[Foundation-l] Wikimedia Youth Camp?

[Erik Moeller]

My primary goal with this proposal is to stimulate knowledge building
and training activities around Wikimedia. I will be upfront about my
own beliefs: I do think that such training must be done in an
age-appropriate way. I confess to being "ageist" in that I believe, on
average, people are in different stages of personal development at
different ages, and different generations have different ways of
learning due to cultural influences alone.

That said, I also recognize that young people active in Wikimedia are
often exceptional individuals. That's why I would like to draw on
their creativity and ingenuity to get young people who are not yet
Wikimedians interested in the project. Helping young people to educate
young people is, in my opinion, not patronizing at all; it is a
celebration of generational difference.

That said, a warning to the members of the younger generation:
political correctness is one of the more questionable accomplishments
of your parents. I started using and running bulletin board systems
when I was 13 years old and attended and organized many meetings where
I was the youngest member of the group. I've got my own stories to
tell about age discrimination, but let's not get bogged down in age
politics.

Instead, what I'd like to do is actively invite the young people in
Wikimedia to work on a proposal and make it theirs. I think some
opinion polling will be useful to gauge the direction such a project
should take. I'll post more in the coming weeks, though I'd be equally
happy if someone else -- young or old -- would pick up the idea and
run with it.

As for the logistics of attending a Youth Event, I think
decentralization will be key in the long run. But like Wikimania, it
might be nice to have a single designated big event per year for those
who can manage to attend. Each large event will, of course, also be
very attractive for youths in the region where it takes place.
-- 
Peace & Love,
Erik