I don’t want them to define my public service action only as “young”.
“I think you are still too young!”
Once when I had just finished my sharing of public services on a sharing session, which was oriented to parents of kindergarten and primary school students, and was to be answering the audiences’ questions, a men who was in his 30s told me these words meaningfully, with a bit homiletic tone.
It was too unexpected for me to receive this comment. With fear as well as expect, I waited for his following words. However, I was asked to do the sharing in another assembly room by the host. Not knowing what he was going to say next, I hurried off the session, fortunately or not.
But from then on, that parent, with his tone, his expression and especially his words “you are still too young” always lingered in my mind. Sometimes I thought he was right, but I would show my disagreement most of the times. I was unwilling to submit to his words.
It’s true that I am young. So what?
Recalling from primary school to now, I discovered that “youth” did made my public service journey unique. As a member of “Later Generation”, I had gained special treatment and encouragement from “Former Generation”, meanwhile experienced the “friction” when the first time I had connection to the society.
In my opinion, the experience I had with “public service” might be useful and helpful to peers like me, for sooner or later, all of us have to leave the campus, to truly contact the society, to learn to cooperate with the so called “adults”, and to acquire approval from more people.
01 The Beginning of my Public Service: from excitement, self-suspicious to growth
It was 10 years age, in a pouring night, at a public service activity held by CCTV called “Please Give Me a Hug”, that I first encountered with public service and contacted with AIDS patients as a primary school student. As I sat next to a group of brothers and sisters chatting with them wearing a raincoat, I don’t think they were any different from me. Later, I was told that they were children who suffered from AIDS and aided by loving people. Their lives are also slightly different from me because of AIDS.
After that, I stared to knew more about AIDS, paid close attention to social organizations about AIDS protection and control, and met some public service project sponsors and volunteers. I, still in primary school, gradually set foot on the road of public service.
“Encouragement” was the biggest feedback I received when I devoted myself into public services as a primary school student. Those adults would give a kind look on me every time I expressed my opinions at public service colloquiums, and encouraged me to hang in there and kept going. Children like me were also warmly welcomed by adults when we participated in such public services. But I knew that these encouragements and approval were not for how valuable my point was, but only because I was a child.
I was not satisfied with this kind of “encouragement”. I hope to know how to de public service like those adults. So, I tried to discuss the structure of public service organization with adults, organize public service colloquiums and initiate “love walking activity”… But it seemed impossible to get rid of the label of “children” even though I had done all these things. A question also puzzled me all the time: “How can I came up with the best idea at meetings, then put them into real action like adults”?
I gradually lost the “special treatment” I received because of my young age when I entered junior high school. The public services I did received the support of some adults, however, I felt the prejudice from them after that. “What can I do as a junior high school student? What is the value of youth in the public services?” These questions were bothering me all the time, for I would like to be an actor rather than a participant or a learner all the time.
So, I made up my mind to start from my side. Campus, the place where I knew best and most likely to make an impact as a student. Thus, I started my first public service in my school.
At that time, I wanted to raise money for my public service program which helps AIDS protection and control, so I met every person I could in my school, including school authorities, teachers, classmates and their parents. I invited them to hold a charity bazaar on the Children’s Day, promising that all money from the charity bazaar would be donated to the public service program of helping AIDS protection and control.
Excitement, nervousness, and worry filled the two-week-preparation for the charity bazaar. As soon as the class was finished, I ran to the door of other classes and asked them to help me raise the goods, ran to the offices of the teachers and school authorities, invited them to participate in the charity bazaar, and confirmed the venue with them. Once I was embarrassed to told my teachers and classmates about stories of my public services, but that time I seemed to have a lot of courage, for I have a very clear sense of goal to get rid of the label of “children”. The “embarrassment” once I suffered had been left behind. On that occasion, I also gained tremendous support. Unexpectedly, students and teachers from all classes supported me by getting their goods from home.
However, doubts didn’t disappear.
While inviting other people, a men suddenly said me: “You are still too young” This sudden query completely blanked my mind. Not knowing how to reply, I rushed out simply by saying “Thanks, excuse me”.
Like a repeater, “You are still too young” lingered ceaselessly in my mind, which affected my mind through the rest of my days of preparation. Still, I determined to finish this charity bazaar.
I could still remember when the charity bazaar was over, everyone came to express their congratulations to me by saying: “What a successful charity bazaar!”. It was at that moment that I found my strength, and discovered I have the opportunity to have some impact on this society like an adult.
