GUIDING YOUNG PEOPLE TOWARD THE FUTURE: simple instructions for use

In the last five years, have you asked a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

It is highly likely that some of the answers might have been: “When I grow up I want to be a youtuber” or an “influencer.”

According to research carried out by Professor Emanuela Rinaldi of the department of business economics of the Bicocca University of Milan (Di.SEA.DE), these are among the professions that today’s young people dream most of for their future.

Everyone wishes only the best for their children – a stable, remunerative, and satisfying employment that will allow them to build their future and cultivate their passions. And, if younger people used to dream of being actors, doctors, astronauts, or singers, we should not be surprised that in 2020 they want to be youtubers.

SOCIETY CHANGES, WORK CHANGES

In January 2016, a report from the Word Economic Forum entitled “The Future of Jobs and Skills” explained that in most sectors, the ten professions most in demand in the market just ten years earlier did not exist. We are in the middle of the fourth industrial revolution. Developments in artificial intelligence, robotics, and nanotechnology – just to name a few – are building and amplifying this phenomenon that will only grow in the coming years. The same study reports that about 65% of children who started primary school in 2016 have jobs that nobody is familiar with today. If we think about it, today already many of those who deal with professions related to digitization are struggling to explain what they do to their grandparents or parents.

Although we are not very well informed about what a big data analyst is, how exactly a social media manager occupies his day, or how to configure the professionalism of a creator of YouTube content, you have to realize that these are jobs in all respects and, indeed, they represent a large part of the most sought after professional skills of the near future.

HOW TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE FACE THE FUTURE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY

1. COMMUNICATE WITH THEM

The first step is certainly to communicate with them: understand what really interests and fascinates them and why. They will lead you into a world perhaps unknown to you, filled with apps, games, and Instagram; the most daring of them might be involved in a tiktok challenge.

Don’t be prejudiced. Instead, understand why that content or that particular activity interests your kids so much, and try to discover and reflect with them about the positives and negatives.

2. GUIDE THEM IN EDUCATIONAL COURSES, AVOIDING PRECONCEPTIONS

Another fundamental element is to try to guide them toward the best educational path to reach their goals. Schools, colleges, and universities around the world are integrating academic curricula with innovative teaching to ensure education in subjects that recognize the social transformation of technology and its rapid evolution.

Many countries have already begun to embrace information technology as part of their national curriculum. In the United States, 44 states have integrated computing as part of their academic core. And over 25 countries around the world have announced plans to expand day-to-day access to information technology.

A very common problem that occurs in the choice of which educational path to take, especially in adolescence, is to pour on children, already confused and disoriented, one’s own aspirations and beliefs.

New school curricula and new subjects on the market are not always the object of knowledge or immediate understanding by older children.

For example, in Italy the old “accounting” today is called “administration, finance, and marketing,” and those who want to study as a surveyor must enroll in “construction, environment, and territory.” It is not clear to everyone that the professional institutes, in addition to the five-year diploma courses, also allow for a regional qualification at the end of the third year and that there are numerous institutes that offer innovative educational courses linked to the professions of the future or the development of artistic and digital skills.

In short, if technology moves quickly, the world of education moves at the same pace; therefore, it is essential to inform oneself and take into account the aspirations of children and their interests both at school and outside of school in order to guide them in the best possible way.

3. BE A GUIDE IN THEIR PRESENT TO PREPARE THEM FOR THE FUTURE

Although young people today are more independent and accustomed to technology than adults, the parental role must not be lost. They will always need points of reference – whether they are teachers, parents, relatives, or friends. They need to be made to understand that being a “youtuber” also requires professionalism and technical skills and that, being a job in its own right, it has responsibilities that need to be carried out and skills that need to be learned. And if “in life you never stop learning” this is more true than ever in the digital society.

Despite the fact that today we have everything at our fingertips, there is always a need for human relationships; and at the basis of all the professions and activities young people will undertake there are ethical and moral values that only human relationships can teach them. Good parents who were simple farmers used to teach the essentials about life to their children who would then go on to graduate, even though they did not have their children’s education. Learning is one more than an academic education. Precisely for this reason, good parents listen attentively and without prejudice: in order to guide their choices, it is necessary to understand what is at stake and help their children to discern the superficial (without perhaps ever calling it that to avoid their children not listening), the important, and the essential.

Young people are indispensable for the growth of a country and the future of the world, and for this reason they must be supported and encouraged. Do not be afraid to change, and always encourage them to be the protagonists of their future!