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High intellectual and moral values,
innovation and fearlessness, discipline,
good habits and a strong sense of purpose
should assure our youth a promising
future. Yet the world they will grow up
in is radically different from anything
their parents have ever experienced
or could even have imagined, and the
generation gap is wider than ever before.
Dynamic change can create limitless
opportunities for those with the energy
and the enthusiasm to seize them, but
at the same time, it can breed confusion
and uncertainty in those who are not
properly equipped or empowered to take
advantage.
Our task thereforeasparents, teachers and
mentors is to foster in young Barbadians a
new generation of confident and capable,
multilingual world citizens, who know
they can make a living anywhere. They
must be free to fly, not constrained by the
shackles of “the good old days”.
To empower our young people, we must
show them love and understanding,
communicate with them, and channel
their hopes and aspirations in positive
directions. We must give them the skills
and opportunities to face this Brave New
World, but we must also ground them in
those enduring Barbadian values which
have sustained our progress as a nation
and a people.
Our young peoplemust be given exposure
wherever possible to travel to recognize
that they are truly global citizens. This
will help build bridges of understanding
among our youth and expand their
thinking as to possibilities.
The Barbados Labour Party will work
every day to turn our positive vision for
our young people into their reality, to help
them achieve their full potential and play
their part in taking our country forward.
