Young People Care

I saw a great piece in a local paper that caught my attention about young people pealing potatoes for a community Thanksgiving Dinner.

"I like helping people and making a difference,” said Emily Bertols, a sophomore at North."

Last week we talked about CNN's inability to get the youth vote right in a piece they did in The Situation Room on Friday afternoon. From what I understand another discussion took place that next morning where two commentators were duking it out over the youth vote. While one of them didn't have a clear understanding of why young people matter, he did mention that young people are more involved in their communities than any other age group.

The same happened this week as I was driving to see family down south and was listening to NPR's Diane Rehm's Show and a commentator (I couldn't tell which one) also was very careful to acknowledge that both youth involvement and the youth vote are on the rise.

I guess you could say there is something there to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I also thought given these recent developments and in the spirit of the holidays I would remind us how much young people do to get involved and volunteer for their communities.

Not only do we vote, but we care about our community, our country, our future, and our world. Which is more than I can say for some generations. I don't want to get on a holier than thou high horse but I'm proud of my generation's dedication to developing a more livable world and I thought I'd remind us all to give ourselves a pat on the back every once in a while.