Dr. Pham Hoang Manh Ha believes that society needs to give young people more opportunities and create more conditions for them to be challenged and feel trusted. (Photo: NVCC) |
In a world rapidly changing due to technology, globalization and challenges such as climate change, the responsibility of young people is becoming increasingly important.
On the occasion of International Youth Day (August 12), The World and Vietnam Newspaper had an interview with Dr. Pham Hoang Manh Ha, Lecturer at Thanh Hoa University of Culture, Sports and Tourism, about the perspective of youth responsibility in today's era.
The force that creates a humane and sustainable future
In your view, what are the most core responsibilities of young people in today's social and technological context?
For a long time, when discussing the role and responsibility of young people in society, we often define them as "the future owners of the country". But in the digital age, with the rise of science and technology - factors considered to be the advantages of young people, should we redefine their role and responsibility?
This position of ownership is no longer entirely in the future but exists right before our eyes. Young people have become the decisive force for today's society. The context of globalization also takes this force out of the scope of personal obligations to family and community, but into the responsibility of a global citizen, meaning the creator of humane and sustainable values.
If in the past, the young people's luggage when entering life was mainly equipped with knowledge and intelligence, in modern society, to fulfill their responsibilities, they need to have skills to adapt to the times; mastering technology, digital transformation, and forming critical thinking are vital factors. In other words, the young generation not only uses technology but also needs to quickly become creators and controllers of technology.
Reality shows that in spreading and promoting progressive social values such as human rights and gender equality, young people should play the role of a leading force. In a flat world, cultural exchange and collision are inevitable. Young people with the ability to be quick and sensitive to new things must be the bridge between tradition and modernity; balancing identity with integration, national with global.
In addition, in the face of climate change challenges, young people must be aware and quickly change their habits and consumer behavior, proactively participate in renewable energy projects, green initiatives and, above all, become the ones to inspire the community about a green and sustainable lifestyle. They become responsible citizens to the community and the country by participating in policy criticism and initiating social initiatives.
More importantly, the role and responsibility of the youth towards society cannot be separated from traditional spiritual and moral values. Technology can replace labor, even intelligence, but the values of humanity, responsibility, and kindness always exist. Understanding this, the youth can truly become the force that creates a humane and sustainable future.
So how do we motivate and equip young people with the skills they need to fulfill their civic responsibilities and develop themselves in a changing world?
It must be affirmed that comprehensively equipping the young generation with skills and inspiring motivation is the current strategic task of each country. First, education must shift from imparting to liberating. The youth force needs to be inspired and taught how to learn and adapt to constantly be creative in an environment that is changing every day. In other words, in addition to knowledge and expertise, the education sector should focus on developing critical thinking skills, how to face and solve problems, and intercultural communication.
In addition, creating a supportive and stimulating ecosystem with community participation, innovation centers, start-up programs, and digital platforms. Digital skills, soft skills, and emotional management programs require the joint efforts of many stakeholders such as the Government, businesses, training institutions, and social organizations.
Diplomatic Youth attended the program "Youth train with a journey back to the source: Vietnam goes to love - Promoting the beauty of Vietnamese culture and tourism" in Quang Tri on July 20. (Photo: Ngoc Anh) |
In addition, it arouses the ideals of life and the inspiration to contribute to the community of young people. To nurture the aspirations of young people in the current period, volunteer programs and youth start-up clubs are the ideal environment. I believe that from that "cradle" will form positive energies and actions. In particular, it is impossible not to mention the role of mass media and social networks. Media campaigns can be considered as an effective "fuse" to inspire young people, creating positive resonance among young people.
Finally, youth policies need to be harmonized and modernized to ensure their access to and equality in career opportunities. Youth are listened to and even involved in the formulation of national policies that concern them.
"The demonstration of the role and responsibility of the youth towards society cannot be separated from traditional spiritual and moral values. Technology can replace labor, even intelligence, but the values of humanity, responsibility, and kindness always exist. Understanding this, the youth can truly become the force that creates a humane and sustainable future." |
In order for the young generation to develop comprehensively and fulfill their roles and duties as citizens in the digital age, a multidimensional, systematic approach is needed that integrates many factors, including individuals, families, education, media, policies, etc.
Many people believe that a segment of today's youth are "indifferent to current events" and lack responsibility towards the community. What do you think is the underlying cause of this phenomenon?
Nowadays, a part of young people show signs of being influenced and dominated by the virtual world. They are almost incapable of critical thinking when praising “cyber heroes” and considering them as true values to strive for. Another objective factor is the lack of space for young people to practice their responsibility to the community. It cannot be denied that many young people are aware of social responsibility but do not have many effective, transparent, and official “channels” to act.
This reality has posed and continues to pose many challenges for Vietnamese youth. These challenges include the gap between education and reality; the lack of dialogue mechanisms as well as social pressure and prejudice from the previous generation.
The biggest challenge is personal courage in the context of profound and obvious cultural - social - psychological changes. The pressure of career crisis, competition and self-identification makes many young people confused and disoriented.
Besides, the rapid change of the 4.0 technology revolution and digital transformation, the globalization trend opens up a large space for learning, starting a business and creating new values, where the youth force is the center of trends.
In fact, policies are increasingly identifying and valuing the role of youth, thereby creating the necessary legal and practical foundation for the young generation to act. It should be added that currently, many young people have been very successful in starting a business, which is an important driving force from the youth community itself. Therefore, society needs to give young people more opportunities and create more conditions for them to be challenged and feel trusted.
This is an opportunity to light a fire, awaken historical memories, and foster pride and responsibility in every young person for the cause of building and defending the Fatherland in the new period. (Photo: Ngoc Anh) |
Behave civilly, spread positive values
In an age of information explosion and the rapid spread of fake news, how responsible are young people in receiving, verifying and sharing information?
It must be admitted that social networks have gone beyond the meaning of an information forum to become a second social space, existing parallel to real society. This means that social network culture is considered a criterion to affirm the bravery and maturity of the young generation.
Cyberspace with its characteristics is showing two distinct cultural dimensions. First of all, many young people have exploited and promoted the strengths of social networks thoroughly and actively through sharing knowledge, job opportunities, calling for charity, protecting gender equality, condemning violence... in online forms. However, on the contrary, taking advantage of the anonymity of social networks, many young people have shared unverified information, fake news; made inappropriate statements, incited social unrest or followed bad trends.
In a flat world, where each individual can easily access information with just one click, the responsibility for information of each individual, especially young people, must be placed at a high level. Each young person needs to be aware that sharing false information not only affects their own honor and reputation, but also harms the community and even violates the law.
Digital behavior on social networks has hindered young people's career opportunities, and traces in the digital space cannot be completely erased or erased. In other words, every time they are online, young people need to master their digital behavior, aiming to respect the truth, behave civilly and spread positive values.
This raises the issue of rights and obligations of digital citizens, which I think should soon have official regulations. On the other hand, behavior on social networks is not only an individual issue but also partly reflects the awareness of young people, and further, the awareness of the whole society.
If there was one most important message you wanted to send to the younger generation about their responsibility for the future, what would it be?
In a world that is constantly changing due to technology, climate change and value shift like today, every action of the young generation and the whole society directly shapes the society of the future. The youth force - the masters of the country can proactively create the future through awareness and action. At the age of "twenty when life is already seen", young people should believe that they are not alone but an indispensable part of the community that is joining hands to create positive and livable innovation.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/khoi-day-dong-luc-cho-thanh-nien-trong-thoi-dai-so-324053.html
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