelty interests him, but when it is less original, more laborious, he disengages.

He is green, too much in the eyes of his older entourage, and is very reluctant to organize a traditional business.

He has a manager, but he does not respect his directives.

Jean Pralong, professor of human resources management at EM Normandie, has studied the clichés about young people and employment for a long time, and for him, Gaston Lagaffe summarizes the perception of employers: " 

 A very French specificity: in other countries, research in which Jean Pralong participated shows that employers are less influenced by the age of the candidate.

However, a survey by the

 (Injep) of 23,000 young French people shows that three years after leaving school, 85% prioritize their professional life, ahead of their life outside. work.

There is also the question of different youth groups: in France, as in many countries, not everyone leaves with the same resources.

It will be much easier to find a CDI for a manager's son than a worker's son.

“ 

explains Professor Pralong

Inequalities are also part of the vision of work.

According to the Injep study, young people with the most favorable professional positions highlight the importance of the balance between professional and personal life.

Those with a less favorable situation insist on job security and salary.

“ 

Young people are always on their cell phones

”

Time spent on screens is also an intergenerational phenomenon.

According to a recent study by

, the French spend 60% of their free time on their screens, all ages combined, and the differences between generations are not significant.

Admittedly, the youngest spend time on their screens, at least three and a half hours a day, but the oldest spend an average of three hours a day in front of the television!

Digital divide: in addition to young people, who cannot afford a computer, and the elderly, digital exclusion also affects the rural world, with one in two French people living outside the big cities not considering their connection satisfactory.

https://t.co/bNUnjJBbdo

— Romain Caillet (@RomainCaillet) May 13, 2020

Among young people, there are great inequalities concerning the actual use of a telephone.

, lecturer in sociology at the University of Reims-Champagne-Ardenne, reminds us, having a telephone or a computer does not mean knowing how to master its full potential.

Writing

correctly , juggling from one videoconference to another, mastering the codes of social networks and researching the internet are variables that change greatly from one young person to another.

Not to mention the drastic differences between developing countries and rich countries: young people around the world do not have the same access to

depending on where they were born.

" 

smartphone

 ", recalls the

report from the Organization. international labor law, published in 2020.

“

Young people are not cultured

”

Last cliché of this non-exhaustive list, the relationship of young people to culture: they would be less interested in cultural activities.

However, the studies all go in the opposite direction.

in 2019, each young person carried out thirteen different cultural practices at least once a year, and 91% of young people even create culture by making videos, theater, dance.

As for reading, young French people, after suffering a decline in interest in reading between 1973 and 2008, have stabilized and read as much as ten years ago.

78% of young people have therefore read at least one book a year since 2008. This is slightly less than the national average, at 86%, increased by the oldest categories of the population.

Nope is really addictive.

From beginning to end, this constant mystery around the threat, as well as the reaction and action of the protagonists in the face of it, keeps us spellbound.

All punctuated by a qualitative soundtrack, really beautiful visual shots.

— Better Call Jo.

🌌🧋 (@Small_Hawkeye) August 10, 2022

Stéphanie Pourquier-Jacquin is a lecturer at the National Higher Institute for Artistic and Cultural Education (Insaac) and is interested in the interest of young people aged 18 to 25 for cinema.

“

»

Cultural practices are also very diverse depending on the young people, because they are sometimes difficult to access: going to the cinema is easier in town, although more expensive, than in the countryside.

The creation of the “culture pass” by the French government is, in this sense, welcomed by the researcher, even if she insists on the need to continue artistic and cultural education systems.

“ 

 ", concludes the researcher.

► 

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