Looking back, the teacher’s words were not a shake of my confident, but rather it makes me more determined my ability and the belief to participate in the public services. There was a time when I wanted to go back and tell that teacher I was not cheated, and I knew clearly what I want to do.
However, I discovered it unnecessarily to have this kind of “approval”. As the saying goes: “With great power comes great responsibility”. If you had determined the value of something, just stick to it, then doubts would collapse of itself.
Recalling the very first time of my public service, I realized that the reason why many classmates and teachers around me supported me is because I was young, and it was youth that brought me inevitable doubts from those people who had richer experiences than me. If a choice was given to me to went back to that moment, I was sure that I would never rushed out of that classroom overwhelmed.
02 So, the cooperation with adults was not only encouragement or query
After entering the high school, I started to launch new public service projects. Again I felt the inconvenience of being too young.
To persuade more people outside the school to get into my projects, I tried to work with the grown. I felt myself an invader with no full preparation, stumbling into a world full of challenges and surprises.
On one hand, I could still feel the prejudice from adults. They cooperated with me in my projects with different purposes. They talked with me in an unequal position. Perhaps in their perspective, high school students were still children, who could only be involved but not propel public service projects. On the other hand, their ways of working suddenly pressed me. Sometimes the pattern of their behavior befuddled me. I did not even know that behind euphemism could lurk requests of profits, which made me think my public service career no longer pure anymore.
I felt uncomfortable, felt like a green-hand suddenly fall into the adult world. I gradually got familiar with those rules and conventions, but still had to face that banality of workplaces.
But I started to realize that all such discomfort was actually from myself. I have not adjusted to an adult world. Also I noticed that not all grievance was reasonable. From a participant to a launcher or even a planer, I have grown up with the ability of standing in others’ shoes.
Is that teacher who doubted whether I was tricked really a person holding bias towards public service or adolescents? Maybe he was just worried, or he wanted to remind me out of a good will. Maybe he was just confused by a student who abruptly broke into his noon break.
We are young, we may be energetic but we do lack experience. We are not sophisticated enough to socialize and we do not know how to invite others to our true mind. What’s more, we have not formed a professional spirit of respecting others’ time and energy.
As a later generation, we sometimes need to embrace the adults’ thoughts. Maybe we hold prejudice to them as well. The way to find such prejudice is to see. The grown need to see what the adolescents have done in our studying life and what we are doing for the society. In the cooperation, adults need to communicate frankly, to tell us what they expect and concern about. And we adolescents should collaborate with them with the same attitude in counter.
And such frankness to each other would get us huge surprise.
In this year’s the inter-subject project curriculum of Moonshot Academy, which was called
Double H (a course themed with human health),several learners and I launched a brand new public service project– “Why Youth”. Different from my previous projects, this one was aimed to giving power to my peers who else had interests in public service, and to helping them design and carry out feasible projects with reliable needs. Thus,our group wrote an “Introductory Handbook for Adolescent Public Service” referred to our experiences in public service and previous materials.
What’s more, we also organized an online experience-sharing seminar named “To begin an adolescent public service project–I show you and you show the world”. We wished to introduce more people about the difficulties in doing our projects, and also to introduce how the adolescents can make such projects. We also connected Ms. Helen, a teacher who had being focusing on charity education. She was our guest to provide a new perspective on our topic.
Ms. Helen and I have never met before. In our rehearsal, I called her, other guests and our host with anxiety and uncertainty. Just before the rehearsal ended, Ms. Helen suddenly said: “I was surprised when you called me for attending the rehearsal yesterday.” At that time, I wondered whether I had neglected the “hidden rules” between adults again. Maybe I should not invite guests to rehearsal before the event, but to talk in private first?
“But I think this is good, very serious of you in work,” continued she, “If everyone could throw away some orthodox patterns to work, it will be better.” Hearing this I was first surprised, then joyful. I think through honest communication, we could finally gain respect and appraise from each other.
At last, this activity was held successfully. There were 464 participants, largely surpassing the previous goal of 200. In the afterward reflection, I realized that the surprise in this project was actually brought by the attending adults. They understood and propped us. And the project also showed that we adolescent public service activists were striding and had the implementation of self-completing.
