“Every generation is different, and therefore will have to overcome different obstacles than those the previous generations faced,” explained JCG student and now Youth TEDx speechmaker Ava Hadjam.
This remark – a neat summary of the animating spirit behind Jersey’s first ever Youth TEDx event held at the school on Saturday – concluded her persuasively argued talk on the “hidden costs of being a teenager”.
Economists, and older people more generally, fail to properly appreciate the many “intangible” dimensions of young adult life, she argued.
“Our biggest expenses aren’t monetary at all,” Ava surmised. “We invest time into social acceptance, we spend energy managing the pressure to be perfect, and we pay in the fear of failure.”
And the audience listened carefully as these “intangible” dimensions of experience were explored, wrestled with and brought to life as part of a programme of twelve thought-provoking live speeches delivered throughout the afternoon.
In her talk, for example, India Chatterley employed the metaphor of a “funhouse” to describe how social media warps our sense of intrinsic value.
“But, these mirrors don’t just distort anymore,” she noted. “They actively reshape reality; and when young girls grow up surrounded by these mirrors it becomes hard not to question themselves.”
She rounded off the artful conceit by saying that building true self-worth is “like stepping out of the funhouse”, adding: “When we come back into reality and open a real mirror, we don’t see perfection, we someone who is already good enough.”
The misguided notion of not being “good enough” was also developed by Penny Le Maistre in her powerful talk on not giving up and staying true to your dreams.
“I’ve given up on countless things: dance, swimming, brownies, tennis, guitar, violin, even TEDx initially”, she joked.
But, she said, by following her intuition in the face of a doubting society, she realised she should continue to work towards her dream of becoming an actor.
“I believe that the way to be happy is to follow your intuition and your heart”, Penny told the audience.
Ancient Greek philosophy and “Kaizan” – the Japanese concept of continuous incremental improvement – were called upon to great effect by Carmella Carter in her speech on developing a “progress-oriented mindset”.
True progress in both young and adult life, she argued, is not to do with being “perfect”, but instead about celebrating the “baby steps” we take on the way to our goal.
“It reminds us that happiness is a result of inner growth – we shouldn’t stop improving ourselves, we should just do it reasonably”, Carmella put forward.
And society’s “toxic relationship” with perfectionism was later expertly disassembled by Penelope Deschamps, who reminded the audience that even elite athletes “don’t chase perfection, they chase refinement”.
In Finland, she said, a lack of standardised testing combined with less emphasis on inter-class competition led to increased student welfare and consistently high academic results.
Also running hand-in-hand with Aristotle and Scandinavian education models were several moments of laugh-out-loud wisdom for the audience to enjoy.
Aashi Jain used great humour and originality to somehow find an interesting and genuinely entertaining angle on the scourge of overthinking.
“A friend once ended a text with a full-stop and my brain translated it as: they hate you, change your name, relocate to another country”, she quipped.
But Aashi went on to offer ten practical ways to help stop this kind of overthinking – the tenth being to “talk it out” with friends or family.
“It’s like taking the bins out, just with your brain”, she promised.
Joy Jefferson’s talk on how to best “make a good decision” involved her throwing a giant inflatable ball in the direction of an unsuspecting member of the front row and taking a straw poll on who the audience preferred out of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.
Sheeran won by a margin, and Joy’s outside-of-the-box efforts helped to illustrate a very well-researched point on “decision paralysis”, something 58% of Britons struggle with.
The afternoon also saw MJ Jones pull the rug out from under everyone’s feet when she declared she was “just going to improv” her talk in dedication to a lyric from the musical Hamilton.
“Just kidding”, she winked, “this is all scripted: can you tell I’m a theatre kid?”
MJ then treated the audience to a definitely-not-improvised account of her experience as a ‘young carer’ for her little brother, who has Down’s syndrome.
Societal misconceptions about Down’s syndrome were immediately dissolved into thin air with a well-judged blend of wit and heartfelt testimony.
“The Down’s syndrome community is wide, vibrant and beautiful”, MJ informed the audience, before asking them to hold back from judging things they haven’t experienced themselves.
The Youth TEDx event – sponsored by PwC and titled “Unfiltered: the truths that shape us” – also invited its ticket-paying audience to re-evaluate their perspective on several other subjects, too.
Savanna Vogt called on her experience as a classical singer to shine a much-needed light on how hormones affect the female voice during adolescence.
She admitted that the effect of hormones initially led to her “manipulating” her singing voice to try and “recreate something that used to come naturally to me”.
However, she used her well-crafted speech – which along with the eleven others will be uploaded to the TEDx website for posterity – to reassure young singers that a voice “to be proud of” will endure throughout the vicissitudes of adolescence.
Sport, too, was put under the microscope and given a new lease of life during Mimi Carney’s deeply engaging and insightful speech.
“Sport is more than a game; it’s a teacher, a coach, a mirror reflecting who you are and who you can become”, Mimi argued.
She added: “Resilience helps us handle setbacks, teamwork teaches us how to work with others, confidence gives us the courage to try new things, and kindness teaches us that success means nothing if we don’t bring others with us.”
Priyanka Pangali invited the Youth TEDx audience to participate in a thought experiment about intrusive thoughts as part of her brilliantly thought-out exposition of what it’s like to have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
“When OCD takes over, your imagination is hijacked and runs wild with possibilities,” she explained. “And before you know it, it’s all you are.”
But Priyanka’s writerly approach saw her nimbly turn the tables and explain how in her healing she’d learned to see the many unexpected benefits of OCD.
She asked the audience: “The next time you imagine a person with OCD, will you imagine the germaphobe, the perfectionist, a cleaning lover, or will you imagine a person who overcame their own mind?”.
The concept of “imagination” more generally was defended with an artist’s vigour by Layla Rowcraft in her talk on AI and creativity.
“In the world we live in today creativity is being squashed by efficiency,” Layla stated, adding: “AI is only going to expedite this reduction in creativity.”
The timely and original intervention into the ultimate debate-of-our-time doubled-up as a spirited vindication of the Youth TEDx event in its entirety.
“Diversity of thought in the media we consume allows us as people to grow; you hear somebody else’s side of the story and reconsider your previously conceived ideas.
“Our individuality and creativity – something so important to who we are as a species – is something we should cherish and not let anyone take away from us.”
And speaking after the event, JCG Principal Carl Howarth summed up the collective feeling when he said he hoped the Youth TEDx afternoon would become a “regular” proceeding.
His Excellency Vice Admiral Jeremy Kyd CBE, also in attendance, spoke to say how impressed he was with the “articulation, confidence and maturity” demonstrated by the twelve speakers.
“And”, he added, “I’ve learned something too.”
