International Youth Day, Geneva, and GLM

Young people aren’t the leaders of tomorrow. Sociologists and political scientists point out that calling youth “the leaders of tomorrow” is often used as a rhetorical tool by existing power structures to delay the sharing of real decision-making. In his seminal 1978 journal article, Jack Flasher used the term “adultism” to describe prejudice, systematic bias, and discrimination against children and young people. He argued that adults operate under an unearned assumption of superiority regarding their abilities and virtues, maintaining legal and economic structures that deny youth mutual consent and shared power.

While there is no internationally agreed-upon definition of youth, most organizations and governments include people aged 15 to 35 in their youth population. The United Nations recognizes that Young people in all countries are both a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic development, and technological innovation. Their imagination, ideals, considerable energies, and vision are essential for the continuing development of the societies in which they live. Thus, there is a special need for new impetus to be given to the design and implementation of youth policies and programs at all levels. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Felipe Paullier of Uruguay assumed his mandate as the first-ever Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs in December 2023 at the age of 32 and why the United Nations designated August 12 as International Youth Day.

While we can say that, at over 38 years old, our school, Gimnasio La Montaña, is no longer a youth; under the leadership of the vigorous Maria Mercedes de Brigard and her team, it continues to operate as one- a neuroplastic entity that is quick to learn, able to adapt, digitally native, and continuously at the helm of novelty.

And as we begin another academic year of maximizing the potential of children and youth in a protective environment, one of our teachers will be participating in the International Youth Day celebration and a Global Educators Academy organized by AFS, hosted by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and supported by the generous scholarship of bp Energy. The event takes place at the heart of international Geneva from the 9th to the 15th of August 2026 and will feature sessions on AI ethics and education, intercultural living, global health, and youth-led entrepreneurship.