Engaging our Youth, Shaping the Future - A Commentary

by Hank Lewis The presidential election has taught me a lot about the leadership in our country, the desires of the American people, where our country should be headed and how we can get there.

Essentially, I have long had the same dreams as Barack Obama -- to stop the bitter political partisanship, to bring our country together and to move our country forward for the greater good of all Americans. I have the same feelings about our region - moving beyond parochialism for the greater good of the people. Partisanship and parochialism wastes time, resources and opportunities!

As I was perusing the WHRO web site, I came upon videos http://www.BeThereBeCounted.org produced by their Center for Regional Citizenship. They talked to a variety of young citizens about what's at stake for the future of democracy. Here are some of their key points. For some, I have rewritten them in a regional perspective.

1. Stop partisan politics... (Stop regional parochialism- focus on solving the problems in our region and improving our quality of life)
   
   
2. Think about the country instead of the politics of the country... (Think about the Hampton Roads region instead of the politics of the region)
   
   
3. Establish a personal connection between our citizens and our region at large... (There are many HRP initiatives aimed at doing this already. Lets keep it up, add more focus on our youth and explain how we are "shaping the future" for them - "education")
   
   
4. Keep citizen's best interest in mind (Keep the region's best interest in mind)
   
   
5. Work together for the greater good of the country... (the Hampton Roads Region)
   
   
6. Get along and stop drawing party lines between democrats and republicans... (between mayors, administrators and municipalities)
   
   
7. Put partisanship aside and work together
   
   
8. Keep the people first, and not special interest
   
   
9. Listen to the voters... (Educate the voters)
   
   
10. Get young people more involved in politics... (Get young people more involved in our regional politics and solutions)
    
    
11. Focus on the young population, mobilize them, believe in them... (Again, educate them so they can vote from informed positions)
    
    
12. Encourage youth civic engagement... (Encourage youth engagement in regionalism)

My point -- perhaps we can do more to engage our youth in efforts to promote regionalism - essentially, they are who we are "shaping the future" for, so why not get them involved? Many of us will not see the culmination of the multitude of projects, programs and initiatives being planned and implemented by today's local, regional and state leadership, but our children will.

So, why not get them involved to leverage their input and prepare them for the reigns of leadership when it's their time to replace us and "shape the future" for their children.
In most of the meetings I go to, the people are my age and older. We should take the chance to not only shape our regional infrastructure, but to shape our future leadership as well.

Hank Lewis is the Business Development Manager at ZelTech in Hampton, Virginia and an advocate for the future of Transportation Technology in Hampton Roads, Virginia, the nation and the world.