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Moral and Spiritual Empowerment of Junior Youth
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Moral and Spiritual Empowerment of Junior Youth
The period between the ages of 12 and 15 represents a special time in the life of an individual, for it is during these years that he or she leaves childhood behind and undergoes profound change. Not yet in the fullness of youth, individuals in this age range are often referred to as “junior youth.”
For the Bahá’í community, engaging junior youth in activities that seek to enhance their capacities and prepare them to participate effectively in the affairs of their communities has been a significant area of learning for many years. The junior youth spiritual empowerment program, developed through the efforts of a range of institutions and agencies in different parts of the world, is one of the fruits of this learning process. The program is based on the conviction that the short and critical period of young adolescence represents a time of transition during which ideas about the individual and society, which shape the rest of one’s life, are formed. While some conceptions paint a dark picture of adolescence, viewing this stage of life as one fraught with difficulties and crisis, the Bahá’í teachings hold the conviction that young people are invaluable protagonists in constructing a better society. The program, then, aims at awakening the junior youth to their own potential, developing their talents, and directing their abilities and energies toward service to humanity.
The program is carried out in the context of a “junior youth group,” which serves as an environment of mutual support and profound friendship for its members. Guided by older youth who serve as “animators,” junior youth study a set of materials based on moral and spiritual concepts. Some of these materials also enter into the areas of mathematics and science in order to assist youth to investigate reality in a scientific manner. While inspired by the Bahá’í Faith, the program does not explore themes in a mode of religious instruction. In addition to study, the groups engage in artistic activities and carry out service projects, devised by the groups themselves, toward the betterment of their communities. Overall, the program seeks to engage the expanding consciousness of junior youth in an exploration of reality that helps them recognize the constructive and destructive forces at work in society and to discern the spiritual reality underlying every condition. It aims to endow young people with the capabilities of reading with good comprehension and expressing thoughts clearly and eloquently. Emphasis is placed on the need for positive words and thoughts to be accompanied by pure deeds.
The program is being carried out by a network of training institutes and organizations in over 180 countries involving over 300,000 junior youth in more than 35,000 groups.
The words of young people engaged in the junior youth spiritual empowerment program offer glimpses into the potential of this age group—their altruism, acute sense of justice, eagerness to learn about the universe, and desire to become agents of positive change in their communities. Comments such as the ones that follow have come from junior youth in all continents:
Latin America
“A factor that helps us with many dilemmas in our lives is learning to listen and to understand what another person is saying. This has been a very important insight for me—to be able to listen without any type of prejudice, nor anything that I think against the other person, but to understand his or her point. I feel that it is something that many people need and it was something that I needed also.”
Asia
“We should live together in unity. For example, if someone is of a higher caste and you are of a lower caste, the higher caste people will not let you set foot in their house. But I don’t think this way. I think they have come to my house, so they should sit with me, pray with me. As we read in the books of the junior youth program, we should live in unity so that all prejudices will come to an end.”
“Starting from this village we will bring peace to the village, then the state, the country, and the world, and in this way we will become united and live in harmony.”
Africa
“We love as a group to learn together, to discover and develop our talents, and our spiritual and intellectual qualities. It is important to develop a rich vocabulary. We need to learn to interact and collaborate better with other members of the community in the village and worldwide. Our parents appreciate our efforts and encourage us, especially as they begin to see our altruism. Because of our desire to serve, we make efforts to be of help in the home and also to carry out projects to help our community. We ask ourselves in our group whether we did some service that week and what kind of service it was. This brings us joy.”
Europe
“All can and all must make a difference, it doesn’t matter how little an action could be—making a cake for the neighbors, bringing around the dogs of a friend, offering moral support in this difficult time, even only speaking to someone as a friend; these are all actions that can bring not only the community or the city, but the whole of humanity, one step closer to the unity of the world. People are made to stay together … if we want prosperity and well-being for all, we need unity. Taking the pieces of something old we can build something completely new. We can take the world from which we come so far, take the best parts, re-create them with our common will and build a new society in which all can be happy, none excluded.”
Australasia
“We also need spiritual qualities to learn things. If someone did not have humility, then they could think that they already know everything and that would prevent them from learning. But if someone is humble, then they always look to learn things from others.”
North America
“I think science is used to help the world be a better place, just like a character in one of our books saying, ‘I will study science, then I will work for the betterment of the world.’ For example, she is saying that she will come back and work for the progress of their village. Scientists observe before they get the answer to a question, and science should be used to help communities, people and the world.”
