TOO often, young people are written off as glued to their screens, apathetic, or hopelessly self-absorbed. Society loves to complain about “the youth of today”, but Seymour College just handed that tired stereotype a long-overdue reality check.
When the future of the local Vietnam Veterans commemorative service teetered on the brink of collapse, it wasn’t bureaucrats or seasoned community leaders who stepped up.
It was Seymour College students, ordinary young people, who refused to let the day fade into irrelevance. They took responsibility, organised, and executed the event, sending a blunt message: remembrance isn’t a dusty obligation for the past, it’s a duty for the future.
And they did it with substance, not pageantry. Dylan Frost, one of the student leaders, captured it perfectly: “It is a promise from our generation to yours: that we will not forget, that we will continue to tell future generations the truth about your service…”
Let that sink in. Not “we hope to remember.” Not “maybe we’ll try,” instead it was a promise. And the veterans noticed.
John Phoenix, president of the Vietnam Veterans Association Mitchell branch, didn’t mince words: “Without you, this couldn’t have been done today.” That’s not mere courtesy. That’s acknowledgment of courage, initiative, and the kind of respect that too often seems in short supply.
Yet, here we are, in a society quick to deride young people for not caring. And here they are, showing up and proving the cynics wrong. They displayed maturity, commitment, and plain old grit, qualities every generation claims but only some actually demonstrate.
Seymour’s students didn’t just keep a ceremony alive; they lifted spirits, honoured the past, and reminded the community that traditions don’t die, they get carried forward by those willing to act.
So let’s be honest: if we’re looking for the torchbearers of remembrance, maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong places. Seymour College’s students proved that honour and respect aren’t determined by age. They’re determined by action.
And if that’s not a reason to have some faith in the next generation, I don’t know what is. But then that’s just my opinion.