Youth Mental Health And America’s Future: What Young People Say Needs To Change

By: URL Media

What if the biggest thing young people want from America isn’t a policy at all? They’re asking for a country that prioritizes “mental health and peace,” where mentors show up and neighbors actually get along. Speakers in a video about America’s future introduce themselves by first name, then describe the country they hope to build.

One wants an America where everyone prioritizes what it takes for America to have “an empowering future.” Mentorship is part of the plan. Another speaker hopes mentors will “help lead young people” so the next generation can “build success.” What they’re asking is practical: For adults who have walked the path to show up for those just starting. Sucess, as they explain, is something older and younger Americans build together. Others kept their vision broad and hopeful: “To continue progressing.” Another pictured America in 25 years as “a nice, peaceful, calm place where everyone and everything gets along.”

Those hopes arrived 250 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Its authors named “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” among inalienable rights.” For these speakers, a happy life and a peaceful one are inseparable from mental well-being. So what can Americans do with what these young people said? The takeaways are straightforward. We should make room for honest conversations about mental health. Step up as mentors. Building communities where “everyone belongs.”

Mentors can offer guidance, neighbors can offer patience and communities can make support easy to find. The young people in this series have said what they want. The next step belongs to those of us who listened and to whoever decides to act on it. YOU MATTER The future is built one voice at a time. Hear how America’s youth envision stronger communities, brighter futures, and a country where everyone belongs.

Watch the latest Youth Voices stories. Because every voice helps shape what’s next. Remember, You Matter. Call. Text. Chat 988.