For most of the young people, it is clear that this system has no future to offer. One often spoke about the young people of Saint Martin as a disillusioned generation, one that has no interest in anything and without a dream. However, with each new day, the youth shows us that it is not at all a resigned generation.
The social situation of the youth rhymes with hardship. Each year the situation worsens whether they are still in school, struggling to find employment or young workers. Below 25 years of age, the youth is excluded from all welfare plan. Even if they worked at some point, they are not entitled to unemployment allowances. Right now, being young is to survive while juggling between the bills and finding a job or getting a diploma which, as times passes, is less and less a guarantee for the remainder of our life.
The unemployment rate of the young people in overseas France - and thus in Saint Martin - is close to the 60%. For the past 30 years, on the national level it has been oscillating between 20 and 25%, it is twice and half higher than that of the " adult " population...
What should be done about this? We, at Generation Outre-mer, think that it is firstly advisable to restore the confidence of the young people, individually and collectively. That means that new dynamics have to be imposed which calls for a modification of the image Saint Martin has of itself; we have to communicate more on the assets of the country and by showing that the fate of the young people is a true concern of the elected officials and economic stakeholders, by becoming an example and the valorization of the history and the culture of Saint Martin.
The concern also calls for more concrete actions towards the young people, by improving the prospects for employment, and by granting them greater financial autonomy...
We are persuaded that the socio-professional development of any man is conditioned by his academic success, so, optimizing education is a pressing need. One can recommend that the child be considered a person, and not only as a pupil, by giving to the children, as of the smaller classes, the opportunity to discover their own capacities in various fields and by not stigmatizing the pupils who have chosen trade schooling. Moreover, the development of a curriculum that includes Saint Martin and the Caribbean (history, political events, traditional knowledge...) is likely to encourage them.
Reinforcing the attractiveness of Saint Martin also calls for a fight against the insecurity and the feeling of insecurity. One would be mistaken in thinking that the youth does not struggle with the feeling of insecurity. A few hints to fight against insecurity and the feeling of insecurity: the creation of an enclosed educational centre, the installation of our military adapted service, but also the setting up "of school of parents" in our districts, the setting up of a help-desk for the youth and a true prevention policy and specialized education....Who, today, can objectively say that the APAIS was not fulfilling its role in Quartier d'Orleans?
Moreover, respect and solidarity are values which are inclined to disappear as a logical consequence of strong propensity to individuation, excessive consumerism and a search for hedonism. Consequently, it is advised to center spirituality on developing a sense of responsibility and solidarity by encouraging the youth to become makers of the events and activities (district fêtes, festivals...) and by steering them to the required effort to earn money by putting them in concrete situation of financial management, which will also sensitize them with the value work.
In 2008, after the presentation of the White paper of the youth to the President L.C FLEMING, a certain number of formal engagements had been taken by him. Although we are pleased that some of our proposals were taken into consideration (territorial youth council, setting up of department that deals with youth affairs, diagram of childhood and youth, assistance fund towards the youth....), we cannot but note that the youth policy (as a public policy) is non-existent and should more be viewed as simple posting!
Therefore, we feel that the Advisory council of Saint Martin (in collaboration with the services of the Territorial Council, the district councils and the lifeblood of the territory), should take up this matter and to further study the reality of the youth of Saint-Martin aiming at:
- displaying the representations, strategies and aspirations of the young people of Saint Martin
- providing a thorough diagnosis of the conditions of existence of the youth
- provide potential actions in order to mitigate the identified weaknesses
By painting such a picture of the youth and its environment, which implies to understand its difficulties (in particular the de-motivation phenomena, elements of frustration and violence, difficulties in the area of intergenerational dialogue and addictions, but also, its expectations, for example, as regards social environment, leisure, socio-professional accompaniment...), the Advisory council will then be able to legitimately make suggestions and proposals in view of improving the conditions of existence of the youth of Saint-Martin.
The problems that our young people are faced with are many and multiform, but solutions exist. It is thus advisable to tackle the immediate problems of the youth, such as the lack of employment, the insufficiency of financial autonomy, the difficulties in finding housing or security issues. But it is also necessary to restore their individual and collective confidence and support the respect of certain values, like the respect, solidarity or work.
As a reminder once again, a country which does not love its youth is a country that has no love for itself! And if it were still necessary to point it out, the political issues for 2012, whether on the local or on the national level, will deal mainly with youth related and fiscal issues.
