Please note…
The series, “13 Things You Can do to Kill Your Community,”
is a set of satirical open letters by
Doug Griffiths
which appeared as individual weekly contributions to
The Wainwright EDGE
during the spring and summer of 2005.
The series is not intended to be taken as instruction
for actually harming your community; rather its critical aim is to
increase awareness of everyday things we may not
recognize as being detrimental to our community.
13 Things You Can Do to Kill Your Community
by Doug Griffiths, MLA Battle River - Wainwright
Relegate Youth to the Sidelines
If killing your community is your ultimate goal (remember the point of these articles) then the third item on the list of thirteen ways to kill your community is relegate an important group such as youth (35 years and under) to the sidelines.
Youth have energy and ideas, are great volunteers and are the future of your community, so whatever you do, don’t involve them or they will make your community successful despite your best efforts.
Around this province, provincial officials, accountants and tax experts are hosting meetings, the purpose of which is to aid farmers and ranchers in succession planning. The purpose is to ensure that farmers aren’t hit with huge tax burdens when they try to pass on the farm, but the ultimate result will be more young people in a position to enter agriculture, thereby ensuring the future of agriculture itself.
Interestingly, I have only found one community in this province that is doing any sort of succession planning for town or county councils. Before the last round of municipal elections, most small-town and county councils had an average age that was almost twice mine (I’m 32). Please note that I am NOT telling all of the aged and experienced people to get off council. It is important to blend the experience and patience of the aged with the energy and ideas of the youth. Too much youth or experience does not ensure a balance of those who are dealing with today’s issues and those who want to plan for the community they want to see twenty years from now.
I also have yet to find a community that has a succession plan for main street businesses. Many small town business owners I met around the province simply planned on locking the doors when they retired. Few had ever considered talking to high school graduates to see what they would need to return home after education, or engaging them in a youth entrepreneurship program in local businesses so they stay. How do you plan for the future of your community if you don’t engage them (since the youth are the future) in the planning process and help them identify opportunities?
Successful communities told me that complacency and saying that the youth aren’t interested are just excuses. They tell me that the youth are interested, they simply want to be asked their opinions and concerns, they want to know action will be taken and, most importantly, they want to take part in the solution, not be relegated to the sidelines.
If ending your community is your plan, don’t engage youth, don’t find reasons for them to stay and don’t encourage them (over and over) to get involved. Let them leave. Encourage them to leave. Let them go where they are wanted. The future of your community will vanish as fast as the youth.
