Montreal junior youth groups

(Note à nos lecteurs francophones: la traduction arrive!)

Hello dear friends!

The first order of business would be to explain a little what these “Junior Youth Groups” are (JYG for short). It’s a little scary to put it in writing, because the powers that be (i.e. the Institutions) could potentially read this! So we have decided to rely, quite heavily, on the material used to train JY animators.

Junior Youth (JY for short) are those aged between 11 and 15 who are going through intense transformations in a very short period of time. Not only do they radically change physically in the span of these 4 years, but their thought process change just as radically. These changes occur in a way to ready these junior youth to become adults; after all, Baha’u’llah designated the age of 15 as the beginning of maturity.

Classic Baha’í education used to group junior youth with children; however, because these courses didn’t stimulate the new powers JY were developing, many dropped out. By the same token, putting junior youth in courses for adults, even simple ones, wasn’t a good idea, because they hadn’t had the time to develop the tools they needed to study these materials. This was unfortunate, as junior youth have an innate sense of justice and a tendency towards altruism that make them the ideal population to arise to perform acts of service. “When appropriate attention is given to the needs of this age group over an extended period of time, the majority will grow up to be among the most valuable resources of the Bahá’í community” ².

The Universal House of Justice tells us that:

“Strategies to advance the process of entry by troops cannot ignore children and junior youth, if the victories won in one generation are not to be lost with the passage of time. It is imperative, then, that at this point in the process of systematization of the teaching work, definite steps be taken to ensure that the vision of the community fully embraces its young members.”¹

To fully embrace the young members of our community in a way that will help them develop to their fullest their innate sense of justice and tendency towards altruism,“(…) our programs for junior youth, who are the youth of tomorrow, need to assist them to adopt lofty aims, be inspired by noble thoughts, and develop qualities and abilities that a life of service to the Cause and to humanity will require of them.” ²

To develop such a curriculum, it was necessary to understand the population it was aimed at, as well as the environment within which it is being developed.

“Adolescence as a stage in human life is characterized by sudden and rapid changes. These changes are not merely physical, but more fundamentally emotional, intellectual and behavioural. It is important to note that these changes do not occur in a vacuum. Environment, culture, upbringing, and relationships contribute to the nature and direction of these changes, influencing young people to think, act and behave in certain ways.” ²

The environment within which these junior youth grow up, while different in regards to cultural details, is the same everywhere in the world today in that people are desperately searching for a meaning to their lives. The Universal House of Justice explains that:

“More and more people from all strata of society frantically seek their true identity, which is to say, although they would not so plainly admit it, the spiritual meaning of their lives; prominent among these seekers are the young.” ³

How does the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment program (JYSEP) help junior youth navigate through these difficult times?

The first element that a junior youth group contributes to this purpose is providing a safe, non-judgmental environment within which the junior youth can talk freely about their concerns.

The second element is that the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program helps junior youth acquire the skills to identify, clarify, elaborate, analyse and explain the moral and spiritual implications of what they do and what they say. The environment of a junior youth group cannot be adequately be exploited to elevate conversation if the junior youth can’t express themselves. A series of books enhancing the power of expression of junior youth is included in the curriculum of the JYSEP. Through various stories and tales, JY learn to extract the deeper moral and spiritual meaning of day-to-day events.

To ensure that these newly understood concepts regarding moral and spiritual aspects to their day-to-day lives are immediately put to practice, the junior youth are encouraged to do acts of service to their community. Service projects allow for junior youth to participate and contribute to the betterment of their community, but also bring the conversation about the concepts as seen in the junior youth books to a concrete level. As ‘Abdu’l-Baha tells us:

“Love ye all religions and all races with a love that is true and sincere and show that love through deeds and not through the tongue; for the latter hath no importance, as the majority of men are, in speech, well-wishers, while action is the best.” ⁴

There is a lot more to be said about the JYSEP, but we choose to end our introduction here. For those who are currently serving as junior youth animators, we hope this was a refreshing revision. For those of you just looking, we hope this has wet your appetite and that we are going to see you at the next animator training!

References

1. Universal House of Justice (1999) Message to the Bahá’ís of the world dated November 26^th 1999.
2. Arbab, S (2004). Notes from a talk: “Programs for the Spiritual Empowerment of Junior Youth”. Presented in Sydney, Australia and Perth, Australia. October 2004.
3. Universal House of Justice (1984) Message to the Bahá’í Youth of the World dated January 3^rd, 1984
4. Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 69