Obama, the Youth and the Web

Many have already given their thoughts about how and why Barack Obama won, so let me cover the victory from a slightly different perspective. We'll make it relevant not just to the Philippines, but especially to our youth. Let's begin by comparing the mood between Obama's victory night and the day George W. Bush was re-elected, four years ago.

One caused buoyant cheering all around the world; the other made everyone shake their heads and wondered whether democracy still worked.

When George Dubya got re-elected, young people like California student James Zetlen erected websites like Sorry Everybody to say sorry to the world. “I wanted to apologize for not doing enough for the election,” said Zetlen in a news interview. The youth remembered their mistake this time and made sure that it would not be repeated in 2008.

Where Bush's win deflated our mood, Obama's victory gave our flagging spirits a much-needed boost. His rise to the Presidency is inspiring because of the obstacles he had to hurdle in order to win. More important for us, his victory is a demonstration of how the youth could make a difference.

Obama is the fifth youngest American president. His being "young" and "inexperienced" was a major issue raised against him, first by Hilary Clinton and then by John McCain. Both opponents failed on this strategy. What they did not realize was that young, educated Americans resonated with Obama's ideas. Obama had audacious plans for solving America's problems. He wanted to pour money on businesses that will develop alternative energy. He wanted to give health care for everyone. He emphasized peace rather than war. And he said that change began from each and every citizen.

These strategies were brash, unpopular to the status quo and therefore needed lots of courage to say out loud. It probably explains why Republicans and other traditional thinkers stayed away from them. Yet, ironically, they were just what the youth and "the New America" were looking for.

Inspired that change could actually be done, young people went out, contributed money and volunteered their time for the Obama campaign. They knocked on doors and talked to people about important issues and how Obama planned to solve them. They were active on the web and other new forms of communication. Young people were living the change.

I teach a Leadership course to MBA students at Ateneo. And I often point out to students that leadership is about inspiring people so that they will rise up and take control of their own destiny. The Obama campaign clearly demonstrated this. Obama's speeches focused on issues and delivering inspiring messages (one of their slogans was "Yes, We Can!". On the other hand, McCain constantly tried to attack Obama's personality (he kept on asking, "Do we really know Barack Obama?"). Observers have also commented on how McCain's campaign machinery broke down due to infighting, while Obama's volunteers slowly marched on from a seemingly impossible start to a glorious finish.

Just chew on this: McCain was a highly popular Senator who was known for surviving a Vietnamese prison, a constant guest of Jay Leno and had a well-oiled political party. Obama was an unknown Senator with low chances of winning (Clinton was the more popular Democratic candidate).

But he inspired the youth and the youth responded and acted. Our history reflects this lesson. Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal and other Filipino revolutionaries were all in their 20s at the peak of their lives. When young people set their minds to something, no amount of obstacles and nay-saying can stop them.

Share Your Stories and Ideas

For the young people (15-25 yrs old): 

Got an inspiring story?  Know someone who is helping make the change? Or maybe you're losing sleep or tearing your hair out because you think people can do better.

Tell us what you care about, what keeps you up at night. Share stories of your projects or those you've been involved with. Share with us how you felt and what you learned. 

Adults (those who didn't meet the age range, above :D): 

What concerns you about the youth? We've received many stories (some of them complaints) about the foibles of today's youth. Or is it really just a generation gap that is widened because of the different, hi-tech world in which they are now growing up? Tell us what you think about today's youth. 

As we Pinoys say, "The more, the many-er." Help enrich The Y Factor by sharing your ideas and stories. You can start by posting a comment here!

Standard Indicators (or the Lack of)

One problem that has kept popping up in our work is the lack of standardized statistical indicators. Sure, there's a lot of statistics flying about in the web, but trying to merge them to form one clear, cohesive picture is a chore.

"How's that?" you ask. Consider the definition of "youth". At the Y Factor, we have agreed to define the youth through an age range of 15 to 25 years old. However, studies have different ways of segmenting age ranges. One study may show a range of "below 15" while another displays ranges of 15-19 while using 10-24 in another. 

