Among simmering tensions on local and global scales, the CEO of Islamic College Brisbane, Ali Kadri, said diversity and multiculturalism could be touchy subjects.
But hearing the voices and opinions of our younger generations gave him hope for the future.
At the Together For Humanity Youth Summit, held last Thursday, 28 August, at Queensland Parliament House, over 100 students from schools in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including students from the local Islamic College of Brisbane, met with politicians and community leaders.
Together, students shared ideas and discussed topics important to them, like multiculturalism and intergenerational connectedness, presenting their ideas about how to improve social cohesion to the leaders who attended the summit.
“A lot of decisions on these things are currently made by people who are not going to live the consequences of it,” Mr Kadri said.
“It’s very important that the young people who are going to inherit the positions of decision-making and the world after us are part of the conversation, or at least have those conversations.”
Member for Jordan, Charis Mullen, attended a summit session which focused on cyber-bullying and said it was an important opportunity to listen to students and their experiences.
“I found the summit was an important opportunity to hear from students and gain insight into some of the challenges facing our young people at the moment, such as isolation, bullying, personal identity, and social cohesion,” Mrs Mullen said.
“As an adult, I think it can be easy to sometimes dismiss these issues because to us, we don’t understand or may not consider how important these challenges can be to children and young adults.
“I was grateful to observe a session with a particular focus on cyber-bullying, which continues to be such an important issue, particularly as the ownership of personal devices among young people increases.”
A number of students from Islamic College Brisbane spoke at the summit about the stigmas surrounding Islam in the community and media, and what can be done to improve this.
“I’m certain that 30 years ago, when people went to schools, they had a lot less cultural and religious diversity within the schools and in public spaces than there is today,” Mr Kadri said.
“And that means that we don’t necessarily have the tools to actually navigate multiculturalism on a vast scale in a healthy way.
“That’s why it’s important for young people to come together, have that conversation, come up with answers so they can, when they are in decision-making positions, you know, make sort of decisions which are going to be better.”
Many students at the summit shared the same views despite their own varied and diverse backgrounds.
“What surprised me the most across the board was the fact that all students, despite their different, diverse backgrounds, expressed things in terms of what’s important to them in their lives,” Mr Kadri said.
“They shared common values, including our school students, who expressed that the dignity of human life, safety, and justice are important to them.
“And while that’s not surprising, it is that all students share these common values, which they have developed in their own environment, but were able to exchange them on a common ground.”
