What's right with "The Youth of Today"
You can find comments written two or three thousand years ago in which the older generation expressed fears about "young people today" which sound surprisingly similar to the things which some older people will say today.
But I'm not one of those people.
When I was a teenager or in my twenties, I thought that my elders often came out with more wisdom than some of my contemporaries were willing to give them credit for.
I still don't feel old, and I still have a full head of hair and plenty of energy, but the gradual appearance in the mirror of more grey in that hair and the fact that so many of that older generation are no longer with us sometimes forces me to recognise that I am no longer as young as I like to think of myself as being.
One sign of age, however, which I absolutely refuse to exhibit is a loss of faith in the abilities, motivation and achievements of the next generation.
On the contrary, I find many of them inspiring.
Perhaps that partly means that I still have a greater degree of empathy than some with different generations, directed now at those younger than myself instead of those older, but I think it is partly because the use which so many of today's young people are making of the immense opportunities they have been given is truly wonderful.
I've just come back from the Braithwaite Institute on the A66 near Keswick where my son was playing in a Jazz concert with performers of all ages but mostly under 16, to raise money for a forthcoming trip to Cambodia by students at Keswick School. The students who are going out there are planning themselves to build a school for some of the deprived children in that country.
I find wonderful that teenagers and pre-teens in our country today are willing to think in such ambitious terms of how they can personally help to make the world better by doing something so amazing for less fortunate people on the other side of the planet.
Don't let anybody persuade you to despair of young people today. There are some black sheep in every generation but so the energy, enthusiasm and generosity of spirit of so many of those who are at school or university today or just starting their first jobs gives me great hope for their futures and that of our country.
But I'm not one of those people.
When I was a teenager or in my twenties, I thought that my elders often came out with more wisdom than some of my contemporaries were willing to give them credit for.
I still don't feel old, and I still have a full head of hair and plenty of energy, but the gradual appearance in the mirror of more grey in that hair and the fact that so many of that older generation are no longer with us sometimes forces me to recognise that I am no longer as young as I like to think of myself as being.
One sign of age, however, which I absolutely refuse to exhibit is a loss of faith in the abilities, motivation and achievements of the next generation.
On the contrary, I find many of them inspiring.
Perhaps that partly means that I still have a greater degree of empathy than some with different generations, directed now at those younger than myself instead of those older, but I think it is partly because the use which so many of today's young people are making of the immense opportunities they have been given is truly wonderful.
I've just come back from the Braithwaite Institute on the A66 near Keswick where my son was playing in a Jazz concert with performers of all ages but mostly under 16, to raise money for a forthcoming trip to Cambodia by students at Keswick School. The students who are going out there are planning themselves to build a school for some of the deprived children in that country.
I find wonderful that teenagers and pre-teens in our country today are willing to think in such ambitious terms of how they can personally help to make the world better by doing something so amazing for less fortunate people on the other side of the planet.
Don't let anybody persuade you to despair of young people today. There are some black sheep in every generation but so the energy, enthusiasm and generosity of spirit of so many of those who are at school or university today or just starting their first jobs gives me great hope for their futures and that of our country.
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