We often hear the remarks, You young, what you know eh! Donkey aint got no call in horse race! Keep out! You young, why you thinking like that! You going rub somebody the wrong way and get trampled over! You might have a idea there you know, but you still green! You need polishing! Comeback in a couple years and maybe I will listen to you! In our society young people and their attempts to participate in meaningful decision-making are shunted aside. When young people play inquisitive and I say play inquisitive and try to engage in discourse with adults, we also hear, Why dont you keep a childs place eh or thats why they dont bury big people and children together! In our society, youth is seen as a handi-cap. A young person according to the St. Kitts Department of Youth and proposed SCYIA constitution is an individual between the ages 12-35 years. Young people comprise more than 50% of the population. We form a large part of the electorate; we are the productive sector hence we should be consulted at every level of decision-making. The youth of St. Kitts and Nevis needs to be empowered. If young people are not allowed to participate in decision-making there are implications to be had. The implications are:

          Policies wont be effective or efficient, as the young people were not consulted!

·        Young people would not cooperate, partner or own these policies/decisions, as they were not apart of the decision-making process!

·        When young people are called on or finally asked to make an input in decision-making by the adult population they would consider this gesture insincere, as they would deem it a matter of formality.

·        There would be brain drain as young people who have been exposed to more liberal cultures where age isnt seen as a handicap but rather as an asset would remain in those countries or migrate!

·        Societal growth would be retarded or stagnant as young people are capable of making meaningful contributions to society should they be given the opportunity to do so.

·         Innovation and technology would evade us.

According to the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment Programme the empowerment of young people is everybodys business and involves the concerted efforts of a number of key stakeholders, including governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the media, educational and other institutions, the private sector, family, youth peer groups and the young people themselves. The following are some recommendations on how to alleviate this problem and get more young people involved in decision-making.

Change the education system  raise a society of thinkers and not programmers/affect careers choice

·        There need to be bridge in the gap between the adults and young people because both would benefit from the exchange. Adults realize that the young people should not be seen as a threat and young people need to realize that not all adults are their enemies.  Nations building is a collaborative effort. We tend to say that the young people are the leaders of tomorrow however I deem us the leaders of today.

·        Society needs to look at young people, not as at age, cause age is not a handicap. Cycle of the thinking!

·        Young people need to be more assertive  we cant and should not blame the adults for the opinions that they have  we need to get serious and dispel the negative attitudes that adults have about us because just as we may perceive a door to be closed sometimes all it takes is a simple knock and it is open.

·        Young people need to join organizations or get involved in SCYIA  Sugar City Youths in Action- our newly formed and invigorated National Youth Council  This is an avenue which was dormant for the past 10 yrs has been revived with the sole aim of getting young people involved in the decision-making process, as we do have a voice. We cannot wait for the adult population to champion our causes; we have to do it ourselves.

  St. Kitts was ranked # 2 in the Caribbean with regards to the Human Development Index, # 49 in the world which means that our society is progressing however there is still room for improvement and for us to get to that number one spot which is not impossible however the input of the youth is pertinent.