Stress appears to be the order of the day these days! Traffic on the road, price of fuel, high taxes, school curriculum and the uncertainty of direction education is assuming, the stock market decline, and we could go on listing them.

 The stress experienced is not limited to one generation but is societal.

Some adults have figured out mechanisms for addressing these challenges. Ladies have chamas to which they retreat at the end of the month to vent out. Churches have created cell groups while adult men retreat to pubs to while away time and vent.

But what about the young people? This group is often assumed to have everything working out for them. They are young, their needs are provided for by their parents, and in any case, they are lost in their world of social media. Their assignments are mapped out for them by their teachers.

Yet, the youth, most of them now in the university, have many issues they deal with daily. Unlike their seniors, they hardly have therapy groups they fall back on. But that does not mean they should stay bottled up with the issues they face daily.

The creativity of university students and youths generally is one of their major assets. One of the avenues that a group of young people at a local university have created to deal with stress is through the medium of art. It explores how art can be an avenue of self-expression. Through the platform of a blank canvas, young people are invited to express themselves by writing the issues they are dealing with. Those issues are many. Just to sample, some of the issues these youths are dealing with in society include pollution, money, pain, friendships, sexual assault, self-confidence, too much studies, time management, peer pressure, dust, economy, “kuinama”, toxic people, overthinking, dress code, anxiety, depression, climate change, mental health and the list continues.

These issues are raised in no particular order of importance, but there is a consensus that these are critical concerns that young people deal with on a daily basis. Art is not intrusive. The canvas remains available, and any young person can go to write on it to express themselves.

This enables the youth to express themselves and let their frustrations and challenges be known. Then, the adults and society can take cognisance of the critical issues the youth face and institute mechanisms for addressing them. Art provides a platform for young people to express themselves is a given. Art is simply something that is created with imagination and skill and which communicates. It could be in the form of dressing, music, spoken word, poetry, hairstyle, tattoos and other visual expressions that individuals have. It certainly takes imagination to realise it. It is powerful.

Somehow, as a society, we tend not to appreciate the power of art both as a tool of free speech and creativity. Many young people growing up are impressed upon not to waste time on subjects that will not pay. Facts may not always support such sentiments that art does not pay.

Look at your list of political leaders and what they practice today; for those who took science, it is not the science they took that they practice today but art. Public speaking, the stock in trade for politicians and communication is largely art, just as dressing is an art.

As a society, we need to pay heed to art to encourage our young people to excel in it. This does not mean those with scientific inclinations should not pursue them but rather practice them alongside their other engagements.

Yes, art can be an instrument for social change. We need to be deliberate about it both from the point of composition but also paying attention to it as consumers. Then, we will understand what our youths are saying as a segment of society.

—The writer is Dean, School of Communication, Daystar University