There are plenty of stories in the press that make us fear for our children. From upsetting tales of cyber bullying to the constant rise in unemployment figures, it seems as if our young people are destined to grow up in a world that makes it impossible to succeed.
And one 14-year-old boy has perfectly summed up those feelings of helplessness and despair in a pretty stark poem:
Or has he?
The poem may be a bleak read at first but, if you "turn things around" and read it from bottom to top, you get something VERY different:
Unless we turn things around
That might be true.
People thought we couldn't come back
We knew that
Was a joke.
Working hard
Was how we handled our problems.
Giving up
Is something we never did.
Changing our world for the better
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Forgetting about that time,
Is a dumb thing to do.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is the way to go.
Living only for money and power
Is a waste. And we know
We actually succeeded
Thinking that
***Our generation was a failure. ***
That is wrong, the truth is
We were the peak of mankind.
Never will anybody say
Our generation will be known for nothing.
What an absolutely inspirational read. We really hope that children, teenagers and parents everywhere take heed of those words - and that they prove to be true in the future.