Changing of the Guard: Youth Leading Democracy
Friday, June 17, 2011 at 4:30 PM CDT • M100 FG
Erin Mazursky, Lamees Dhaif, Trinh Nguyen, Mohammed Zouhair Ait Benhamou
The Middle East is blowing up, and pro-democracy youth are lighting the fuse. Youth are oftentimes pegged as perpetrators and purveyors of conflict and violence, but what goes less noticed is that youth are also the agents of positive social change around the world, particularly in peaceful pro-democracy movements. Social media is paving the way to make this possible. Youth took front and center stage in orchestrating the recent revolutions in Iran, Moldova and now thus far in Tunisia and Egypt. Is social media just a common platform linking these movements together? Or does this up and coming generation also share common democratic values that tie us together like never before? Chances are, it's a little bit of both.