Drop the "language(s) of youth" - be official in approach.

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It may not be the problem of youths even. They may not be knowing or liking it if they do. Rather how they are collectively perceived and in some way begrudgingly accept as to be them. For they have no otherwise, or are unconcerned with trivials as good language use - there's more in their heads. If anything they were at school and averagely scored less in languages. Others scored well. None or few any longer writes, reads books, engages in cross-age-interactive forums apart from obvious association with fellow youths.

When you ask a community worker about what language he/she will use for ‘effective’ engagement with the youths there will be some form of new trends, new words, some ungrammatical sentences, assumptions of communication. Today there is this term and tomorrow another. This could be a literal take of Nelson Mandela’s quote “When you speak in a language I understand, that goes to my head. When you speak in my language, that goes to the heart.”

My language, in the case of youths, is not how I articulate, how I got renamed jargons, how I intone. That would be mimicry to say! I would not take you serious even. And that is, despite ‘lowering yourself to their level’ has made no or little impact to youth aimed initiatives. Why would a well-read, well-spoken, well-intended community change agent attempt to be lowly-relevant in a case where he or she is leading a change process?

By speaking in a formal way, you are first in respect of propagating such aspects of and in relation to the program, you earn mastery respects, and you set the initiative at a bar, a minimal level of association. Your Mother-Tongue grasp is top, Kiswahili grammar is admirable and English in its place. That is a win through the facilitation process. The in-school youths are benefitting, the out-school youths are kept eager, the facilitator does not waste time referring to new terms unnecessarily or breaking thought lines. For the use of mixed or low-case language might be in the facilitator’s little language know-how!

In a case of drug and substance abuse, who does not know the basic names of drugs? But by trying to call in the trend-names in thinking you are touching their hearts, you are indirectly legitimizing their own naming, their using and by the time you are discussing affects you will be conflicting yourself – had you not first accepted them by use of their language? Why deny them as the session comes to an end. You had better be a stranger, the ‘youths’ developing interest in your session, appearing admirable in official communication, perhaps on their own volition to accept your message and accept you too. Good is admirable.

That language being a tool of change, good use of it will help us achieve more in recognition that the youths are the backbone of any society. To write well, to speak well results from thinking smart. All in the different sectors where youth are active – sports, music, agriculture, politics, community work, white-collar jobs and all. Every youth has to, on own volition, step up, chase dreams. And the path is in listening to and speaking errorless language.