Engage and Educate the Future Leaders of the World to Address Its Many Challenges

One's education or knowledge base is the foundation from which everything emanates. Contrary to our country's capitalistic ideals, an education is not simply a sheepskin in hand to get a good paying job, but rather a training of the mind that one can utilize to address the many challenges of the world. You see, our intellect (facilitated by our education/knowledge base) is humanity's competitive advantage. We are nowhere near the strongest, fastest, or biggest specie on the planet, yet we enjoy dominance. If not for our intellect (ability to learn, create, and address life's challenges) we would be at the mercy of the lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! If not for our ability to learn, we would not be able to recognize oncoming weather patterns from past storms, leaving us at the mercy of mother nature's wrath. If not for our ability to create, we would still be living in caves, instead of building modern civilizations with ever-improving conveniences. Without the use of our intellect to address life's challenges, our curiosity and concern alone would not have been enough to stamp out diseases like polio that once plagued humanity.It is our ability to learn, create, and solve problems through the attainment of knowledge that sets human beings apart from other species (that tend to rely on natural physical attributes and instinct). Sadly, many of us do not develop our intellect enough to address many of the challenges that the world faces (such as hunger, disease, violence, inequality, and poverty). Luckily, there are pockets of forward-thinking adults around the world feverishly engaging and educating the young minds of today so that they can be the leaders of tomorrow that will address challenges such as these. Still, there are questions that arise.In what state are the young minds of today in? Are they even aware of the challenges of the world? If not, is anything being done to make them aware?Do they understand the impact that these challenges have on humanity's well-being? If not, what is being done to help them understand?Are they willing to take on the challenges of the world?What are young people of today doing to prepare themselves to be this world's next set of leaders? And what are the leaders and teachers of today doing to prepare our young people for the challenges they will face?What are some of the challenges they believe the world faces?Are these issues being talked about at their schools? If not, can anything be done to introduce these issues in their schools?Are they talking about these issues with friends? If not, why?Do they feel powerless to do anything about these challenges? If so, why?Do they have any ideas that could be further developed to possibly address any of these issues?After discussing with your future leaders' their views, insights, and facility with the challenges facing the world, assess whether they are sufficiently aware and understand these challenges' impact on humanity's well-being. Then determine what kind of, if any intervention is needed on your part to get them up to speed. It is our job as parents, uncles, aunts, teachers, and adults to inspire that light bulb of ideas that exists in all of our children. Remember, knowledge is power, but without an awareness and understanding of the challenges the world faces, our children will be at the mercy of them (reacting, not being proactive).However, of utmost importance are the questions that we have to ask of ourselves.What do we want for our children and their future? And are we willing to do what is necessary to prepare them for it? If the light switch is not turned on already, it's time to hit the switch.