Youth Expectations

This evening, we (the youth and I) had a great meeting. Our agenda listed discussing the quote of the week (one of the youth finds a quote in an empowering book and we all discuss it), announcements, and then some project selection and planning. And then, celebrating 2 birthdays in the group.
I thought it was going to be a pretty routine evening. Although these guys and gals never cease to amaze me, I really thought it'd be a very focused evening.
But no.
It started with the quote discussion, which was about generosity, and how true generosity really felt as though it had no cost with it. It was really interesting to hear how they, mostly young people coming from very low-income families, viewed generosity. And it seemed as though they all really thought that you should never feel as though you had to be generous, because that in and of itself was an oxymoron. They decided you can't be generous if you feel as though it is a burden.
Generosity, H said, is the lack of greed. The absence of greed. Therefore, you do it, simply because you WANT to do it for the other person.
What an observation.
Then on to project planning. We began discussing the audience for our next project - young people or adults. We began talking about a certain kind of class and teachers. And the next moment, the youth began describing situations in which they believe teachers did not expect enough of them.
Teachers, S said, should challenge us. They should expect more of us. Regardless of the subject. You don't do English homework in Math class. So you shouldn't have any other class in which you can do homework for another class, not even gym.
I shared some thoughts on how some people just choose to do the bare minimum in life, to be able to skate through. And that some students, just might be, the same way.
That, to these young people, was unacceptable. Adults should expect much out of them. And always challenge them.
Now I know, to... :)