Youth and Adults: Crossing the Divide
By Huysan Allmart


Exercise: Fold a sheet of paper in half lengthwise (hot-dog style, as one participant 
put it). Without unfolding the piece of paper, on the left side write a) whatever comes 
to mind when you think of youth, b) how youth are seen by society in general. When 
you're done with that flip the paper over, again without unfolding it, and write any 
words or phrases that stick out from the passages I will read from the Bahá'í writings 
concerning youth (Appendix C).

Now unfold the paper and compare yours' and societys' view of youth and how the 
Faith views them. Think about any differences and/or similarities and how they came 
to be.

Form groups that have an even mix of youth and adults, if possible, and share your 
thoughts and responses.

Look for patterns in the experiences of the youth and adults in your group. What is 
harmful? What perceptions about each other keep people from interacting positively? 
From what you've heard, is your community friendly to youth? To adults? Have you 
developed an appropriate attitude?

One intended outcome of this exercise is to make explicit certain things. We all have 
mental models, certain assumptions about the world that shape how we see things. We all 
have mental models about both youth and adults. Often these are contrary to the spirit of 
the Faith. Many will say that if they had been asked to think about Bahá'í youth 
specifically instead of youth in general they would have been more positive. Is the House 
asking us to develop an appropriate attitude only towards Bahá'í youth? Aren't youth 
outside of the Faith one of the largest groups responding to the National Media 
Campaign? Also, how do we view adults? Do youth see them as being in the way? 
Boring? Resistant to change? Which aspects of these mental models are true, of both 
youth and adults, and which of them need to be changed to create the kind of community 
Bahá'ú'lláh intended?