What really impressed me is a passage left by an audience; it said “the handbook from Why Youth is of good reference to adolescents newly joining projects. ” Ms. Helen also encouraged us: “I expected your growth, wishing one day you could bring Chinese adolescent charity stories to an international stage.”……
All the feedback gathers more of my confidence in what I am doing while showing an outside support for us adolescents in public service.
03 Let’s make the world a better place together!
Now, when I look back to the relationship between “youth” and public service, I have a totally different answer from the past.
“Youth” has brought me some adults’ sincere help and support, but it also means that we need accept the doubts from the other adults. Help and doubts are always a pair of natures. This is the “reality” from this world. But faced with the reality, we should not escape or moan. Instead we need to believe that although we are young, we can be “big figures”. For this, we have to appeal for unfairness.
Now I have become more firm that “age” is not the primary factor to decide what we can do for this world. And I am no longer disturbed with how to eliminate those prejudices and biases from others, but to focus more on my self-improvement and making truly helpful projects. And I am no longer that little child running away in panic. I would shout out loud to those adults: “In our road you can be the brightest lighthouse, but can also be the toughest barrier for us to go through. That hinges on how you consider the ‘youth’, how you treat the young.Sure,as a ‘later generation’, we still need to grow, to go better, and in this process, we need your understanding and support. ”
Actually, no matter from “the later generation” or “the former generation”, we should trust in ourselves to change the world. Because none of these 2 generations is expected by this world, for it only expects people who want to and are able to make it better.
「我觉得吧，你还是太年轻了！」
在一次面向小学生和幼儿园家长的公益分享会上，我刚刚分享完自己的公益经历，准备回答观众的问题。一位年纪大概在 30、40 岁的叔叔拿起话筒，带着些许说教的语气，意味深长地对我说出这句话。
