Youth Issues or Issues from a Youth Perspective?

During the Youth Caucus at Netroots Nation the most compelling item for discussion was whether there were youth issues or if every issue has a youth perspective.

I tend to believe the latter, and here's why.

When most people think about youth issues (youth as in young voter, not minors) the two things that most often come to mind are college access/affordability and community service.

College access and affordability

43% of the 20 to 29-year-old population has never attended college (CIRCLE Fact Sheet). Since the is an extremely strong correlation between political involvement and education level, it is not surprising that it receives a lot of attention from politically active youth, but it still neglects nearly half of young Americans.

In addition, the rising cost of a college education and slashed financial aid budgets affect the older parents of potential students as well. College affordability is not purely a youth issue, nor is it an issue for all youth.

Community Service

Community service is one of those issues that older people have decided is a youth issue. The GIVE Act, though a good piece of legislation for upper-middle class youth, is pretty much useless to those who can't afford to take advantage of it. Community service is not a critical issue to those young Americans whose basic needs are not being met.

Serving communities should also be something that does not fall solely on the shoulders of youth, but should be an issue for all generations.

Health Insurance Reform

Health insurance reform is the biggest issue around today, yet we don't see it addressed as a youth issue very often. "While young adults account for only 17 percent of the U.S. population under the age of 65, they disproportionately make up 30 percent of those Americans under the age of 65 who don't have health insurance (Campus Progress)." Young Americans are the most in need of health insurance reform, and organizations should be working to provide a youth perspective in the debate.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

It is strange that military policy does not get considered from a youth perspective more often, since the vast majority of active servicemembers are young Americans.

The Economy

Young Americans have been hit by the current recession harder than most, yet the youth perspective is rarely seen in the discourse. Job prospects for recent college graduates are dismal, and the economic climate is even worse for youth without college degrees.

The Environment and Climate Change

Youth perspectives are heard more often when it comes to the environment compared to other general issues due to the success of the youth environmental movement. However, when the issue is discussed in the mainstream media or in government offices the youth perspective is less prevalent. Conservation and climate change obviously affects young Americans more than anybody else: it will be us and our children that have to live with the consequences.

Obviously this does not touch on every issue there is, but it should start to reveal that all issues affect young Americans, and therefore should have a youth perspective in the discourse. While the establishment may want us to be relegated to a few "youth issues" like college affordability and community service, it is up to us to speak out on the general issues where our voices are noticeably absent.

Every issue is a youth issue, and it's our job as progressive youth to prove it.