Youth? We are in good hands

Let’s start this Wednesday off on a good note by giving you some news that will put some pep in your step as you head out the door.

I write about social issues and that invariably means on some mornings, the news is not as easy to swallow as that first sip of morning coffee.

But while the bad stuff grabs the headlines, not all social issues are about the negative.

There are many good things happening.

So, let’s put our problems under lock and key this morning and give the headlines today to those who are more deserving.

These young people have barely cracked the age of adulthood but already some young people in our communities are thinking about what they can do to help the world be a better place.

Whether that is by tackling hunger and poverty, empowering other young people to think positive, or finding the key that unlocks potential, we have a lot of young people doing good things — and encouraging others to do the same.

At a time when women are spreading the message of equality and empowerment, let’s start with two young women, both seniors at New Haven’s Wilbur Cross High School, who are helping other young women gain an edge by bolstering their confidence.

Tabrya Murdock-Washington’s life was spinning out of control before it had barely begun with bad grades, bad relationships and low self-esteem. Instead of continuing on that track, she found her self-worth and turned her attention to helping other young girls struggling with the same negative experiences. She now mentors other high school girls about getting good grades, getting rid of negative relationships that lowers their selfworth, and teaching them to get rid of the fear of speaking up for themselves. When she leaves Wilbur Cross, she is heading off to cosmetology school.

That is the way to go, Tabrya. And how about Myana Mallory? She is CEO of shopglowgetterco.com, an online retail store that sells Tshirts, lip gloss and sunglasses. Mallory also seeks to empower and inspire other young women with her line of T-shirts and sweatshirts she emblazons with messages of self-love and self-worth such as “Beauty Has No Skin Tone .”

That is a good combination of having ambition with a message.

Ronald Huggins Jr., a youth service specialist with New Haven’s Youth Services Department, said MurdockWashington and Mallory are shining examples of what the city’s youths are doing.

Next up?

Say hello to Keldon LaRose, a senior at Guilford High School and one of the captains on the school’s wrestling team. He created a charity called Pinning Poverty to help plug holes for those who could use a helping hand. With help from his teammates, who used their “pinning” prowess to pin opponents on the mat to raise cash for each pin, Pinning Poverty was able to donate $1,500 to the Women & Family Life Center and $2,000 worth of food and other basic-need items for Guilford residents.

That is one way to wrestle poverty to the mat and a good start for Pinning Poverty.

Stamford teen Abigail Desyr just wants to get things organized.

The Academy of Information Technology & Engineering junior took first place in Stamford’s first-ever Dolphin Tank Competition.

The competition is based on the TV show “Shark Tank” and was sponsored by the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, Entrepreneurial Society of Stamford, Ferguson Library, Innovate Stamford and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Desyr presented a concept she called The Lady Spotless Service. The business plan offered a way for clients to clean out closets, attics, garages and basements of unwanted items through an organizing service that would partner with Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. The service would help those organizations by donating those unwanted items to benefit others. The service also would include documenting tax receipts for clients.

That is smart thinking, Abigail. Who doesn’t need to clean out those cluttered areas?

And let’s take a moment to give thumbs-up to the Branford High School students who joined students from around the country and worldwide recently by taking to the streets demanding action on climate change. It’s good to know the environment has its supporters with the next generation.

And finally, there is Jacob Williams, who was struggling academically and dealing with a plethora of traumatic experiences. Now, he just wants to touch people with his words. The young man from James Hillhouse High School in New Haven found by taking pen to paper and expressing his thoughts through poems, and also the spoken word, he discovered a talent he didn’t know existed. He is using that talent to dispel misconceptions about today’s youth. He was showcased at a recent charity breakfast for the Future Project Camp, a nationwide program that believes all people have something unique to contribute to the future.

As an editor who discovered his own hidden talent for words and learned early in life that the power of words can change lives, I urge Jacob to keep writing.

There are plenty more young people around Connecticut who are doing positive things and this column is far from complete. It doesn’t begin to touch on the wonderful and creative things our youth are doing — or their willingness to share those things with others.

They don’t get the headlines but their actions ensure us that many of our youth — regardless of where they come from or the circumstances under which they are raised — are emerging into adulthood on the right track.

That is good to know as it all adds up to the continuation of spreading good will and making the world a better place.

Youth? We are in good hands.