New Timely Resource Book Speaks to the Millennials (born 1981 - 2000), Their Parents and Youth Workers
TORONTO, Oct. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - We're Not Gonna Take It focuses on 10 essential life skills for young people to apply to choices when transitioning from high school to post-secondary education to the workplace.
Author and youth advocate Sandra Finkelstein will no longer stand by and accept what is being handed down to her children — or any other child. AFTER the 2008-09 recession, the political, social and economic landscape changed forever for our youth. Millennials are now referred to as the "lost generation." It's time for our youth to take the bull by the horns and be proactive about their future. That is the preoccupation of We're Not Gonna Take It.
"It begins with providing our youth with the tools and life skills that are essential for their success," says Finkelstein. "These will give young people the foundation for making better choices regarding their post-secondary education; give them the skillsets that will help them find a job in their field when they come out of school."
Finkelstein recently spoke at the 2013 Student Life Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where her topic — "Your Next Move" — addressed both the students and their parents. There, she told a full crowd that it is unacceptable to expect students and/or their parents to pay between $84,000 and $100,000 for post-secondary education — only to come out of school and be unable to find work in their field because they don't have the "required skillsets for the marketplace."
This phenomenon of underemployment/unemployment is something we are seeing in all industrialized countries. Canada, however, has the highest educated youth population with nearly 50 percent living below the poverty line. "This," says Finkelstein, "is unacceptable."
Parents need to understand that it's a different world today. Due to globalization and automation, many jobs are going by the wayside and new ones are being created. It's hard for the parent to support their child when they only have their own experiences to fall back on. We're Not Gonna Take It fills them in on the new reality.
We're Not Gonna Take It addresses the needs of our youth, the environment in which they're forced to work, how to bridge the gap with the older generations and — most importantly — how to challenge systems to create much-needed, sustainable and executable change in a respectful manner.
For the youth worker the book serves as a tool to assist in this decision-making process. As psychotherapist and youth mentor Stephen Weiman says, this book "will be of interest to teachers, guidance counselors and youth workers who value the importance of soft-skill development in young people."
The youth also support We're Not Gonna Take It. "My hope for this book is that it will reach as many youth as possible and that they won't have to face the struggles I did after graduation because I was not prepared," 28-year-old Jimmy Budny told Sandra.
Paperback ($17.95) or PDF ($8.95) available at www.2bempowered.com or www.voicesofyouth.ca. E-pub ($8.95) (coming)
SOURCE: 2bempowered Inc.
For media coverage, contact:
Elisse Bierstock
PR Consultant Bierstock Communications
[email protected]
OR
Sandra Finkelstein
CEO 2bempowered Inc.
[email protected]
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