这样的评论让我猝不及防，我既害怕又很期待听到他接下来的话。但不知道是幸运还是不幸，我被主持人叫去另一个场地做分享，于是就匆匆离开了现场，也无法得知他接下来要说什么。
但在那之后，「你还是太年轻了！」这句话，还有那位家长的语气和神情，时刻萦绕在我脑海里。有时候我会觉得他说的对，但更多的时候我总是会觉得一些些不服气。
没错，我是年轻，但是年轻又怎么了？
回想从小学到现在，我发现「年轻」的确让我的公益之旅不一样。身为「后浪」，我受到过「前浪」的优待和鼓励，也体会过初次与社会发生链接时产生的「摩擦力」。
我想我与「公益」这段经历或许会对许多和我一样的同龄人有帮助。因为我们都要离开校园，去真正地接触社会，学会如何和「大人们」一起合作，如何获得来自更多人的认可。
01 最初的公益之旅：兴奋、成长到自我怀疑
10 年前，一个下着大雨的晚上，我和公益相遇。
当时，还是小学生的我第一次接触到了「艾滋病患者」，在CCTV举办的公益活动「请给我一个拥抱」上。我穿着雨衣坐在一群哥哥姐姐旁边。在和他们聊天的过程中，他们与我没有什么不同。后来，我得知他们都是被爱心人士帮助过的受到艾滋病困扰的孩子们，也因为艾滋病，他们真正的生活和我有一些不一样。
从那之后，我开始去了解艾滋病、关注艾滋病防治的社会组织，并借此认识了一些公益项目发起者、志愿者。慢慢地，还在上小学的我踏上了公益这条路。
「鼓励」，是小学时的我在做公益中接收到的最多反馈。每次我在公益研讨会上发言，说一说自己的看法，大人们便会投来善意的目光，并且鼓励我继续加油。参与公益活动，大人们也格外欢迎像我一样的小朋友们。但我知道，这些鼓励与赞许，不是因为我提出的观点多么的有价值，而仅仅只是因为我是小朋友。
我不满足于这样的「鼓励」，我希望能够像大人们一样，知道怎样去做公益。于是，我尝试着和大人们讨论设计公益组织的架构、组织公益研讨会、发起爱心健步行活动……但即便如此，我似乎无法摆脱「小朋友」的标签，我也一直怀着一个疑问：我怎么才能像大人们一样，在会议上提出好的想法，并把它落实到具体的行动中去？
到了初中，我渐渐失去了因为年龄小而得到的「宠爱」。我做的公益活动得到了一些成年人的支持，但随之而来，我感受到更多的是来自他们的偏见。「作为一个初中生我到底能做什么？在公益中，青少年的价值是什么？」这些问题不断地困扰着我。我不想一直作为一个参与者、学习者，我也想成为公益的行动者。
于是我就想从我的身边开始。校园是我最熟悉的地方之一，也是一个学生最容易产生影响力的地方。于是我就在校园里开始了我自己策划的第一个公益项目。
当时，我想为我助力艾滋病防治的公益项目做筹款。于是我跑去和学校的领导、老师、同学，还有家长说，在六一儿童节那一天，邀请全校同学一起做一次义卖，义卖的钱将会捐助给艾滋病防治的公益项目。
防治艾滋的义卖
激动、紧张、担心充斥在我准备义卖活动的两周里。一下课，我就跑到其他班门口，让他们帮我筹集义卖品，跑到老师和校领导的办公室，邀请他们参与义卖活动，和他们确认场地。 曾经的我不好意思和和老师、同学讲我的公益故事，但那一次我似乎有了很大勇气，我有很清晰的目标感，想要摆脱「小朋友」的标签，曾经的「不好意思」都被我抛诸脑后。而那一次，我也收获了巨大的支持。全班的同学和老师出乎我意料的支持我，从家里拿来了义卖品。
但质疑并没有消失。
在邀请他人参与活动时，一位老师冷不丁地冲我抛下一句话，「孩子你是不是被骗了！“」这突如其来的质疑让我头脑一片空白，不知道如该如何回应，只是机械地说了声「谢谢，打扰了」，便跑了出去。
一路上，「孩子你是不是被骗了！」这句话就像被按下了循环播放一样，就好像那一句「你还是太年轻了！」，在那几天里不停地回荡在脑海里。继续准备义卖的几天里，那位老师的话还是会时不时地牵动我的思绪，但我还是咬着牙要把这次义卖完成。
我记得义卖结束的时候，大家都过来，说「义卖活动很成功！」那一刻，我看到了自己的力量，我发现自己有机会像成年人一样，对这个社会产生一些影响力。
现在回想起来，老师的那句话与其说是一盆冷水，倒不如说它让我更加坚定了自己的能力和参加公益的信念。后来有一段时间，我曾经想回去告诉那位老师，我很清楚自己在做什么，也很清楚自己没有被人骗。
但我后来发现这样的「证明」其实没有必要。人们常说，「能力越大，责任也越大」。如果自己认定了这件事的价值， 那倒不如把它坚持下去，让质疑不攻自破。
回想起这段最初的公益之旅，我意识到，因为年轻，身边的很多同学和老师愿意支持我，但也正是因为年轻，我难免会受到来自阅历和经验都比我更丰富的人的质疑。 如果让我再回到那个场景，我想我再不会不知所措地逃出那间教室了。
02 原来，和大人们的合作不仅仅只是「鼓励」和「质疑」
进入高中之后，我开始发起新的公益项目，又再一次地感受到了年龄的困扰。
为了让更多校外的人士也愿意参与我的公益项目，我开始尝试更多地和大人们一起做事。我感觉自己就想是一个闯入者，但还没有做好完全的准备，就跌跌撞撞地进入了一个充满挑战和惊喜的世界。
