Sounded Good at the Time...

A few political examples:

• Michael Sessions, who turned 18 in September 2005, waged and won a write-in campaign on a mere $700 for mayor of Hillsdale, MI, in the November 2005 election.
• Also in November 2005, Sam Juhl was elected mayor of Roland, IA. The normally lackluster mayoral election was stirred by Juhl’s write-in candidacy, prompting almost three times as many voters to the polls as a neighboring town the same size.
• Pennsylvania teens are hopping – into politics, that is. Chris Portman ran a successful campaign in 1999 for mayor of Mercer, PA. In 2001 Jeffrey Dunkle was elected mayor of Mount Carbon, PA, and in 2005 decided to run for another 4-year term. In March 2005, David Hoogstad filled a vacancy on the Linesville, PA, Burough Council at the tender age of 18. In November 2005, Christopher Seeley garnered almost twice as many votes as his opponent to become the 18-year-old mayor of Linesville, PA.

Clearly, it seems that “lifer politicians” (who have done nothing but politics) like Ted Kennedy (D – Mass.) are losing their ability to bring voters to the polls. They have nothing new to offer.

Politics isn’t the only arena in which teens are excelling. Here are a few business examples:

• Five teenagers in Seattle, WA, won the city’s “Youth IT Challenge” with the business plan for their spice company, “Joie de Vivre,” that focuses on facilitating immigrants here buying spices from their homelands in East Africa, Japan, and the Middle East online.
• The Internet offers business-savvy teens a way to shine. In the Spring of 1999, Michael Furdyk (then 16) and his partners sold their Web site for over $1 million. He used his share of the sale to start up another company and hired his father to work for him!
• Angelo Sotira was obsessed with his music Web site. In 1999, right after graduating from high school, he moved from Poughkeepsie, NY, to Hollywood. Sotira’s site was bought by Michael Ovitz, head of Artists Management Group, a Hollywood power brokers.
• In Prague, Czechoslovakia, Lukáš Codr (25), Jan Rambousek (17), Jan Řežáb (18), Jan Bárta (19), Naďa Rysková (21), Zdeněk Cendra (19), and Marek Antoš (25) are cranking up a tech storm in the former Soviet Republic.
• The NFTE (the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship) is teaching teams of teens to build their own businesses, a step up from a summer job. These skills will last their lifetime and could help them build then next Amazon.com, eBay, or Microsoft.
• In Lawrenceville, PA, teens get practical business experience running the Outlet Connection. Under adult supervision, they do everything from running and closing the cash registers, serving customers, cleaning, and even helping decide items to stock, their cost, and their placement in the store. Today, Outlet Connectio. Tomorrow, Macy’s or Target.
• ’Had to Be There’ is a business run by teenagers for teenagers in Bedfordshire, PA. They promote bands that might not otherwise make it out of their basement or garage. We all have to start somewhere.
• Of course, let’s not forget the billionaire twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who at 18 took control of their merchandising empire.

Of course, there are other areas where teens are achieving, like these:

• Last August, Julie Doran (then 13) won the Speedo National Junior Diving Championships one-meter diving event in the 13-and-under category. At a time when so many of our young people are overweight and sitting around the house playing video games, such physical achievement is heartening.
• Twelve youths aged 14-21 are running YouthTech in Denver, CO. They fix, sell, ship, and promote computers to low-income families and not-for-profit organizations.
• Lastly, I don’t want to leave out the teens in the Raleigh, NC area who are helping fix up homes for people not physically able. We all need a helping hand some times, and getting it from these teens is a sign of hope for their generation.

And there is lot of evidence that teens and business have a growing relationship.

On the other hand, in Cary, NC, a teen council with over 100 members just got a reward for being the most “diverse” (translation: “we turned away most of the white folks that showed up to be in the council and went out and grabbed some blacks, asians, hispanics, and – well, you know – non-white folks”). If that isn’t a sham award, I don’t know what is, except maybe an award for giving out diversity awards.

There’s a ton more stories like these, but I’m suddenly feeling too old and tired to go on. Can’t imagine why.

Copyright © 2006 A.C. Cargill