missions_statement

 

 

 

Our ambitions are aimed at contributing to changing people’s opinions about youth, to prevent relationships between generations from being based on mistrust. Our society and our institutions are getting older and older; that’s why we need to make room for teenagers and give them the opportunity to learn, create, commit and get involved.

 

 

  Change our opinion about the youth

 

We truly think that mutual trust is the key to building a new society that faces the future. France is afraid of new generations because it dreads its own transformations; It is in between its romanticized vision of its past and a profound anxiety of the French grandeur decline, which prevent  youth from finding  a place in their country’s history and actuality.

We’re convinced that they can find their place by themselves, as long as we give them the means.

 

We want youth to be actors in their own lives. We know that nowadays, youth are facing a lot of challenges (discrimination, job insecurity, competition) and they tend to cut themselves off from the outside world. This is why we want to favor their autonomy by helping them creating their relationships to others and being part of a group. We want to let them conquer their own freedom. The Junior Association gives them an emancipating frame where one can blossom, in dignity and self esteem.

 

Too often, youth education is regulated by failure’s dread and sanctions. Our educational system is based on selection and competition, which make it really difficult to get out of the mainstream.

We want to promote non-formal education, by giving priority to experimentation, rather than conforming to a system that relies on mistrust, competition and compliance.

The youth associations shouldn’t be treated like tools, as a back-up used to apply for subsidies; they are real actors of our world, and should be treated as such.

 

 

Today´s youth are not less involved than the baby boomers were 50 years ago; they are more pragmatic, also more cautious towards the political sphere. But they aren’t apathetic; they have clear ideas about what the world they want to live in looks like and can be proactive in achieving that vision.

We say that youth of the new generations are individualistic; however, they didn’t create the society we live in nowadays. This is our call to show them that there are other alternatives.

 

 

  A reciprocal relationship

 

When a group of youth create a Junior Association, they are the only ones in charge of their project.

However, the national network doesn’t exist only because of youth involvement; we also rely on adults, volunteers and employees, who help create a safe and productive environment. These adults help and guide, but never take the teenagers’ place. They listen, advise, and most importantly respect youth.

The Network also provides methodological tools in order to facilitate the projects’ implementation, and gives value to the projects by organizing events and meetings. However, it doesn’t mean that all projects are successful, because respecting the youth is also knowing how to say “no” when needed, while arguing and explaining why. This demagogy refusal is, too, a proof of our strong educational commitment.

 

We know that a new relationship between generations is possible, because we see it day after day, via our Junior Associations. This new relationship must become a new pattern, as society as a whole would suffer from a serious detachment between generations. Our youth need to be respected and seen as capable; all the teenagers involved in a Junior Association would tell you that you can be 17, and be experienced.