Utopia: Thoughts to Explore

Focusing on the Thoughts of Teenagers

Did you know that the word Utopia means:

From Cambridge Dictionary:

“a perfect society in which people work well with each other and are happy.”

From Oxford English Dictionary:

“An imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, esp. in respect of social structure, laws, and politics.”

I started thinking about what I might think a Utopia would look like, feel like, etc. I started thinking about what type of government would be in that Utopia, what values would be upheld, how people would handle immigration, etc. I was fortunate to get teenage input on these thoughts and feelings, as I was substituting in a high school the other day.

Knowing that the United States is a constitutional federal representative democracy, I was interested to hear what the youth would say about what type of government they would like. Many of the youth mentioned the following descriptors:

*They would want a representational government.

*There were those who felt the government should provide free education.

*There were those who felt the government should strive to make life easier for its citizens.

*Some felt there should be free transportation.

*Some felt there should be free healthcare.

We did not discuss the mechanisms by which the aforementioned initiatives would work, however, I was impressed with the commitment they shared about making life easier for all.

When I asked about what they felt should be the values that needed to be upheld in such a Utopia they mentioned:

*Honesty

*Accountability

*Equality

*Transparency

*Compassion

*Love

*Diversity

*Gender Equality

When discussing their thoughts on immigration, it was evident they understood that many of their family members had come to this country as immigrants and so they had an appreciation of the immigrants’ journey and how important it had been for their families. It was mentioned that some immigrant came to the United States for better opportunities.

Relating to many cultures that have made up our country, the high school students shared:

*There should be an honoring of people from many cultures.

*There should be a celebration of all cultures.

*With the above ideas mentioned, some felt that it enabled all of us to develop empathy, learn critical thinking and analysis.

*Also they mentioned as we live and work with people from many cultures we develop a sense of belonging in our world…for everyone.

Another thought that was shared, was the idea that in the Utopia, there should be positive communication with other nations. And that asking help from other nations is an important part of that communication.

This is just a sampling of what I heard from these high school students. However, I was heartened to hear their thoughts and feelings about the components they felt would be important in their Utopia.

The exercise of thinking of what is important to have in a society is a crucial conversation to have with our youth and, of course, with other adults. However, I was so pleased that this article would be focused on the youth. I thanked those high school students for their input and I could tell that they had so much more to add to this discussion at another time.

With Love, Compassion, and Developing Understanding,

Debbie Havert