Thread:Defining Youth (4)

A youth by my understanding is a young person who is in between childhood and adulthood. It is also a period of life where most persons become very innovative, assertive, very emotional towards "radical" change of life. During this period, this category of persons sometimes if not guided may be very confused about their actual positions in life (confusion of been adults or infants) since they may be addressed as adults or infants based on the situation. It is a time where persons also try to experiment, and also exhibit a lot of energy. Personally, I may not ascribe to any age margin for the youth but according to the National Youth Policy of Ghana, “youth” is defined as “persons who are within the age bracket of fifteen (15) and thirty-five (35)”. Ghana’s definition has been informed by those used by the United Nations Organisation and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Ghana's definition undoubtedly, runs in consonance with definitions in other countries such as Tanzania and Namibia. Well, I think there is more to defining "youth" not only by age but through other variables such as ability. A person may fall outside the suggested range of ages but could perform like or more than a youth.

Again in Ghana, as a way of looking at the dynamism of youth, the 2000 Ghana Housing and Population Census,states clearly that the population of Ghana was 18.9 million with an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent where the youth in Ghana constitute about 33% as a heterogeneous segment of Ghana’s population. From the literature given as a guide, heterogeneity may call for variations ranging from some youth coming from well to do families while others do not; some in school, others not;etc. But the fact still remains that the youth can be dynamically homogenous. Today, they may be homogenous through the bridge of digital divide. Most of the youth informally have accepted technology available as a lingua franca for the youth.