A Youth Perspective

By Malgosia Minta, Polish Humanist Association

Since 1989, Poland has gone through deep and often chaotic changes that have strongly affected young people. The crisis in politics, with its impact on the economy and social life, has shaped their way of thinking and their lives. Young people in Poland are often insecure, alienated and lonely. At the same time, however, the crisis has strengthened their need for a clear set of values and a well-defined worldview that might help them to find their own way in this new reality. Many still embrace religion, although the number of believers among teenagers is rapidly falling. It is no surprise that Humanism is becoming more popular among intelligent young people as an alternative and more relevant life stance.

Humanism has gained support and has become highly valued because it is free from any religious baggage, it is ethical and it deals with real human concerns, including those of young people. There are many young people who subscribe to Humanist values, who advocate Humanist solutions and would like to join the Humanist Movement. Quite often, however, they feel isolated, and are unaware that there are other Humanists around.

The reason for that is simple – being an open atheist in Poland is still regarded as being immoral, insensitive and even a threat to Polish national identity. Catholic pressure is still very strong, partly because the church has enjoyed the full support of all Polish governments, regardless of their political identity. All political parties, both left and right, are in favour of religious classes in schools, for example. Luckily, the situation is changing, even though very slowly. We need more courage, more passion and more work to spread the Humanist message and empower those young people who want to be independent in creating their life stance.

One important challenge for Humanism in Poland is in the treatment of children within the health care system. The rights of young people are not respected in hospitals and clinics. Those under 18 have no say at all in their hospital treatment and only parents are given information, as well as decision-making power. That is why, in our Charter of Youth’s Rights, we have proposed, among other things, that young people over 15 years of age should have the right to decide about the treatment they are subjected to. This proposal, which sounds rather unrealistic in today’s Poland, is mainly aimed at raising social awareness about the quality of paediatric service in the country. The young should no longer be treated as brainless objects! Although they are obviously less experienced, they are aware enough of their own selves, and would feel much more secure if they were provided with information regarding their treatment, in language that they can understand. Such recognition of the young patient’s needs and feelings appears to be confined to private clinics accessible to few.

Within the home, young people do not seem to realize that they have a right to stand up against physical and emotional abuse. The only practical way out for a child suffering abuse is to run away from home, which is hardly a suitable solution for children, who are by nature vulnerable. Yet social workers in Poland have been known to advise children to do just that, in order that they should receive help from the state in orphanages and day-care centres. Nevertheless, parents are not always deprived of their rights, and then continue to control and abuse them. This loophole in Polish civil law has caused some tragic incidents.

We advocate giving teenagers more freedom and more rights. We try to encourage social debate and make society and the authorities more sensitive to young peoples’ rights to respect and equality. Such initiatives as the Charter of Youth’s Rights drawn up by the Polish Humanist Association seek to ensure a better future for both young people and adults.

IHEYO ONLINE – The World Wide Humanist Youth Database

After months of preparation, the World Wide Humanist Youth Database has been launched! This database provides very easy access to information about all kinds of Humanist youth organizations and activities around the world. It also gives contact details of all the groups included. At present there is information about 22 national Humanist organizations and their youth activities. Several of these organizations are established Humanist youth organizations. In the coming months the database will be expanded. But it is already more than worthwhile to check out the database and discover the world of youth Humanism!

For the database, please go to www.iheu.org/youth/database.htm or simply via www.iheyo.org.