Parents and youth in Seattle met to discuss social challenges
By ertra.com
Today, Eritreans residing in
Seattle conducted a three-hour meeting to discuss ways to address the issue
concerning the weak parent-child relationship and other social issues that are
contributing to the increasing number of troubled students and youth in
general. The meeting that was called by few concerned Eritreans was attended by
members of both community Centers in Seattle, representative of NUEYS (National
Union of Eritrean Youth & Students) as well as other concern Eritreans. This
meeting was exploratory in nature and was considered to be a stepping-stone to
a larger community meeting and awareness campaign.
After discussing wide ranging
social issues, the participants agreed to focus on the main pressing issues
that our young generation Eritreans are faced with. The role of parents and the
lack of understanding between parents and children as well as the prevailing divisive
situation amongst Eritreans in Seattle are identified as some of the factors
that negatively influence our youth’s behavior and the community’s ability to
deal with challenging social issues.
It was agreed that, for the
short term, it was best to empower NUEYS in order to have a single apolitical
organization that can attract more young Eritreans in a way that is appealing
to them. NUEYS is encouraged to equally make use of the facilities that both
Eritrean communities in Seattle offer and to actively support and possibly take
charges of activities that concern the youth in both communities, like after
hour tutorials, sport and entertainment activities. The representatives of NUEYS
described the meeting as revolutionary and the best thing that ever happened in
Eritrean community.
In addition the parents
agreed that there is ample issues that must be addressed by the parents and
that it is important to gather facts and data that reflect the seriousness of
the issue. Once the data is documented, the parents agreed to call a meeting to
present these facts to the Eritrean community in the near future. The ultimate goal
is to make people aware the prevailing situation in Eritrean community is
hurting our children in a way that is very damaging and that we can no longer
afford to watch from the side line nor can we afford to continue to be the
victims of narrow sentiments that have no meaning to our children.
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Dr.
Tesfa Gebremedhin articles on this issue:
o OUR CHILDREN ARE WILLING TO TALK IF WE ARE PREPARED TO LISTEN