Back When I Was a Kid
By Robert Denson III

There is a sad misconception among adults of the 21st century. In our hustle and bustle from childhood to age of majority, we all earned a degree from the School of Life. In obtaining that degree, we feel like the youngsters of today have nothing to teach us.

Personally, I don’t ever think that I’ve been closed minded to ‘the kids of today’, but I am certainly guilty of saying “They are kids! What do they know about life?” I’m here to tell you, they have a LOT of insight to offer.

As you may know, Sunpiper Press sponsored an essay contest entitled “Speak to the World” for high school and college students. At first, I felt the reception would not be great. Nevertheless, between September 2004 and March 2005, essays only came in at the rate of approximately 4 per month. Nevertheless, just like when I was a kid, two days before the deadline, submissions began to pour in. In the process of reviewing these essays, I was moved beyond belief.

When I was a kid in school, we were tortured by our superiors for running in the hallways and chewing gum in class. Occasionally, some guy would bring his pocketknife to school to show it off. The worse offense I ever personally witnessed was watching a boy that was just out of juvy hall smoke marijuana in the bathroom on the last day of school. I was in the ninth grade and this guy should have been a senior. In 1984, this was a huge deal.

Nowadays, students fear being shot, stabbed or raped on their school campus. Drugs are no longer taboo but on many occasions, the norm. Students of today live in a world of ‘zero tolerance’ and ‘terrorism’ while we complained about not being allowed to wear earrings, long hair or wear shorts.

It seems that the problems in which we were plagued in days gone by pale in comparison to those in which are dealt with by ‘Generation Y’. Those who answered the call for essays spoke of matters I never dreamed about during prep school. Many approached the subject of peace, however, some expressed some quite astonishing perspectives.

Perspectives on the necessity of education, the use of the death penalty, government spying on our email and electronic communications and compassion for the elderly merely scratched the surface on the depth of the matters in which these students reached. I have to say that I am encouraged that these are the minds that will be guiding our future. You will be happy to know that they believe there is still hope for our world. However, for us to effectively pass the reins to them, we must first LISTEN to them.

I encourage you to visit http://sunpiperpress.bravehost.com and literally ‘judge for yourself’. The essays of the twelve finalists are posted there and I invite you to vote for the best and give them comments and encouragement on their magnificent efforts.

I thank the future leaders of our world for participating in the Speak to the World Essay Contest and we look forward to awarding the winner in May. Voting ends April 30 so visit, read, vote and encourage!