In the midst of troubling youth violence, gangs and deficient parenting, there is a number of voluntary organisations seeking to provide some healing and hope, particularly for the youth.

This month, two such organisations caught the public's attention – Kevin Ratiram’s Rapidfire Kids Foundation (RKF) and National Gas Company’s Inspire 2 Achieve (i2A). Ratiram’s foundation is sponsored by Atlantic LNG and See-Vu Optical.

However, in the current, harsh, unfriendly environment, there are challenges that must be overcome for successful results. Loss of hope in the future is a major cause, a psychological deficiency, in the career goals of many young people. Hope, goal-setting and aspirations have motivational powers. That is what the programmes of both organisations strive to achieve.

We cannot allow youths to lose hope. Hope should spring eternal in the human heart. Without hope in the future, desperation steps in. People stuck in a faraway boat live on hoping somebody will save them. Bedridden patients hope to get better soon. Backed by parents, children writing SEA hope to get into a "prestige school." Losing hope brings a person close to suicide. Whatever this country’s troubles – political, economic or social – there are so many people and organisations that bring hope for better tomorrows. And I remain amazed at that, at the human spirit to survive in the midst of adversity.

NGC’s i2A project for the seven-17 age group seeks “to inspire youths to dream big” over a three-year period. It says “we aim to inspire youths to dream big and to equip them with the knowledge and skills to transform their dreams into reality.”

I hope these “dreams” are not only about becoming “lawyers and doctors.” Such heavily entrenched, culturally-idealised occupational goals, noble as they are, still remain grammar-school-type professions.

[caption id="attachment_986601" align="alignnone" width="433"] -[/caption]

Notably, from within poor, working-class communities, those are the professions that are largely celebrated before all others – not anything much about technical and vocational achievements. But not all young people, for well-known reasons, can become, or in fact, should seek to become a lawyer or doctor.

But while such individual success is deserving of celebration, we have to be careful that it is not the only criterion for success. However, I also know that this cultural value will not change any time soon. And becoming a very skilled technician or a brilliant IT specialist will still have to wait its turn on the pedestal. Generally, setting goals and achieving “worthy” careers have always been a critical challenge for youths, especially from working-class backgrounds.

As researcher at the Toronto Board of Education, I published a study, Educational Aspirations: What Matters? (1975). It showed, among other things, that while many poor, working students had as much ability as middle or upper-class ones, they lacked the academic self-concept to succeed.<