Education gives us the ability to further improve our intellect while learning about the world’s present or past events. To underprivileged countries, it is viewed as a treasure and a privilege that many wish they could only obtain because it’s never been available to them. But rather than thinking of education as a privilege, it is something that leads to human success and development and should be considered a right to all youth in the world.
Coming from immigrant parents, their goal in coming to the US was to provide better education for their future children. Here specifically there is no good job you can obtain without having a college degree and even here in New York, expensive tuition costs make it harder for minorities and people of color to achieve these things without working twice as hard. I could only imagine the struggles that occur in underdeveloped countries. A lack of education could be detrimental to a child’s confidence, future, and ability to lead a better life.
A child who hasn’t been able to receive the same amount of knowledge as another child would often feel inferior to the child who has been able to afford it. We are commonly viewed not as people marked by our character but rather the money we have and the education we’ve received. Education and money have an unfair correlation in which they have almost become synonymous to one another in a societal view. Someone who doesn’t have the ability to afford a proper education is viewed as poor, lower ranking, and stupid. This can cause a lack of optimism in the unfortunate child as these views can make them feel that there is nothing to look forward to. It can also impact their future but having them resort to alternative ways to get money and provide for themselves.
What often happens is that these children begin drug dealing, doing sex work, stealing and forming gangs, all of which could have been avoided. Much of the issues of the world could be resolved if education was viewed as a resource that everyone should have instead of a privilege for the rich or the lucky. Resorting to these alternative jobs could hinder a child’s success in the future and ability to get out of poverty. This begins a continuous cycle where the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor because they aren’t being offered the same opportunities.
Educating the youth could be incredibly impactful in ways that are immeasurable. ‘We are the future’ may sound cliche but it really is true because of how the world is and how it will be run in the future will ultimately be decided by us. By granting education to every child in the world, we are ensuring the future of every nation in the world. As stated in the WYA Declaration on Health and Education, “Quality education must be available to all on an equal basis and should flow from an authentic understanding of the human person, and foster respect for self and others in solidarity.”
Giving a child proper education may the the most priceless gift you can give them as it allows them to correctly communicate the rights they deserve. Our intrinsic dignity gives us a purpose for anything we do and the passion needed to advocate for our rights. Meanwhile, education allows us to properly transmit that message.
For me, education has not only allowed me to learn things in a classroom setting. It has also opened my mind and helped me learn important lessons outside of the classroom. It has given me the motivation and the opportunity to pave a better future for me and my family. Me becoming educated has made my parent’s hardwork and sacrifice worth something. It has helped me properly represent my family well in new environments and things that they couldn’t achieve. Because I received a good education, I will be the first person in my family to graduate from college and receive a prosperous job here in the United States. I could only hope every other person is able to do the same. Because if they’re a human living on Earth, they deserve all the opportunities possible in order to thrive.
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Written by Genesis Abreu, a current intern from the WYA Headquarters in New York.
