Juventud más allá de Tik Tok | Kyara Cascante | TEDxPuraVidaJoven
For many young people, the concept of "youth" is a dynamic seed requiring an ecosystem—specifically intergenerational relationships—to cultivate its potential for growth. The speaker argues that recognizing and actively building these cross-age relationships is crucial, as evidenced by Costa Rica's youth sector successfully influencing major fields like climate negotiations and cybersecurity. The speaker concludes by challenging the audience to consider what they are actively building through their own intergenerational efforts.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker; giving a talk on the meaning and potential of "youth."
- Focus area: Intergenerational relationships as a force for societal development.
## Theses & Positions
- Youth is not a static concept but a *"diverse seed"* that needs cultivation.
- The development of this "seed" requires an *ecosystem* built through *"symbiotic relationships"*—specifically intergenerational ones.
- Intergenerational collaboration is necessary to break down historical exclusions in professional and academic fields (e.g., limiting involvement to only established elites).
- The active participation of young people alongside adults can lead to tangible, high-impact successes in areas like climate policy and entrepreneurship.
- The capacity for individual action and advocacy ("Why are you so active?") is often rooted in a secure foundation of having one's voice heard within the family structure.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Youth:** Defined by the speaker as a *"diverse seed"* from various backgrounds (coast, mountain, city).
- **Intergenerational Relationships:** Defined as relationships at work, in daily life, or within families involving young people, children, and adults.
- **Ageism:** Illustrated through an anecdote where a friend was unable to get hired for a position due to being deemed *"too young to be hired."*
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Cultivation:** The process where young people, guided by intergenerational support, bring new energy and perspectives into established sectors.
- **Disruption:** Young people historically disrupted elite professional spaces (like climate negotiations) previously reserved for established diplomats or academics.
- **Modeling Leadership:** Sharing specific case studies (biotech, climate talks, local murals) to demonstrate the *process* of collaborative change.
- **Internal Validation:** The speaker's ability to lead, which she attributes not to genetics, but to the familial history of allowing her voice to be heard *"horizontally, and respecting our individuality."*
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Costa Rica Population Data:** **36%** of the population are young people.
- **United Nations Definition:** A young person is aged between **15 and 24**.
- **Local Age Range:** The relevant age range discussed in Costa Rica is **12 to 35 years old**.
- **Screen Time Data:** Young people spend over **six hours a day** in front of screens (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook).
- **Academic/Workforce Involvement:** **43%** of young people in Costa Rica are currently studying.
- **Timeline of Interventions:**
* **Youth Biotech Leaders:** Six young women were chosen out of over **500** young people in **2020** to be industry leaders in Latin America.
* **Climate Negotiations:** Young people began disrupting negotiations around **five or ten years ago**, leading to Costa Rica sending youth to the negotiation team for the last **three years**.
* **Community Mural:** A mural *"Miramar"* was done **three years ago**.
* **Personal Revelation:** The speaker was active in her community starting when she was **13 years old**.
* **Great-grandfather Anecdote:** Speaker was **eight years old** when her great-grandfather was **85**.
## Named Entities
- **Costa Rica:** The national context for the discussion.
- **San José:** The capital of Costa Rica.
- **University of Zaragoza:** Source of data regarding screen time.
- **Climate Change Party Conference:** World-leading venue for environmental negotiations.
- **Youth Delegation of Costa Rica at the COP:** Specific institutional example of youth involvement in climate talks.
- **Aerospace Congress in Paris:** Example conference where Costa Rica's industry representation is featured.
## Numbers & Data
- Percentage of youth in Costa Rica: **36%**.
- Population size represented by 36% youth: **1.8 million people** (size of San José's population).
- Daily screen time: Over **six hours**.
- Percentage of young people studying in Costa Rica: **43%**.
- Number of young women named as industry leaders: **Six**.
- Number of young people assessed for leadership roles: Over **500**.
- Timeframe for youth participation in climate talks: **Three years now**.
- Age when speaker started activism: **13 years old**.
- Age difference in great-grandfather anecdote: Speaker was **eight years old**; great-grandfather was **85**.
## Examples & Cases
- **Biotech Engineers:** Six young women selected from over 500 youth to become industry leaders in Latin America in **2020**.
- **Climate Change Diplomacy:** Youth involved in negotiations that were previously exclusive to politicians, diplomats (with **ten years** to **thirty years** of experience), or the private sector.
- **Aerospace Industry:** Delegation at the Aerospace Congress in Paris, comprising entrepreneurs and TEC students working with scientists.
- **Community Mural:** The *"Miramar"* mural completed **three years ago**, signaling that local officials now view them as young changemakers.
- **Cybersecurity Success:** A friend, despite being deemed too young for hiring, now runs a company with contracts from the **Costa Rican government** and the **United States government**.
- **Personal Validation:** The speaker’s ability to speak up, stemming from familial practices that allowed her voice to be heard *"horizontally"* at the dinner table.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The general societal view of youth can be *"a time of rebellion and immaturity"* from an adult perspective.
- The anecdote about the friend being rejected due to age highlights systemic *"ageism."*
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The central recommendation is to actively *work intergenerationally* and *"hold spaces to grow together."*
- The final explicit question posed to the audience is: *"What are you building from intergenerational work?"*
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to acknowledge youth potential leads to exclusion, demonstrated by fields previously only open to established professionals or wealth.
- Successfully integrating youth creates tangible benefits, such as new industry leadership, governmental contracts, and civic improvements (like the *"Miramar"* mural).
## Verbatim Moments
- *"For me, youth is a diverse seed made up of young people from different areas, industries, and backgrounds, from the coast, the mountain, the city, in which, together as young people, we cultivate this seed."*
- *"By symbiotic relationships, I'm referring to intergenerational relationships."*
- *"Our history is hardly ever mentioned."*
- *"Opening the door to an industry that had previously only been open to academics, people with doctorates."*
- *"And now this work, done by young people and adults, has allowed Costa Rica, for three years now, to send young people as part of the country's negotiation team in climate change matters with other countries."*
- *"What makes you be like this?"*
- *"I wasn't this way for any genetic reason, but because of the intergenerational work that was done in my family that allowed me to make decisions, allowed my voice to be heard in the same way that the voices of others in my family were heard, at the dinner table, regardless of age or generational diversity, horizontally, and respecting our individuality."*
- *"What are you building from intergenerational work?"*