一方面，我依然能够感受到成年人的偏见，他们带着不同的目的与我合作一起做公益项目，以一种不平等的视角与我对话，也许在他们眼里高中生还是孩子，只能是公益的参与者，没有能力去做推动者；另一方面，他们的工作方式让我突然间感到了压力，有些时候，我分不清楚里面的套路，甚至不知道一些委婉里原来是一种利益的诉求，这让我突然觉得自己的公益不再像之前那样纯粹了。
我感受到了「不舒服」，我觉得自己就是一个初出茅庐的人突然进入了成人世界，慢慢开始熟悉那些规则和传统，还要面对职场的种种套路。
但我慢慢开始意识到，也许这只是一种「不适」，我发现并不是所有的「委屈」都是合理的，从参与者变成发起者，甚至是制定者的过程里，也让我学会更为重要的一个能力 —— 换位思考。那个质疑我「被人欺骗」的老师就是一个对于公益与青少年充满偏见的人么？
答案也许并不是。
也许他只是担心你，想要善意地提醒下你。又或者是他正在享受午休时光，一个不是很面熟的学生突然闯入办公室，让他有些疑惑等等。
因为「年轻」，我们可能干劲十足，但我们缺少的就是经验，在与人打交道时不够周到，也不知道如何更好地让他人倾听我们真实的声音，也没有还没有形成以尊重他人的时间和精力为前提的专业精神。
作为「后浪」的我们，有些时候也需要去真正地走进成年人，也许我们也对他们抱着极大的「偏见」。
发现「偏见」的方法之一就是「去看见」。大人们要去看一看现在的青少年在学习生活中做了什么，他们又在为社会做些什么。在合作中，与他们直率而坦诚地沟通，告诉他们你的期望和顾虑。而青少年也应该也要以同样的心态与大人们进行合作。
在探月分享公益经历
而这样彼此的真诚，可以产出巨大的惊喜。
在探月学院今年的跨学科项目课程 Double H（Double H 是关于人类健康主题的课程）上，我和几位学习者发起了一个全新的公益项目 —— 「Why Youth」。和我以往的项目不同的是，这一次我希望可以直接赋能和我一样对公益感兴趣的同龄人，帮助青他们设计并执行具有真实需求且具有可行性的公益项目。因此结合自己做公益做项目的经历，以及过往的材料，我们一起编写了一本「青少年公益项目指导手册」。
不仅如此，我们还组织一场线上的公益分享会，「青少年公益入门——我做给你看·你做给世界」，希望带着更多人了解青少年做公益的困难，以及青少年可以怎样去做公益。为了增加分享嘉宾的视角，我们联系到了多年专注于慈善教育的 Helen 老师。
因为素未谋面，我怀着忐忑和 Helen 老师其他嘉宾以及活动主持人打通了语音通话，彩排讲座内容。在彩排快结束的时候，Helen老师突然说：「昨天你叫我来彩排我还有点惊讶，因为之前从来没有人叫我在活动前去整体彩排。」我当时心想我是不是又忽略了大人之间的「潜规则」。活动前不应该请嘉宾们来彩排，而是私下沟通呢？
「但我觉得你们这样很好、很认真」 Helen老师又继续说道，「如果大家都可以抛开一些固有的工作观念去工作那会更好。」听到这句话，我先是有些惊讶，之后又觉得欣喜。我感觉彼此真诚地沟通想法，可以让彼此获得尊重和认可。
最终，这次的活动成功过举办，464 人次参与我们的活，超过了我们最初给自己设定的目标 200 人。事后反思中，我意识到这个项目之所以让我感到惊喜，是因为它既有来自成年人的理解和扶持，也体现着青少年公益行动者不断进步，不断自我完善的行动力。
印象深刻的是，一位参与活动的观众留言说，「Why Youth 的手册对于入门的青少年来说，还是很有参考和借鉴价值的。」Helen老师也鼓励我们，「期待看到你们更多的成长，希望有一天你们能把中国青少年慈善的故事带上国际舞台」……
这些反馈让我对于我在做的事情更加充满信心，感受到了外界对于青年人做公益的支持。
“Why Youth“《青少年公益项目指导手册》封面
“Why Youth”项目会议记录截屏
03 一起成为可以让世界变得更好的人
现在回头重新看待「年轻」和做公益的关系，我有了一个和之前完全不一样的答案。
「年轻」让我得到了一部分成年人发自内心的帮助与支持，但这也意味着我们也需要接受来自另外一部分成年人的质疑。这是相互依附存在的，这就是来自这个世界的「真实」。但是面对真实，我们不应该选择逃避，或者是抱怨，而是我们要相信自己虽然年轻，但也可以有所作为，因此我们更要去为不公平发声。
现在的我，更加相信「年龄」不是决定我们能否为这个世界做些什么的第一要素。我也不再纠结如何去改变他人对于我的质疑和偏见，而是更加关注如何进行自我提升，如何真正地做出能够帮助他人的项目。
而且当我面对他人的质疑的时候，我也不再是当初那个慌乱跑开的人，我会大声地告诉那些成年人：「在青年人在产生社会影响力的途中，你们是最亮的引路灯，也可能会是我们最难越过的绊脚石。这取决于你们如何看待「年轻」，如何对待年轻人。是的，作为「后浪」的我们需要去提升、去成长，而在成长的过程中，我们也需要「前浪」们给予我们理解与扶持。」
其实，不管是「前浪」还是「后浪」，都应该相信自己可以让世界变得更好。因为这个世界期待的，永远不是这两者中的一个，而是想并且可以让它变得更好的人。