To complicate things further, even the government agencies have overlapping ways of defining the age range. The National Youth Council (NYC) defines the youth as 15 to 30 years old. In a young society like the Philippines, 30 years old seems to be too old to be considered young :)

This has bearing in estimating, for instance, the number of youth in the Philippines. If we define our youth as people ages 15-25, while various studies define theirs differently, then we need to make some smart extrapolations.

All Lined Up

Coming up with topics is the least of our worries at the Y Factor-y. Judging from the rich trove of materials on the youth, a lot of people agree: the youth are a major factor for change in the society!

Here's our lineup of topics so far:

• Youth and Spirituality , including a sidebar on our participation in the World Youth Day
• Youth Organizations or organizations that help the youth
• Idols
• Youth Online
• Growing up Pinoy Abroad
• Entrepreneurship
• Kabataan News Network
• Media Habits
• Young Celebrities
• State of Education
• Non-formal Education
• Addictions
• UAAP
• Pacquiao and the Youth
• Youth and Sexuality
• Trafficking
• Sangguniang Kabataan
• Juvenile Justice
• Campus Journalism
• Youth and Politics
• Call Center Industry
• Servant Leadership
• Muslim youth
• Young achievers who have gained international recognition

Have something you strongly believe should be part of the lineup? Feel free to let us know!

How to Help The Y Factor

There are several ways to help create The Y Factor:

• Sponsor or purchase ads in the book itself. Help the book and reach your target audience. The Y Factor's target audience are decision makers, CEOs, educators, political leaders, opinion leaders, NGOs and other individuals and organizations concerned with the youth. To sponsor or buy ad space, email: reserve(at)y-factor.org.
  
• Reserve your copies of the book in advance. Email: reserve(at)y-factor.org
• Donate The Y Factor as a gift. The Y Factor sourcebook is a perfect gift for institutions, libraries and friends. Email: reserve(at)y-factor.org

Interested to contribute photos, articles, ideas and effort? Contact the editorial team: editorial(at)y-factor.org

The Y Factor as Hub

As we dig through information about the youth and our country, it's becoming more and more obvious that there's no dearth of stats when it comes to youth issues and concerns. Googling with a set of keywords yields tons of links. For instance, the ADB website alone contains various studies, indicators and references about Asia in general and the Philippines in particular.

This deluge of information only reinforces the need for The Y Factor sourcebook. With all the information that's available, the question changes from "What are the facts?" to "Which of the volumes of facts really matter?"

What we really need is a hub of experts where information can be reviewed, assessed and filtered. The Y Factor sourcebook will be that hub.

Domain name and logo

We switched on our new domain name a couple of days ago. You may now visit this site through http://y-factor.org or http://www.y-factor.org. Please set your bookmarks now!

If you wish to reserve in advance a copy of the book, email reserve@y-factor.org.

Our logo is now also almost final. It's amazing how today's technology is helping our team work together despite the fact that we are in separate locations. 

It's time to begin the conversation about the youth, through The Y Factor. 

Abangan!

Momentum picking up

The pace here at Y Factor has definitely picked up. Our tireless editor Grace has started making article briefs and sending them. Ros, our ever-reliable researcher is working miracles in digging up research on the youth. And our wonderful designers have uploaded a couple of great cover studies. I'm having difficulty picking which cover to vote: Study 1 or 4? 

I also like all the logo studies presented in the cover studies. As soon as the logo is approved, we'll be changing the logo on this blog too!

The Y Factor

This is the official blog of The Y Factor.

What is The Y Factor?

The Y Factor is a sourcebook of issues, success stories and vital information about the Filipino Youth. 

The Y Factor is intended for decision-makers, school administrators, political leaders and agents of change.

Why Y?

We believe in changing society and, like Rizal, we believe in the youth as a critical factor towards this goal. But not enough is being done about this. We need to a coordinated effort. We need stories to inspire. We need an integrated source of information about the youth.

Who is behind Y Factor?

The Y Factor is a collaborative effort of people who have worked with the youth. Publisher Fr. Armand Robleza of Salesian Missions has been publishing various magazines and books related to the youth.

Editor-in-Chief Grace M. Leung is the editor of Junior Inquirer and a supervisor/consultant for Kabataan News Network. She was also supervising producer of 5 and UP.

When is it coming out?

The Y Factor will be released on December 2008. Salesian Missions plans to release it annually.